Congrats to Flyer Basketball Team

For the third year in a row, the Flyers win on a last second shot. They defeat Apollo and are on their way to state.

40 Days of Love, day 2

Yesterday, Living Hope Church began a new series, "40 Days of Love". We strategically placed this series between Valentines day and Easter, two days that emphasize the demonstration of love.


There are three key things that we are doing to help us grow in our love for God and for others.

Along with our Sunday morning teaching, we have many Life Groups (adult small groups) that are meeting all around the Little Falls and Rice area. The third thing we are doing is reading from Tom Holladay's book, "The Relationship Principles of Jesus". This book walks us through forty daily readings focused on six foundational relationship truths taught by Jesus.

Allow me to highlight a couple of thoughts from the day 2 devotional.

• Are you letting the unimportant intrude on the truly important in your relationships?
• "A healthy relationship with God and healthy relationships with others have the power to keep our commitments to the things and the tasks in our lives from getting out of balance".

Here is today's Point to Ponder: God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships.

If you were in church yesterday, I concluded the service with two challenges, both dealing with putting love into action.
The first thing was an offering to help two families in our church. All I can say is WOW! You came through big time. I know they will be blessed.
The second thing was to commit at least 5-15 minutes every day, giving focused attention to every family member. It doesn't seem like much but it is probably a lot more than many are doing now.

If you missed the message, you can listen to it on our podcast.

Enjoy your journey!

Missionaries Coming, Millsaps on Sunday

This Sunday, January 31st, Living Hope Church in Little Falls and Rice will be having David and Kandra Millsaps. They are missionaries to Lithuania. As you can see from the picture, they will be working with Teen Challenge while doing church planting. Wow! That sounds pretty awesome.

Invite your friends for a challenging and uplifting service. 9 AM at Rice and 10:45 at Little Falls.

Mark is "Student of the Month"

I want to congratulate my son Mark on being named the Little Falls Community High School male "Student of the Month". Darla and I are so proud of him. Here is a link to read the article in the Morrison County Record.

Surround Yourself by Truth-Tellers

Today I read an article regarding leaders surrounding themselves with people that will tell them the truth. Part of the article stated, "It is extremely important for leaders gather people around who are willing and not afraid to tell them the truth. It can be deadly for a leader to be surrounded by individuals who will blindly march in lock-step. This usually because those kinds of team members are either too fearful, timid or really do not care what happens to the ministry. They are also easy to find and few organizations need any more than they already have. Leaders need to be secure enough in who they are to seek to gather around them people who give them diverse and honest opinions so the leader you can make the best possible directional decisions".
Ralph Heath, Leaders Must Surround Themselves With Fearless People, 4/17/09

After reading this article I took some time to evaluate who is currently surrounding me, speaking into my life. Do I give them the freedom, the right, the opportunity to tell me the truth, from their perspective, without facing any negative consequences? Am I afraid to hear the truth?

I realize that everyone has a blind-side. There are things that we just can't see or perhaps refuse to see. It is a real blessing to have people that care enough for me, that feel our relationship is secure enough, that they will share with me things I don't see.

Whether you view yourself as a leader or not, we all need to have people in our lives that will have the freedom to speak the truth to us.


"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ". Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)

Take a moment and ask yourself, "who surrounds me and have I given them the permission to speak truth into my life".

Baby It's Cold Outside

This picture says it all! I hope it puts a smile on your face. Tell me again why people think global warming is happening.

Day 4 of One Month to Live

The church I pastor, Living Hope church in Little Falls and Rice, MN has just started the series, "One Month to Live, 30 Days to a No-Regrets Life", by Kerry & Chris Shook. The book by that title is a New York Times bestseller.

Today is day #4, "Power Surge, connecting with the ultimate source".

"People who know their lives will soon be over tend to feel a desperate urge to change. But a desperation to change is not enough. In order to sustain the changes, we have to be connected to a power source beyond ourselves-a power source that never wavers, flickers, or leaves us in the dark. We have to move from willpower to the real power that comes from a connection to our Creator." p. 26

As a pastor I have witnessed several people who have had a "death-bed conversion". Upon their reflecting on life and the final days that are nearing, there is a realization that something needs to change. Their life without God has been incomplete. This has always motivated me to evaluate my connection to God. We all know it can be easy to "drift" away or at the very least, loose our motivation. Power for living, whether it is one day or 100 years comes from our connection to our Creator.

Take a moment and ask yourself, "What is one thing you can do today to connect with God in a greater way?" Now...enjoy the power surge.