Does your devotional walk every become routine? Mechanical? Do you ever find yourself going through the motions, but rushing and not really enjoying personal fellowship with the Lord? Last night in Senior High Bible Study we studied how to conquer “impersonal Christianity”—a Christianity that knows about God but doesn’t really develop personal intimacy with Him. [...]
Do you ever have the feeling that you’re so busy, major values and priorities in your life are slipping? This is a sinking feeling—and bailing water doesn’t help. Time to plug the holes in the boat! Here’s a short list that might help you evaluate priorities and return to that which is most important in [...]
Recently I was having a conversation with a wonderful servant of God who has worked for several “high-profile” Christian leaders in the past two decades. This is a person for whom I have the utmost respect—an individual with a very gracious spirit, incredible gift mix, and true servant’s heart. And this is a person who [...]
Hello from left field again! Apparently a lot of you have brains that spend time in left field as well, because the post that I almost didn’t post turned out to be one that many of you responded to. Thank you for the comments, emails, messages and for those who referred the first half of [...]
This is a bit out of left field—but that’s where my brain has been spending a lot of time lately, so here goes. Over the past few months, I’ve been making a short list of really bad habits—not like nail-biting or over-eating. These are more elusive bad habits—and a lot more dangerous. They are the [...]
The December edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast is now live. It’s a little late, but you were probably too busy before Christmas to listen to it any way, right? The lesson is entitled “10 Characteristics of a Healthy Church” and it focuses on the health of a church as opposed to the growth. So [...]
Perhaps you’ve come across this blog in the past 12 months. If so, this post is for you. Over the past few years, I’ve written a number of articles about creating an annual planner for life and ministry and about personal productivity. I thought it might be helpful to re-post these with titles, summaries, and [...]
If there’s one thing that modern culture, technology, and the evolutionary world view have killed in even our Christian teenagers, it’s a life vision. Today, we desperately need an army of student ministry leaders to awaken vision in the hearts of young people. While some teens have some small form of vision for their future, [...]
Lately, especially while battling cancer, I’ve been greatly encouraged by devotionals from Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest.” Nearly every day the Lord has blessed my life by something profound from this man’s heart. So in this post, I’m shot-gunning a collection of quotes that have been significant to me and why. I hope [...]
Correction on the November Spiritual Leadership Podcast—the one I previously wrote about was actually October’s lesson. November’s lesson is about Balancing Pastoral Priorities and was taught originally at Spiritual Leadership Conference 2010. This lesson investigates the roles and responsibilities of the Pastor and breaks down some practical and biblical input on how to balance those [...]
Growing the Church in Biblical Stewardship was October’s Spiritual Leadership Podcast! You can listen to it above or subscribe to the Spiritual Leadership Podcast through iTunes. This month’s lesson is a great resource on how to lead the church to growth in the basics of biblical stewardship. There are a lot of unhealthy leadership techniques [...]
Here’s a quick list of things I wish I could say to every young adult! 1. You are of eternal value and significance because God doesn’t make junk. Regardless of who mistreated you, what lies you’ve been told, or how bad your past has been—you have a future and God has good plans for you. [...]
Note: This post is both related to encouraging biblical principles as well as current events in my life, so I’m posting it here as well as the Hodgkins blog. I pray it will be useful to you. Will a living man complain against God? Hold that thought, we’ll come back to it. It’s the night [...]
First, I must thank you from the depths of my heart for so many of you who have written, messaged, or somehow contacted our family expressing love, support, prayer, and encouragement. We have been overwhelmed by your kindness, and are grateful beyond words. A few moments ago, I spoke with a doctor and received confirmation [...]
Dear Family and Friends, I apologize in advance for the long post, but I want to share some recent news in our lives that the Lord is unfolding. This past Wednesday, after a series of appointments and a CT scan, we received word from my doctor that I have a probable case of lymphoma. We [...]
