Posts with the tag “pastor-michael-hammond”

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much above our understanding God is. It’s tempting sometimes to look at parts of the Bible or even at the world in general and think “I would have done things...  Read More

Sometimes the Bible has commands that seem impossible. I don’t consider myself a particularly selfish person (does anyone?) but when I think about doing NOTHING from a self-seeking standpoint, I feel ...  Read More

I’m the youngest of five children and I come from a fairly competitive family. Game nights were always entertaining, if not for the game themselves then for the great lengths we’d go to try to win. Ev...  Read More

I do not have a green thumb…at all. I don’t think I’ve ever kept a plant alive my entire life. Any greenery that we have around our house is solely due to my wife’s persistence and dedication. I can m...  Read More

There’s lots of things I’ve prayed for and hoped I would get the answer I wanted. One such time was the night before my eighth birthday, and I prayed to win a million dollars from a box of cereal. Let...  Read More

If you come into my office, you’ll see a rather large painting of Spider-Man hung up on my wall. One might see that and assume that I really like Spider-Man, which would be true, but there’s more to i...  Read More

The Fourth of July has always been a fun holiday to me. It has a lot going for it, no school, warm weather, barbecue, swimming, and of course, fireworks! I still remember the awe and wonder I had as a...  Read More

We’ve probably all had a moment where we realize we’re missing something. My family has a text thread with all my siblings, their spouses, and my parents (12 of us all together). The other day I was a...  Read More

Imagine, if you will, a world without instant communication. You could call locations such as homes and businesses, but not an individual person. Cell phones were not yet prevalent, and smart phones w...  Read More

We live in a world where qualifications matter. If you are applying for a new job the necessary qualifications are always listed. When someone is running for political office, it’s often asked whether...  Read More

All good stories have an element of foreshadowing; a hinting at something that will be important later in the story. In comedy there is an idea called a “call-back” where a joke is made early in the s...  Read More

I’ve had a lot of surprises in life. After growing up on cartoons, I was very surprised to learn that you can’t walk on clouds. After years of drinking V8 with my dad, I was surprised to learn that To...  Read More

Like many other Psalms, this Psalm was written by David. When you look at David’s life it’s no wonder that he was so confident in God. He took out lions and bears as a kid, defeated a giant when all t...  Read More

I hurt my shoulder. I don’t know how but it happened. I went to bed fine and woke up the next morning unable to move it without shooting pain. Here’s the kicker, it literally happened on my birthday. ...  Read More

When I read this verse today during my morning devotion time, I was struck by what seems like two contradictory ideas: “wait” and “be brave.” We don’t often connect bravery with waiting. The brave cha...  Read More

I always thought it was interesting that there’s no day honoring the virtue of wisdom. We commemorate love (Valentine’s Day), thankfulness (Thanksgiving), and patriotism (4th of July). We even have Ap...  Read More

Off the South-Eastern coast of Massachusetts sits Nantucket Island. In 1641, the Earl of Stirling deeded the island to man named Thomas Mayhew who then sold 9/10 of the island to nine other individual...  Read More

When I was in fifth grade my teacher was talking about the pressure exerted on us from our atmosphere. I honestly don’t remember much about that lesson, but there is one thing he said that was forever...  Read More

Before we moved to Fresno, we lived in house that had a lot of interesting quirks. There was a closet that was converted to a bathroom, a bathroom that was converted to a laundry room, and a laundry s...  Read More

I once heard a comedian tell a story about an interaction he had with his friend that went something like this:Comedian: Do you want to get a donut?Friend: No, I’m not hungry.Comedian: What does that ...  Read More

80% of drivers say they are above average drivers. Stop for a minute and think about that. It’s statistically impossible for 80% of people to be above average at something. Even though 94% of people s...  Read More

We can look at a verse like this and think it’s too harsh. ONE failing makes you guilty of breaking the whole law? How is that fair?! At first read, it may seem unfair, but I think if we shift our per...  Read More

Have you ever wondered about how you’re doing at something? I know I have. How am I doing as a husband? How am I doing as a father? How am I doing as a friend, brother, pastor, neighbor? How am I doin...  Read More

When I was 20 years old a friend and I decided to go backpacking through Europe. We had grown up together and often figured things out on a moment’s notice with little or no planning. We thought that ...  Read More

A verse like this is one of the reasons I really like James; he gives it to us straight. James doesn’t sugarcoat it; he flat out says that if your faith doesn’t work then it’s worthless. We can do “re...  Read More

In 1314, a huge threat to the national security of England was discovered. This threat was leading the nation’s youth down a bad path and was causing adults to completely shirk their responsibilities....  Read More

I’m naturally more of a listener than a talker. That always catches people by surprise because a big part of what I do is talk. I love teaching and teaching equals talking but when it comes to hanging...  Read More

Everything good comes from God. That’s a pretty amazing thought. That means that there is nothing that is not truly good that is not also from God. ...  Read More

Every one of us faces temptation and trials. While trials may come from God, temptation never does. God may send us trials to test us, but He will never send us temptation. When we are tested by God t...  Read More

These verses contain some of the upside-down logic of the Kingdom of Jesus. What does someone who is “lowly” have to boast about? Why would someone who seems to have it all boast about being humiliate...  Read More

The book of James is my favorite book of the Bible (if we’re allowed to pick favorites). It is full of such practical and applicable wisdom and I gain something new every time I read it. James of cour...  Read More

How would you like to be defined by one moment? You live an entire life full of moments both good and bad, but you’re forever immortalized by ONE moment…one moment of doubt. That’s the story for Thoma...  Read More

Yesterday in his sermon Pastor Jim reminded us of the need we all have for intimate relationships. He reminded us that many things can fill our time but no matter how busy we are, we need to make time...  Read More

We as humans don’t really like change. When everything is going great, we wonder why we would ever want to risk changing. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” is often the mantra. Even if things are bad,...  Read More

I’m currently teaching through the book of Philippians with the students at the Maple campus. This book is full of great content and what makes that content even more powerful is the context under whi...  Read More

Everyone has their "thing." It's that thing that they're really into that is a little more unique or perhaps not popular with everyone. I have a friend who is totally into socks. Every time I see him ...  Read More

It was in sixth grade when I first remember someone asking me, “Do you think Jesus is coming back soon?” This is undoubtedly one of the questions I’ve been asked the most over the years and my answer ...  Read More

Ecclesiastes 3 begins by stating that there is a time for everything. When we look at the list that follows, we’d probably only want half the things that it says there is a time for. I know I’d much r...  Read More

Studies show that between 50-60% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions. 25% of those who make resolutions drop them before even making it a week. Another 11% drop off before making it a month. Afte...  Read More

On this very day 78 years ago, a British ship named the SS Benlomond sunk in the South Atlantic. At 2:10pm the Benlomond was spotted by the German submarine U-172. The U-boat fired two torpedoes at th...  Read More