Altared Perception

Most people view me as a positive person. "Dave, the friendly, outgoing guy." Some people who know me don't know that this has not always been the case.  In fact, at one point I was quite the opposite. tou gh questions i never though i'd ask I had a hard time adjusting to college. Why? Well, it was my first major life change. I grew up in the same house, at the same church, and with the same high school classmates. Everyone knew me. I know how things around me worked. I was confident in who I was...until I moved to Chicago. I was excited to start off with a blank slate, but it turned out to be much harder than I expected. I was used to being a big fish in a small pond....but I got thrown in the ocean with a bunch of other big fish. It was a bit of a shock, and I didn't have the safety nets around me that I was used to. I got placed into a peculiar group of people. My roommate, my neighbors, my ministry partners...well, they all were asking some tough que

I recently posted about my friend Lyman . He recently turned 94 years old. Man...94. That’s impressive. Spending time with him over the last year has really made me look at life differently.  I mean, my default is to look through my 26-year-old optimist glasses.  It’s easy to assume that my health will always be this good, that I’ll land a job that I love, that I will settle down, marry someone, have kids, and have it all at the end of my life. But, again, that’s the 26-year-old optimism coming out. Which makes me think: what if God wanted to keep me on this earth until I was 94? I thought looking at Lyman’s life would help me answer this question.  I thought about it, and it’s sobering:  +He met countless people over the decades…but most of them have passed away.  +He gets to spend time with his wife everyday, but she has dementia and it limits what she can do. +He will never be kicked out of this assisted living facility , but his lifetime savings is quickly

Seminary is really cool.  I've learned a lot of things while I've been there.  I'm walking in the graduation ceremony in a couple days, and it's bittersweet. One one hand, I will miss the community and the conversation.  On the other, I am glad to be done with the papers and book reports! I have enjoyed my time there.  It's been worth it.  In fact, I preached my last sermon a couple weeks ago, and it was one of the most enjoyable messages I've ever given!  Want to watch it?  Check it out here: Length: 15 minutes. Passage: Luke 2:1-14 Perspective: 1st Person (from the point-of-view of Joseph, Jesus' father)

In 2010, I went hardcore.  I gave up sugar.  Yup. Ok, let me clarify.  Sugar is in virtually everything , including milk, bread, fruits and veggies.  I didn't give these up.  But I did give up artificial sugar.  No Choco Puffs.  No soda.  No dessert. Basically I continued to eat cereal in the morning, but switched to Crispix.  And instead of soda or juice? Water, all the time... (except for my cereal milk)  And how about that dessert?  I just had to say no.  (Although, I did let myself have a spoonful of peanut butter and a glass of milk before going to bed each night... :)  I pretty much cut out all refined sugars and limited my natural sugar intake.  The first few weeks were tough, but once the middle of February hit it became much easier. So why in the world would someone want to give up sugar, especially for a year?  What could possibly possess a person to pass up pie and peach cobbler?  Easy.  It was an experiment. I'm glad I did this experiment, but I think t

The Bible is God's Word.  And it's chock full 'o stories about God and people.  These stories take place over the course of thousands of years.  They were written by different people for different people.  Some were written in times of famine, others in times of feast. So, with all these different stories, what holds them together?  There must be some theme that flows through them, right? Bible scholars have spent countless hours pouring over the Bible, trying to find its unifying theme.  Many different themes have been proposed, some making more sense than others.  But there's one theme that seems to come back again and again--one that I believe holds everything from Genesis to Revelation together. Here it is: God dwelling with his people. Think about it.  God walked with Adam and Eve in the Bible ( Gen. 2 ).  When they sinned against him, they were separated from him by being kicked out of the garden ( Gen. 3 ).  Ever since then, God has been trying to restore

So about a year ago I started hanging out with a pretty cool guy.  His name is Lyman, and he's 93.  Ever couple Thursdays we hang out at his pad (an assisted living facility) and talk about life and stuff.  How did I meet this guy?  Well, Lyman grew up in my hometown and ended up in Grand Rapids.  My dad knew his brother really well, so he visits Lyman every time he's in town.  Dad encouraged me to drop by and spend some time with this fascinating man.  So I took my dad's challenge.  And I'm glad I did. I'm part of the Millennial generation, and we value a lot of cool things.  We really push for inter-generational dialogue, and--I have to admit--the prospect of hanging out with a 93 year-old was kind of cool!  I mean, can you imagine sitting at the feet of someone who has lived almost four times as long as you?  Think about all the hidden gems of wisdom I can glean from.  Talking to someone who's lived that long, gosh, that will give me a whole new perspecti

Recently I've been talking to some friends in eV--my church group--about embarking on the journey of blogging together.  Some people have questions.  "How do I blog? What do I blog? Where do I start?"  A couple people suggested blogging about how to blog.  That's what this post is all about.  It will lay a foundation for anyone looking to launch into the blogosphere with confidence and direction. Content (what to say): Stick with your passions -- The biggest hurdle to starting a blog: "what should I write about? Where do I begin?"  The answer is this: stick with your passions!  Write about something you would like to read about.  Whether you blog about relationships , Christian issues , everyday life , or a conglomeration of everything , what matters is that it matters to you. Find your niche -- Eventually you will want to answer this question: "what is my niche? What do I add to the blogosphere that is unique?"  When this dawns on you, yo

So I grew up Baptist.  If you know anything about Baptist stereotypes, you know we're known for our long list of "No's": Don't smoke, don't drink, don't chew, nor go with girls who do.  It's easy to make a list of Don'ts.  But how often do we stress the Do's? There's this verse in the Bible that commands us to embrace Do's.  You find it in the last chapter of Philippians (4:8), and it is worth quoting: " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just , whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise --think about these things ." How good of a job do we do at thinking about these good, pure things?  I mean, it's easy to get negative and critical and focus on all the things that aren't right in the world.  What about thinking about the things that are ? Well, I'd like to share some things that I t

So I've been wanting to post for almost 3 weeks now, and I haven't.  Why?  Chaos.  Life has been chaotic. How do I know life has been chaotic?  I looked around at my "space" at home, and it's a mess.  Papers not organized.  Clothes not put away.  Dishes piled up.  I realized my space is a reflection of how I'm doing.  When I am focused, when I'm proactive, when I'm doing "life" well, everything around me is in order.  When life gets thrown at me, when I haven't had a chance to rest, when I'm too busy to organize, things pile up.  You might say it like this: the space around me is a reflection of me. I can tell when I'm thinking clearly, setting goals, and managing my time well: clean room. I can also tell when my brain is foggy, I'm feeling stressed out, and my life is disorganized: messy room.  My space is a litmus test of how I'm doing in general. But here's the good news.  Tonight I became proactive.  I clea

I miss blogging. About three years ago I started a blog for myself.  Why?  To remember.  I don't know about you, but I forget really easy.  God teaches me something profound, I feel inspired, and I charge forward with confidence!... Only to lose my steam, get caught in the ordinariness of life, and forget what God has done in me. So I started a blog, so I'd remember God's goodness to me. Then I stopped.  I got a full-time job and took classes part-time.  And it seemed very hard to fit blogging time in there.  I haven't touched that blog for two years. So here I am, starting Blog 2.0.  Why?  Well, I have time again.  And I want to keep reminders of God's goodness in front of me.  But that's not the biggest reason. No, this is why I'm starting up a blog again: I realized I lost my voice.  No, not literally.  But I forgot what it feels like to express myself. And that's an awful place to be. You know what happens to water when it s