Riding an elephant in a Texas zoo was a fun adventure for me as a child. I remember feeling on top of the world observing everything from my high perch. Male, African elephants can reach a height of thirteen feet and can weigh up to 15,000 pounds. Being a mega-strong, terrestrial animal has its advantages—the predators tend to look elsewhere for dinner.

Over the course of my life, I have been a reader. I enjoy books and the learning process, and I have found that few things in life have benefited me as much as my time in good books and the truths I have extracted from them.

Whatever the reason, we are so often focused on the next calendar item that we fail to appreciate the company of God or those with us at the present moment.

Perhaps you’ve heard that one of the best ways to overcome an inward focus (and the discouragement and depression that it can bring) is to serve others. This is good advice. But what if your entire life is already built around serving others?

We love the “if/then” proposition: “If” you do this, “then” I will do that. We love living as though the philosophy of “what goes around comes around” is true.

Sometimes when you come to a place in ministry where you have never been before—or a place you cannot seem to grow past—what you would really like to do is sit down with another ministry leader over a cup of coffee and ask questions.

God uses what we have, not what we don’t have.

I am grateful for the tremendous team the Lord has assembled here at Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College, and it is my joy to co-labor with them in the work of the Lord. I pray for our staff and their families daily and thank the Lord for how they help me serve our church family and college students.

Coconuts can drop from a swaying palm tree and then bounce and roll into the crashing surf causing them to float a thousand miles or more. Many of them find a safe haven on another land mass where they productively spread their seeds to grow new palm trees and continue the cycle of fruit-bearing.

What preacher has not had somebody get upset with him? Who has not had folks who through misinformation or a legitimate grievance have become disappointed in their pastor? All of us, if we stay any length of time, will have to deal with upset members. Here are some techniques which I believe to be scriptural and have found to be helpful.