Happy October Everybody! This is our favorite time of the year - Leaves changing colors, the nip in the evening air, the Chiefs playing football (that last one is all Pam, but Phil does enjoy watching the animated exchanges with the TV). Above all that, we are enjoying our new role as grandparents! We've been blessed to have a few opportunities to watch our new little buddy and everybody is doing great. Pam is the queen of feeding and book reading time, while Phil excels at naps. (This may...
7 days ago • 1 min read
The Benefits of Getting Old by Phil Growing older isn't for the faint of heart. Things that used to work don't work anymore, and things that still work, hurt. I've heard your memory is the second thing to go... but I can't remember the first. Sure, I could grumble about these inconveniences, but I choose to see them as blessings. I can't see as good as I used to, but the people I hang around with don't look as good as they used to so that's probably not a bad thing. In fact, I wouldn't want a...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Say what??? by Phil I don’t know if it’s because I’m a creative person, a song writer, or just plain weird, but I don’t like to take things at face value. I’m always looking for the deeper meaning, the subtle clue that reveals the author’s intention behind the obvious statement. One way I do this is when it comes to Bible passages, I imagine myself hearing it for the first time in the time and place the scripture originally occurred. This is especially effective for passages that have become...
28 days ago • 2 min read
Choices by Phil When I study the Bible, I like to use several different translations as well as go back to the original languages for specific words. The reason is simple, I like to see how different scholars through the ages have tackled the daunting task of expressing in English what was written in Greek or Hebrew. For the most part, they are very similar, but occasionally there is a slight phrasing difference that brings a whole new clarity to the original thought. Let me give you an...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Lessons from the Other Phil by Phil My very talented and crafty wife has made several customized T-shirts for me, but I haven't gotten her to make me this one yet. Let's be honest, it's not only funny, it's Biblically accurate - if we consider the other Phil, Philip the disciple. We talk a lot about evangelism in the church, the act of sharing our faith with others. It's an important job for Christ followers, and unfortunately, we sometimes do more harm than good with our approach. That's...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
What do you do? by Phil Labor Day is fast approaching and that has me thinking. One of the common ice breaker questions in conversation is "What do you do?" This has always been particularly challenging for me to answer. My tax return says I'm a "Musical Evangelist," but I don't have a document that bestows that title on me - I made it up. Am I a singer? Yes. Am I a piano player? Yes. Am I a Minister of Music? I like to think so. But I'm also a woodworker, a graphic designer, a writer, a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Today is our youngest daughter's birthday! To honor her special day, I thought I'd share one of my favorite memories from when she was a toddler, way back in 2001. Happy Birthday, Alisha! Looking for Leaves by Phil Today at lunch Alisha informed me that we were going for a walk after we finished eating. In reality this means that I will walk and she will ride her big pink tricycle with me pushing on the uphill stretches. It was a beautiful autumn day so she didn't have to twist my arm too...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Critic or Creator? by Phil Have you seen videos of skyscraper demolitions? It's fascinating to watch how with some carefully placed explosives, a towering building will collapse straight down into a cloud of dust. My first thought is admiration for the demolition experts who knew exactly where to place the explosives to bring the building down without damaging the surrounding buildings and landscape. Then I marvel at how something that took hundreds of workers thousands of hours to construct...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Even if... by Phil I recently saw a meme that said, “Fear is What if?, Faith is Even if?” That brought to mind the end of the book of Habbakuk. For even if the fig tree doesn’t blossom, and no fruit is on the vines, even if the olive tree fails to produce, and the fields yield no food at all, even if the sheep vanish from the sheep pen, and there are no cows in the stalls; still, I will rejoice in Adonai (the LORD), I will take joy in the God of my salvation. - Hab 3:17-18 CJB Habbakuk is an...
2 months ago • 1 min read