He who is the Lord of life… came to bind up, not to break; to heal, not to destroy. (Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed) I sat alone with my back to a big elm tree, looking out over the Des Moines River valley, North toward the Kate Shelley bridge. The 16” of snow on the […]
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46.10. As Missionaries in Europe, we were privileged to travel the continent and UK, visiting many beautiful historic cities. Living in Europe, travel wasn’t that expensive, so we used our vacation time […]
Joshua was terrified. No, the Bible doesn’t expressly state this. However, the phrase “be strong and courageous” is used four times in Joshua chapter 1. FOUR TIMES! When a phrase is put on repeat, it’s because you desperately need to focus in on that one truth. Not only that, but we hear it used from […]
During our family’s two decades as missionaries to Europe, we lived for a time in Tours, France, deep in the heart of the beautiful Loire Valley. My duties required that I attend meetings in Belgium’s capital city of Brussels regularly. On one such trip north, I needed to visit the local “Bigg’s,” a Belgian […]
Matthew 28:16-20 “16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples […]
Two weeks ago, in Part One of this two-part look at church trends to anticipate in 2026, I presented nine negative trends of the year to come. You can read that article here. In this article, we turn our attention to a more encouraging subject: nine welcome trends. “Revival is Christ. . . Revival is […]
Born in the late ‘50s, I’ve seen my share of trends. Cars, clothes, and cultural icons, I’ve seen them all. And having lived in the French-speaking region of Europe, I’ve even seen fashion trends come to America. In their teen years, on those rare occasions when my daughters came to America, they were always studied […]
Every December, Journey Pastoral Coaching posts Christmas wishes for ministers. These are requests we are asking God to grant to His servants. In past years, we’ve posted wishes for pastors, missionaries, and young ministers; we’ve posted the wishes of history’s pastors for the pastors of today. And we’ve posted the Christmas wishes our pastoral coach […]
As we turn the final pages of the book on 2025, I offer my annual list of favorite reads for the year. This was another great reading year with many happy hours invested in the “Big Three” of mellow music, strong coffee, and a good book. As always, this is not a list of my […]
When we were missionaries in France and Belgium, we discovered one of Europe’s most wonderful secrets: its book villages. Towns like Montolieu (France), St. Pierre-des-Clages (Switzerland), and our personal favorite, Redu (Belgium) are essentially village-wide bookstores, given over not just to the selling of books, but to their enjoyment, and the encouragement of reading. Imagine […]
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