Posts from August 2023

Last week, I went camping with my family and some friends for a few days. I enjoyed most of it, but there was one day where it rained pretty heavily the whole day, which ruined our plans to go on a hike and check out the programs/activities in the park, so we spent the day at our friends’ yurt. I thought, “This is not ideal AT ALL.” However, I realized that ideals are our (often unrealistic) ideas of a “perfect…

The fall season is upon us! For many of us September is a month of change as we say goodbye to our summer routines and get ready for the fall. For all of us, September is a great time to reassess where we are, and thinking about God’s calling is a natural part of that. One person we can learn much about calling from is Nehemiah. The book of Nehemiah is a first person account of Nehemiah’s work on behalf…

As God continues to reveal who we are as Lifespring – the reminder and underlying current is always a Kingdom Family: Genuine Love for God, Genuine Care for Others. We may not know what that looks like exactly, but I do find that God reveals a little bit at a time – teaching us to truly be a Kingdom Family that represents Him. As I was doing my devotions in Genesis, I found a part of Scripture that really jumped…

Dear LifeSpring Family, I was listening to Timothy Keller’s podcast where he was teaching about the four truths about Jesus in John 11. This is the chapter that retells the story of Jesus raising His friend, Lazarus from the dead. Shalom and grace upon grace.Jerry

As many of you know by now, the theme of this year is Kingdom Parenting. Kingdom Parenting is not reserved for those who are parents but rather Kingdom Parenting is for those that want to genuinely love and care for others. One of the ways I believe Kingdom Parents can love and care for others is by sharing their experiences both good and bad. The scripture in Joel 1:2-3 (NLT) tells us: “2 Hear this, you leaders of the people.…

I came across a podcast episode a few months ago titled “If you want to Succeed, Slow Down”. The theme of this was consistency, not just in not slacking off, but also in not overdoing things. It’s easy to go all out when starting/learning something new in the hopes of getting results fast, but it will quickly backfire when you can’t keep up with doing as much as possible every day to achieve your goal. It’s easier to stick to…

A while back I mentioned that I’ve been studying and reading/listening to all of the books and sermons and information I can find about The True Vine and The Branches. Beth Moore’s Chasing Vines was a serious game-changer for me. I’d like to share one of the biggest ah-ha moments with you! As many of you might remember, Jesus tells his disciples in John 15 that he is the True Vine, his Father is the Vinedresser and that they (along…

What an amazing Family Weekend we had with guest speaker and now friend, Brett Ullman. A gifted teacher, he brought about thought provoking, practical, and wise ideas and techniques. I love that we as a church family get to have his teaching. We have had much training in spiritual inner healing, but rarely have we had speakers challenge us in our day to day lives on how to experience freedom in the physical as well. Spiritual inner healing is necessary…

Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” This past Monday we wrapped up another annual Family Weekend after having not met since 2019. I, for one, had an amazing time. In fact, it’s now the middle of the week, and I still haven’t recovered fully! If you were able to join us in person or online, I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned some valuable things. If you weren’t able to join us…

As I think about all the tidbits of knowledge and wisdom that have been shared this past Family Weekend, I wonder how I can apply these things to my life today. There were many things that were caught this weekend but for the sake of time and space I will share one that stuck out to me. In the first Parenting Session, Brett talked about the progression of Parenting being: Hands on, Hands near and Hands off. It is a…

I’ve been thinking about fulfilling your calling for some time, and I’ve been seeing a lot of it in the life of David, who has one of the most drawn out examples of fulfilling calling in the Bible. David was called (well, anointed) to be king, but he doesn’t seem to fulfill his calling for a long time. David probably though he would be a shepherd his whole life until Samuel anointed him (1 Samuel 16), and right after that,…

I am a firm believer that in life and in work and in all that we do, it demands excellence. I preach it to my staff on the pastoral team, I teach this to my staff at BeaverTails. I tell the pastoral team that if we do not do devotions, pray for our people, do our memory verses – what chance do the people we are meant to Shephard have? I tell my BeaverTails staff that before you serve our…