Maybe you've heard the story.  Last week Pastor Andrew Stoecklein of Inland Hills Church (Chino, CA) took his own life.  He was 30 years old, and with his 29 year old wife Kayla had three young sons, aged 5, 4, and 2.

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That's the way it goes with "riches". You aren't given them to hoard them. They are to be passed on, to serve as a blessing for others.

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We are all the same. In these hard moments, words become all that we have.  We use them like packing peanuts.  We think that if life is full of them that it somehow keeps us safe, protects us from being damaged or broken.

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Four years ago last Sunday, my best friend (other than my wife) of 27 years died in a tragic drowning accident. His name was Matt Auten. He was 45. He left behind an amazing wife and two sons. He also left behind a tremendous impact on my life, so much so that rarely a day goes by without some memory or thought that is tied to what he meant to me. What's interesting is that in the past four years his absence has influenced me just as much or more than his presence did before.

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“It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God”

Ever feel that way?

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One of the biggest questions I run into as a pastor and as a person is "Why can't I seem to change?"  Even when I know the right thing to do I struggle to do it. I see time after time when people can't seem to shake a destructive behaviour, despite the fact that it brings them pain. This is obvious in cases like addiction, where drugs and alcohol take over a person regardless of how much pain and brokenness their presence brings. But the same thing happens more subtly with tendencies toward pride and selfishness, fear of failure and shame. All of these characteristics seem to propel us toward behaviours which actually do us harm, and yet it appears we are often powerless to choose the better, and healthier, path. I am coming to realize…

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When the sea came calling in my life, I had to realize that my faith isn’t what I do for God, or what I believe about God, but it is the fact that I am totally consumed by who He is.  My identity isn’t based on how I think or act, but on the fact that He has me.  The doorway has opened up for me to live in a constant relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that has turned everything on its head.  That understanding, if it can even be called an understanding, has changed everything for me.

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Ken Shigematsu's newest book, Survival Guide for the Soul: How you Flourish Spiritually in a World that Pressures Us to Achieve, is a welcome addition to my library.   I enjoyed Ken's last book, God in my Everything, so I approached the "Survival Guide" with pretty high expectations.  He did not disappoint. 

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I’ve known Bob for at least 15 years.  He’s unique to say the least.  He’s one of those people who passes through my small town on a fairly regular basis, before he burns his bridges or gets frustrated and moves on to the next place.  His life seems to be a journey between Vancouver, BC and Edmonton, AB. My little town of Hope, BC lies right along the way.

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Recently I've been noticing how loud life is. Not literally, not like earplug loud, more like "full" loud. There seems to be no space where the noise doesn't penetrate and overwhelm. This noise I'm talking about is not just sound, it's more like mental clutter.

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