My heart craved some extended time with God this morning. The last few weeks have been fun and full of adventure… But they have not allowed for my regular spiritual discipline of Friday morning walks with God. Until today. So, … Continue reading
I recently finished (re)reading Eugene Peterson’s memoir, The Pastor. It was my second reading (at least). But I especially enjoyed the reading this time around because it served to facilitate weekly discussions with two lovely young people who were doing paid internships … Continue reading
“The Great Commission” sounds great, doesn’t it? It feels exciting and meaningful. To “go and make disciples,” to start new churches from scratch, to change the world. One soul at a time, one city at a time. And I really … Continue reading
We’re saying good-bye to the YSU Team in stages. The big, whole-church, whole-Sunday Send-Off was great. I can see how it will also be important to help with actually moving boxes and furniture, starting this weekend. Both for practical reasons … Continue reading
This has been a special Sunday: a Send-Off Sunday. We had the privilege of commissioning two brand-new pastors for a team of ten brand-new church planters trusting God to start a brand-new H2O Church at Youngstown State University with the … Continue reading
Forty-two of us went to practice spiritual disciplines in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee this week. Most days, we started with a session in which we sang a couple of worship songs and taught a couple of spiritual disciplines. … Continue reading
I love our church’s Spring Break trip to the Great Smoky Mountains for many reasons. The change in scenery… the opportunity to practice spiritual disciplines… the community and camaraderie… All of these are lovely. But on our recent drive from … Continue reading
I believe it was 2015 when our church first started using pancakes as a way to connect with bar-hopping college students in downtown Kent. We’d heard about the strategy from some other ministry leaders in the Pacific Northwest. And since … Continue reading
It’s comical how many permutations of the name “ManMaker” exist within the H2O Network, within our own church, and even within our own staff team. ManMaker… Manmaker.. Man-Maker… Man Maker… Man Maker’s… Man-makers… Man’s Maker’s… I think the time may … Continue reading
For the past twenty years, a leader in our network of churches has been guiding people into the wilderness for spiritual solitude. He promotes the program very simply and directly: WilderneSS excursions are comprised of five days of complete solitude. … Continue reading