city skyline under blue sky during daytime

Week 10 & 11 – Original creation is greater than original sin.

I got behind by a week after completing a big project for our Up North family of Foursquare churches. So this is a combined devotional to cover two weeks šŸ˜‰ ‘Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now[…]

man in white long sleeve shirt holding gray tray with man in blue denim jeans during

Week 9 – Releasing

This is the last in my series on the meaning of “REACH” and our five values built upon honoring, connecting, affecting, equipping, and now releasing. If you look at these values as layers of a foundation, releasing is the top layer, from here everything else is built upon the foundation. To “release” people means we[…]

assorted handheld tools in tool rack

Week 8 – Equipping

What does it mean to “equip” a follower of Jesus? So far we have explored three of our five missional values; honoring, connecting, and affecting. Each of these values are a layer in the foundation of our desire to establish communities centered on Jesus. This means these communities are equipping disciples (all followers of Jesus)[…]

stormtrooper picking red poppies during daytime

2021 Week 6 – Connecting

Last week I started a short five-week series based on our missional values: releasing, equipping, affecting, connecting, and honoring (follow the links for Polish versions, then click ā€œPolskiā€ in the upper-right or on the menu on mobile devices) which creates the acronym REACH. We started with ā€œHonoringā€ as the foundation of those values and now[…]

2021 Week 2 – Fix your thoughts

This week will be a simpler devotion, to ponder, apply, and make applicable. The book of Philippians is not very long, only four chapters. Yet, Paul (as usual) dives deep into the very heart and soul of the spiritual communities heā€™s encouraging. Hereā€™s just a quick rundown of Philippians: He gives thanks and prays for[…]

2021 Week 1 ā€“ The law is fulfilled for all of us.

2021 Week 1 – The law fulfilled, and new life in Jesus.

Starting in 2021 I (and hopefully more will join me) will be posting a weekly devotional with the goal of encouraging and challenging our missional communities towards centering our worldviews around Jesus, and decentering ourselves. My goal is to be ā€œtrans-culturalā€ and highlight truths that can be applied in any circumstance, personally, locally, or globally.[…]

The bottom line

So often I (Travis) find myself jealous of otherĀ missionariesĀ serving in places like Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East, South America, etc… these are places I call “the sexy” mission field, there’s a certain automaticĀ appealĀ about these places. Ā Generally (and very generally) people (mostly Americans) associate this appeal with either Islam, third world, or poverty. All[…]

Relationships… hardest part of life?

One of the key values of our mission to Poland is building meaningful relationships. Relationships built on God’s kingdom and values. The core to meaningful relationships is interdependency, the idea that we all need one another. Church should reflect a family system, the idea that we are there for each other in spite of circumstances.[…]