New Life Blog

Let’s talk about something that sneaks in during summer if we’re not careful: the slide. The slow fade. The drift. For me, summer can sometimes mean inconsistency. I’ve got six kids. And in the summer, it feels like everything’s up in the air. Schedules are weird...

So, what are your thoughts on God these days? Now, when you just read that question, you either heard it as being asked to you OR you read it as the answer to the title of the post. Either way, it is a great conversation and thought starter for anyone. Maybe you need to be asked what your...

So its graduation season again! A time of ending one season and starting another. A time to be excited about future plans and next steps. For me, this year it is different. This year, three of our pastors have kids graduating from high school. However, for Pastor TJ and Pastor Brett, this is...

There’s a statement that’s been floating around in Christianity for a long time. It was originally thought to have been written by St. Francis of Assisi, the father of the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church, but after more detailed investigation, it’s been determined...

For many of us, periodic resets are essential. If we are to be all that we could be and live the life we are called to live it will involve gracious resets, recalibrations, and renewals from the Lord along the way. Without those, we can get into autopilot mode rather than living with...

Easter Numbers Don’t Matter…Unless They Do  God gave us such an amazing Easter weekend a couple of weekends ago! We saw more people at our campuses than we have any other Sunday in the last 5+ years. Many of us brought neighbors, co-workers, and friends with us. It was a BIG...

Maundy Thursday. Jesus is betrayed, arrested, beaten. But before that. Before the cross. Before the stone rolled away. Jesus fell to the ground in a garden called Gethsemane and begged: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me." (Luke 22:42)   He's in agony. His sweat is...

Growing up, God was such a distant being in my mind. Although I went to church with my family and even believed that God existed, I didn’t see how he could be part of my life. When I went to college, a friend at work, Cassie, invited me to come with her to an event on OSU campus. I knew...

Growing up with 10 brothers and sisters had its advantages. One of the better ones is that there was always enough of us around to get a board game or card game going. So we would spend many afternoons and evenings playing all sorts of games. However, as competitive as we were, more often than...

Ever read something and thought, “Wow, I know exactly who needs to hear this”? I think it all the time. And as a pastor, I hear it all the time after a sermon:   “That was a great sermon, Pastor! I wish my ____________ was here to hear it.” [You fill in the...