by steve | Sep 30, 2017 | Resources
Just over three weeks ago I launched a short Facebook Live program called Mid-Week with Steve. That’s the title of the program right now anyway. There were a number of reasons for the inaugural launch but a huge one was simply my desire to continue on with something similar to Sunday Night Discussions that Robert Tippet and I ran for a couple of years. At heart, the SND live webcasts were born out of the desire to answer hard questions about God and life.
After two years it was clear that because of life logistics, SND had simply run its adventurous course. It was a productive and fun program. In fact, we still have people viewing the playbacks of the shows today. However, we simply were not able to run SND any longer. The desire to address those big questions though was still in my heart.
So in the original spirit of SND, Mid-Week with Steve was launched. The plan is to do this live event every Wednesday at noon on my FB page. If you have not yet taken in one of the live shows, I’ve embedded the most resent one below. The program format is evolving but the time frame will probably continue to be around five minutes or so. Here is where you come in. I’d like your input. Will you give an answer to the following questions below? You can answer here, email me, or respond via Messenger or text as well.
Thank you and I look forward to getting your ideas.
- Is there a better name, title, for the show?
- Is there a better time for the show?
- What other suggestions would you have for the show? Topics or other?
by steve | Sep 15, 2017 | Just Life, Kingdom Living
The bottom line is that when Deb and I got married, she was a virgin and I was not. One of the modern myths about sex is that it’s just physical and no big deal. I don’t believe this and that is certainly not my journey. The emotions have been all over the place in my adult life. At one point I can experience the true forgiveness and redemption of Jesus with an understanding of grace that people with less checkered lives just can’t understand. On the other hand, there are still residual times when I ache for my choices of sexual activity before marriage. I don’t blame the girl. I know it was my decision and it pains me. If there was anything that I could take back, it would be those pre-marital sexual actions that I took during the dark ages on my high school years and young adult life. But I can’t. (more…)
by steve | Sep 7, 2017 | Kingdom Living
I’m not a country western fan. In fact, I like to tell people that God created music and then Satan made an attempt at it which resulted in country-western. Really, there are so many different genres of music that I enjoy from classical to Christian hard rock. Head banger music is what our church admin assistant calls it. I’ve picked up a love for Irish, Scottish, and English folks music of late and sometimes old traditional Russian music will find its way to my Pandora stations. A seasoning amount of classic rock is threaded through my week as well. But I just can’t make the switch to country-western. Ok, maybe some John Denver once in a while. But that’s probably a bit more folk than western. No, country music and I just don’t do business with each other.
My wife however grew up on the country twang. Many of those songs bring fond memories to her and set her at ease. I don’t naturally like country, but she does. Thus the question of what do we listen to over the car radio. (more…)
by steve | Sep 1, 2017 | Just Life
This afternoon I’m at my home office computer watching the live stream Memorial service for one of the men who encouraged me in ministry. His name is Roy Wheeler and he served in Amarillo, Texas for over 40 years as the Senior Minister for Hillside Christian Church. (Known as Paramount Terrace Christian Church when I was growing up) My first two suits came from Roy and those are a necessity, at least back then, for being a preacher. Roy came up to Joplin, Missouri in April of 1994 to hear my senior sermon and participate in my ordination service for full-time Christian ministry. Later on that day Roy said he was so impressed with my sermon that he wanted me to come back to Paramount Terrace and preach it for all three Sunday morning services before Debi and I left for Moscow, Russia as missionaries.
I wanted to make the memorial service today but with all the Hurricane relief that our Houston area church is engaged in, I just couldn’t make it happen. I’m sure that among all the people who were in attendance, there will be a number of men, like me, who owe part of their journey in Christian ministry to Roy. While it was Jesus who truly called me to this task, it was Roy and men like him who confirmed it. For that I am ever grateful.
This afternoon is indeed one of those times in the race of our lives when we do stop and think about those who have been a positive influence on us. For me, I’d say that the “A Team” list of older mentors in my life, who have encouraged me in ministry, would be Eric Wolfram, Max Goins, Mark Scott, Fred Masteller, Dennis Platt, Bob Gerhardt, and Steve Sigler in addition to Roy. Maybe for you, today can also be a time to remember, thank Jesus for, and possibly reach out to those who have encouraged you.
Likewise, as we live in such a negative culture today, the positive power of the tongue is such a rarity. I often ask myself whom I might encourage like these men have done to me. What about you? The reality is that all of us will be at center stage of a funeral or memorial service someday. At that time, who will be stopping and thanking Jesus for allowing you to be a positive influence in their lives?
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