Are You Having Fun? by Phil Last time we started out the new year talking about our approach - refining our focus. This time I'd like to talk about our attitude for the new year. (Disclaimer here: this one is a reminder for me, but you are welcome to listen in!) As most of you already know, I ventured into the world of wood turning last year. (My wood working journey seems to find it's way into my devotions on a regular basis, but that's because I see so many parallels between it and my faith...
9 days ago • 2 min read
Welcome to 2026! We pray this year is filled with good times, exciting opportunities and God's abundant blessings. It's hard to believe, but 30 years ago about this time we were working on our first album that launched our ministry. What an adventure it has been! Pam and I are working on some special events to mark this milestone year that we'll be sharing with you a little later. In the meantime, if you'd like to bring us to your church for the first time or a repeat visit, drop us an email...
16 days ago • 2 min read
ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part four, JOY We've come to the end of our exploration of the themes of Advent - presented in wood! So far in our wood turning journey we've selected the wood, smoothed off the rough edges and shaped it into it's final form. Now it’s time to take our creation off the lathe and put it to use. We may have created a bowl for a yummy salad, a snack platter for holiday entertaining, a vase to hold a bouquet of flowers or a dish to keep rings and jewelry safe at night. Or...
30 days ago • 1 min read
ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part three, LOVE Welcome back to the woodshop for another look at the themes of Advent. We've selected our log and smoothed off the rough places. Now it's time to get down to the real work of discovering just what is hiding inside this piece of wood. We'll use a variety of tools, some very aggressive to take off lots of material and others very delicate to create fine details. Along the way there will probably be unforeseen places where a deformity or crack in the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
ADVENT IN THE WOODSHOP - Part two, PEACE We continue our look at Advent through eyes of a wood turner. Last time we selected a chunk of wood in hope of a masterpiece hiding inside. Now it's time to chuck it onto the lathe. We start by trying to find the approximate center of the piece. No matter how close we get, the odd shape of the rough wood will cause the lathe to shake a bit as it turns. We ease the roughing gouge slowly toward the spinning wood and it jumps and jerks in our hands as the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Welcome to December! It snowed here in KC on the first, so that must mean the holiday season is officially here. In this busy time of year, we pray you take time to savor each moment and remember the great gift from God we celebrate with Jesus' birth. This marks the 25th year of our weekly devotions. Phil wrote the first one on December 28, 1999. (We'll include it below.) We've lost count, but over these 25 years, the number of devotions has climbed into the thousands. Our intention was to...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Home by Phil Last month Pam and I took a little trip to Maine to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation with plenty of lighthouses for Pam and lobsters for me! I'm already wondering what I'll eat, I mean where we'll go for #36. We've spent many nights in various hotels and guest homes during our lives on the road. When I wake up at night (usually because I have to go to the bathroom), I'm not immediately sure where I am. I have to look around to jog my...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Buy Once, Cry Once by Phil Growing up, my family never had a lot of money. I remember many trips to the outlet store for school clothes and grocery shopping at the day-old bakery. Many of our appliances were returns that were thrown away at Sears where my dad worked. He would bring them home, fix them up (I wish he had passed that talent down to me!) and they would last us for years. Don't get me wrong, we had everything we needed, just not a bunch of extras. That's where I learned to be...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Veteran's Day by Phil Tuesday, November 11 is (or was depending on when you read this) Veteran's Day. Around this time we often think of Jesus' words in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends," with Jesus' sacrifice on the cross being the ultimate example of His love for us. But Veteran's Day is not just for those who gave their lives, that's Memorial Day. Veteran's Day is for all those who were willing to serve our country, to give their time...
2 months ago • 1 min read