purpose – DAVE GIPSON

When you’re a father…

belief, parentingOctober 24, 202471Views 0Likes 0Comments

My girls are taking swimming lessons now. One has almost perform form on her strokes. Watching her swim is a thing of beauty. But the other one? She flails about like a goose trying to take off. Her arms flap on top of the water like a basset hound’s oversized ears. Does watching her give…

Genie, I Wish You Free

UncategorizedAugust 11, 2024290Views 0Likes 2Comments

This morning as I awoke, the thoughts of Robin Williams’ death barged into my mind again. I'd never met him, but like millions around the world, his apparent suicide has left me troubled as if he were a family member. This is one we all feel more than we logically should. Did anyone not love Robin…

Being There

parentingSeptember 5, 2023108Views 0Likes 0Comments

This is one of my favorite photos, when Gracie ran up to hug me at the end of my POLLYANNA musical performance. It was a show I had worked on off-and-on for almost 10 years. And she and her older sister were a major part of the inspiration for writing the show to begin with.…

Disruption

SermonsJanuary 2, 2023112Views 0Likes 0Comments

In 2023, may God disrupt your comfort, answer prayers you've long ago forgotten, and take you on the ride of your life! Dave’s sermon DISRUPTION, recorded live on January 1 at NNBC…

Dear victims,

BlogOctober 20, 2022132Views 0Likes 0Comments

Dear victims, You need to understand something about the pain you are feeling. Someone has hurt you, misused you, or abused you. You are right to feel wounded, and I'm sincerely grieved for what has happened to you. However, there is great danger in those wounds you're nursing right now. Sometimes the pity and sympathy…

Broken or Bitter

BlogSeptember 3, 202264Views 0Likes 2Comments

One day recently, I was in my office at church when a ministry friend stopped by at the door to chat. As we talked through the joys and pains of ministry, she reminisced about a particularly tough time in her husband's pastorate. After decades of faithful service to a congregation, some power brokers within their…

Divine mistakes

BlogJuly 30, 202296Views 0Likes 0Comments

We pray for our lives to go smoothly. We beg God to stay with our plan and keep to our schedule. But sometimes God wants our plans to fall apart so His plan can go into action. When I lead a worship service, I plan every detail out specifically. I respect people’s time, so I…

Stubborn love

BlogJuly 28, 2022127Views 0Likes 0Comments

My mom has always been a source of gentle humor in our family. Whenever she got amazed or exasperated by something, Mom would try to say, “Well …” — probably meaning to eventually say “well, I never.” Instead, all that came out was a “wuh” noise. Then she would say it repeatedly, in a sort…

The Presence of My Enemies

beliefJanuary 24, 2022126Views 0Likes 0Comments

"You ask me if we will know each other in heaven. My friend, we will not really know each other UNTIL heaven!" So as the joke goes, “A baptist pastor dies and goes to heaven…” But inevitably the day finally came that I did. Right now, I’m standing by a roadside. But I don’t…

Broken

BlogDecember 17, 2021180Views 0Likes 3Comments

I was sitting in a sanctuary of around 1500 people that Sunday morning. But I felt completely alone. We had just been through a whirlwind of death and then disappointment the previous year. Now we were in-between where we had been and where we were going. And we had no idea where that was. …

God’s Purpose in Your Pain

UncategorizedApril 20, 201684Views 0Likes 0Comments

It’s after midnight on Sunday evening. Everyone in my neighborhood’s most likely in bed. But me? I’m walking the path around the man-made lake in our subdivision in pitch darkness. Hopefully, everyone else is asleep, because I’m spitting and cussing at God. What’s wrong? Enough that I’m wondering why God thinks I would…

Tag: purpose