I love reading conversion stories. One of the magazines I subscribe to – Christianity Today – regularly includes a first-person account of a particularly interesting or dramatic conversion. Last year, for example, one of the accounts was written by an English professor named Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. Here’s how she starts her conversion story: “The word Jesus stuck in my throat like an elephant tusk; no matter how hard I choked, I couldn’t hack it out. Those who professed the name commanded my pity and wrath. As a university professor, I tired of students who seemed to believe that ‘knowing Jesus’ meant knowing little else … Stupid. Pointless. Menacing. That’s what I thought of Christians and their god Jesus, who in paintings looked as powerful as a Breck Shampoo commercial model.” The title of Ms. Butterfield’s conversion story is “My Train Wreck Conversion,” and here’s the subtitle: “As a leftist, lesbian professor, I despised Christians. Then I became one.” It’s quite a dramatic story, and for those of us who are praying for the conversion of our loved ones, quite encouraging.

“WHEN NOBODY DID IT: HANDLING NATURE’S HICCUPS”

How To Handle Pain Without Becoming One

January 26, 2013

Cornerstone Community Church

Our son was about four years old at the time. My wife was hard at work in her office upstairs in our home when Ryan came running into the room. He had something to tell her – something important. Pausing to catch his breath Ryan began with an announcement: “Nobody did it, Mom; nobody did it.” And then, before running back out of the room, Ryan said as calmly as he could, “I need a towel.”

Finding a movie everyone in the family enjoys watching can be a challenge. Stereotypically, men like to watch action flicks and women like to watch romantic comedies, and that’s largely true in our family as well. But there are two types of movies Brenda and I tend to agree on. For one thing, we tend to prefer true stories over pure fiction. And here’s a second category of movie that we tend to agree on – we both like a movie where the bad guy gets what’s coming to him. One such movie that comes to mind is the 2002 Jennifer Lopez flick called “Enough.” It’s a story about a man who is cruel and abusive to his wife. And it isn’t long before we in the audience are thinking, “OK, that’s enough. It’s time for justice; it’s time for some payback.” And given that “Enough” is the title of the movie, you can guess what happens – the bad guy gets what’s coming to him.

Finding a movie everyone in the family enjoys watching can be a challenge. Stereotypically, men like to watch action flicks and women like to watch romantic comedies, and that’s largely true in our family as well. But there are two types of movies Brenda and I tend to agree on. For one thing, we tend to prefer true stories over pure fiction. And here’s a second category of movie that we tend to agree on – we both like a movie where the bad guy gets what’s coming to him. One such movie that comes to mind is the 2002 Jennifer Lopez flick called “Enough.” It’s a story about a man who is cruel and abusive to his wife. And it isn’t long before we in the audience are thinking, “OK, that’s enough. It’s time for justice; it’s time for some payback.” And given that “Enough” is the title of the movie, you can guess what happens – the bad guy gets what’s coming to him.

“SURPRISED BY HOPE: A SURPRISING DESTINY”

Surprised By Christmas

December 29, 2013

Cornerstone Community Church

It’s a very old song, but you’ve likely heard it at some time in your life no matter what your age. It was made popular by Frank Sinatra, and it went by the title of “High Hopes.” Here’s how the song goes, in part:

Next time you’re found, with your chin on the ground

There’s a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can’t

Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you’re getting low

Stead of letting go

Just remember that ant

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

I didn’t say it was a good song; I said it was a popular song. Do you remember the most popular song of 2012? It was “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen – a popular song, not a good song. So let’s cut “High Hopes” some slack.

“SURPRISED BY HOPE: A SURPRISING DESTINY”

Surprised By Christmas

December 29, 2013

Cornerstone Community Church

It’s a very old song, but you’ve likely heard it at some time in your life no matter what your age. It was made popular by Frank Sinatra, and it went by the title of “High Hopes.” Here’s how the song goes, in part:

Next time you’re found, with your chin on the ground

There’s a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can’t

Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you’re getting low

Stead of letting go

Just remember that ant

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

I didn’t say it was a good song; I said it was a popular song. Do you remember the most popular song of 2012? It was “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen – a popular song, not a good song. So let’s cut “High Hopes” some slack.

Have you ever made an announcement that was so wonderful and so surprising that no one believed you? I moved to California from Minnesota, where I grew up, in March of 1979 at the age of 24. I spent a few months in San Diego and then I moved up here to San Jose and began working at a church in Willow Glen. I was single at the time, and frankly had not done so well in the girlfriend department, something my friends and family back in Minnesota had witnessed firsthand.

Have you ever made an announcement that was so wonderful and so surprising that no one believed you? I moved to California from Minnesota, where I grew up, in March of 1979 at the age of 24. I spent a few months in San Diego and then I moved up here to San Jose and began working at a church in Willow Glen. I was single at the time, and frankly had not done so well in the girlfriend department, something my friends and family back in Minnesota had witnessed firsthand.

“SURPRISED BY GOD’S TIMING – A SURPRISING SCHEDULE”

Surprised By Christmas

December 15, 2013

Cornerstone Community Church

The song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” In many ways, that’s true – Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. But more often than not, time is exactly what keeps Christmas from being as wonderful in reality as it is in our dreams.

For some of us it’s the lack of time that’s the problem. Our schedule is simply too full, life is already too busy, and then we add Christmas on top of it all, and it just becomes overwhelming. How many of you have ever intended to send out Christmas cards but ended up not sending them because you ran out of time? Have you ever failed to get all the way through your Christmas shopping list because you just ran out of time? Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it sure takes a lot of time – shopping, baking, office parties, school parties, travel plans, family gatherings, putting up the Christmas lights, cutting down the tree, decorating, and on and on.

“SURPRISED BY GOD’S TIMING – A SURPRISING SCHEDULE”

Surprised By Christmas

December 15, 2013

Cornerstone Community Church

The song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” In many ways, that’s true – Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. But more often than not, time is exactly what keeps Christmas from being as wonderful in reality as it is in our dreams.

For some of us it’s the lack of time that’s the problem. Our schedule is simply too full, life is already too busy, and then we add Christmas on top of it all, and it just becomes overwhelming. How many of you have ever intended to send out Christmas cards but ended up not sending them because you ran out of time? Have you ever failed to get all the way through your Christmas shopping list because you just ran out of time? Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it sure takes a lot of time – shopping, baking, office parties, school parties, travel plans, family gatherings, putting up the Christmas lights, cutting down the tree, decorating, and on and on.