Category: personal
-
Today is Baby Day!
Today, by God’s grace we will be welcoming Hudson Noah Engstrom (AKA The Deuce) into the world! You can find our updates here. Please pray for our family today!
-
Today Was a Great Day
Every once in awhile, you have an absolutely outstanding day, and God’s faithfulness is overwhelming. Today was one of them. Here’s the rundown: Donuts with my wife and son Sermon prep Meeting discussing future vision of some specific ministry and my role in it Developing a staff training for social media engagement with a few…
-
Pastoring a Wedding
I’ve really grown to enjoy the role of officiating weddings as a pastor. I’ve had the opportunity to perform a half-dozen weddings over the last year–some for old friends, some for new friends–and I am consistently reminded of God’s grace in my life to bring me such an amazing woman. Additionally, the symbolism of the…
-
One Reason I Love the iPhone
Mobile note taking. I’ve never been one for writing thoughts down because I never wanted to carry a journal or notepad. Now I have an easy way to joy notes as I go, and sync them with my computer for developing and further thought with ease. Thank you, Apple, for helping me catalogue those important…
-
Tribes
I just started reading this book (which is really more just a collection of thoughts), and it has been sparking some good thoughts in me. It naturally makes you re-examine your leadership and the people you are influencing, and it gives me a good lens to understand where I am strong and where I am…
-
Reading the Bible – A Simple Truth
I guess I’ve been in a reflective mood over the past few weeks, and have been dwelling on some of the things I have learned over the past few years. Since college, my view of the Bible has been drastically altered from a book filled with nuggets of wisdom to the narrative of the glory…
-
The Calm Before the Storm
These last two weeks have been very restful. College ministry has been winding down for the year, and I had a full blown retreat with our staff and a mini-retreat with the Nearly/Newly Wed class Leadership team. I realized Monday, however, that I have ~5 weeks before The Deuce (baby #2) comes along, and it’s…
-
Inconvenience
Small inconveniences are a good opportunity to slow down and think. I’m waiting for my tire to get fixed, and it’s been a good forty-five minutes of nothing to do. I’m reflecting on my last post and asking God to continue to tie threads of gospel truth from my head to my heart, and this…
-
Redeeming Love
At The Austin Stone today, Aaron Ivey led us in worship to song called “Praise for a Fountain Opened” or more commonly, “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood”. The last line of the fourth verse, and the anthem we camp out on is: Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be til I…
-
The Holy Spirit
I’ve been dwelling on the Holy Spirit as I read Jaeson Ma‘s book The Blueprint. Here is my simple, yet difficult, thought that arose: the degree to which the gospel is central in my life is directly correlated to the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit in me and through me. If I want to…
-
Managing Time and Relationships
I’ve been pondering proactively managing my time lately as my ministry slate continues to get more diverse and challenging. The difficulty for me is scheduling specific time for study and stillness when there are so many pressing issues and meetings. I definitely need to grow in faith and obedience to God that time spent praying…
-
Resurrection Hope through Death
I am reflecting on the cross of Christ this Good Friday, and anticipating celebration of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. I think I am more painfully aware today of our simultaneous joy and sorrow as I am reflecting on the cross of Christ. It was at the cross that the fullness of God’s character was…