David Dollinger

I am not a trained counselor. A lot of people would hear that remark from me and say, "Hey! You are a Pastor! You are supposed to be a trained counselor and fix my problems!" There are counselors out there who help you dig deep into your feelings and straighten things out complete with all the Dr. Phil and Oprah tactics that make you cry and then you feel better. I use the GOYB approach of counseling. GOYB stands for Get Off Your Butt. It's not the most popular approach with those who enjoy living their lives as victims. Listen, my father abandoned my family when I was a Sophomore in high school. We then lived on welfare for the next 2 and a half years. We ate pot pies everyday. The best meal of the day came from the school lunch. I found out something during that time. The world didnt care. It sounds a bit harsh. But follow me on this one. We didnt get condolences cards from the Governor. Ty Pennington didnt come out to makeover our apartment. The world

It's true. Softball saved my life. Late April, 1988, my life was changing, and I had no direction. I was getting married, had a child on the way, no job, no future,immature, and I was dragging the most important person in my life down the tubes with me. Paul Parker was the Pastor of the Light and Life Free Methodist Church in Grand Blanc. He was going to officiate my wedding. He invited me to play softball with their church team. It was a good time. I could handle it. I played some ball in high school, and even some at the esteemed Mott Community College. I knew that playing in a church league would not be the same. I could play hard, show off some skills, yet have a good time with my new friends. It wasnt a competitive league. We had guys on both teams who couldn't run, so others would run the bases for them. No one would complain. In fact, there was a guy on our team who had broken both of his ankles earlier that year after a falling off of his roof while trying

I love the Rocky movies. My favorites are the Oscar award winning "Rocky," and I did love the final installment Rocky Balboa. But I loved Rocky III. When the movie begins, we see our hero living it up as a celebrity. He is making a lot of money fighting against lesser opponents, making commercials and numerous tv appearances. The moment of tension comes after he gets his clock cleaned by Klubber Lang (Mr. T) and watches his close friend and manager, Mickey, die all in the same night. He begins to question if his championship run was a fraud. He begins to question if he is a fraud. Of all people, Apollo Creed, Rocky's first nemesis comes to inspire Rocky to win the title back. For this to happen, Rocky has to change his fighting style, and he must believe in himself. What would you think would be easier for Rocky? Change how he has done things? Or believe in himself? In the bible, many of you know the story of Jesus walking on water. Peter walked out to him. He

Jesus tells this remarkable story of a son who takes his inheiritance from his father before the man is dead. He then squanders it all on irresponsible living. He reaches rock bottom when he has no money and no more friends. There is this period between between sin and punishment called pleasure. We may be having fun when we are going wild. But there is no such thing as a consequence free life. As a teen, I was having a lot of fun at Michigan State University. I would be lying if I told you that I wasnt. The problem is when the drinking, and the irresponsible decisions affect more than you. It affects those around you too. So this son was having a great time. But the money runs out. He gets a job where he is feeding slop to pigs. And the slop is starting to look like good food to him. That's when he came to his senses and realized that he is better than that. Three things for us to know: 1. Sin takes you further than you ever intended to go. 2. Sin keeps you longer t

If you know me, it's no secret of my struggle with church people. To my friends who do not go to church, that may sound very odd to you. I don't struggle with every person who goes to church. But I just struggle with those who have gone to church, have a big bible, know the songs, are there at the church whenever the doors are open, and they love no one but those who buy into their sub-culture. These are the folks who have dropped generation after generation of people all in order to hang on to their territory. I look at the teens who are growing up today, and my heart aches for them. They have no role model. The girls have Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie to look up to, while more guys are growing up without dads with each new generation that comes into existence. A large rate of girls growing up are abusing themselves by cutting, while a large number of the guys are struggling with porn, self esteem, and little direction for the future. We cant drop these guys. I saw t

I love pandora.com. It's a website that allows me to set my own radio station. I choose an artist and pandora sets up songs and musicians to match my taste. I would like to think that I listen to a wide variety of music. My stations include some classic rock featuring Kiss and Van Halen (preferably with David Lee Roth at the lead vocal). I have a station devoted to worship leader Israel Houghton when I want to get my gospel on. When I want the blues and some classic R&B, I have the Blues Brothers station. For Jazz and Disco, I have a Jamiroquai station. I have a David Crowder band station, Michael Buble, and a Violent Femmes station when I want to get my old school punk on. My daughters remind me that most of those stations are oldies. There where three Hebrew boys in their 20's who were in trouble in Daniel 3. There is this place that used to exist called Babylon. It’s about 55 miles south of modern day Baghdad, Iraq. And at the time Daniel 3 was written, Babylon

Every dysfunction begins with a distortion of who God is. There is this dysfunction that I see in so many of our lives and I see this resurfacing again and again in my life and in my heart. Its the dysfunction of Anxiety When I am feeling anxious and when I am feeling afraid, and I know you never do, you all trust God for your every needs, you have no fears about the economy, because God is your source. You have no dysfunctions in your relationships because God is your father. But for me, my heart is anxious. And when my heart is anxious, it says so much about what I believe who God is. If no one has told you this before, let me be the first one to tell you, anxiety is not only a dysfunction, it’s a sin. I hear so much preaching about so many other sins. Sins of lust, sins of greed, sins of negligence, but because my heart is anxious, it is one of the most offensive sins before God. Anxiety betrays the belief that God is not in control of my life. Philippians 4:6-7 say, "Do no

'He must also have a good reputation with outsiders" (1 Timothy 3;7) I was fortunate to serve 5 years at Wesley Free Methodist in Waukegan, Illinois. The issues that I faced there was so different than anything I have seen at other churches. When I served in Waukegan, it was a vibrant, healthy, selfless church with a strong young adult base. Many of those who attended there had friends outside of the faith, and did well to represent our church, and Jesus. I cant say that about other churches that I have served at. The other Free Methodist Churches that I have served in have for the most part, been self serving. Now there are people at those churches who are heavily offended by my statement, and will argue that the people who attend those churches are highly respectable, they just choose to not be like the world. Highly Respectable to whom? My observation has been this: We have given up our witness to outsiders in exchange for unlikable people who have bought into "o

Who finds it difficult to pray? Prayer is simply conversation between us and God. Prayer simply involves honest communication. Prayer is, in part, listening for a divine response. It sounds so simple doesn’t it? So, who finds it difficult to pray? Let’s be completely honest with ourselves and with each other. We sometimes do find it difficult to pray. This not always the case, for there are times when prayers roll off our lips like the waves roll up on the shore. Still, there are times when it is difficult to pray, difficult to converse with God, difficult to be open and vulnerable before the Almighty, difficult to listen. Sometimes I find it difficult to pray. I have had times in prayer that is so exhilarating that I just can’t put it into words. I enjoy and treasure those times. Nevertheless, all of my prayer experience isn’t like that. Sometimes prayer is hard work. Sometimes it isn’t a mountaintop experience. There are even time (dare I admit it?) when I don’t feel mu

I bowl in a league. For as much as I bowl, I feel my average should be higher than 122. Now that's not what irritates me. The pop machine irritates me at the bowling alley. Every once in a while I will make the mistake of trying to get a pop from the machine instead of the bar. (I get stupid that way sometimes). I put my dollar in and push the button for Pepsi, and out comes a Diet Pepsi. I would ever so gently kick the machine in Jesus name and proclaim that I wanted a Pepsi. Then I pass that over to my wife who enjoys drinking that nasty stuff and I wise up and get my pop from the bar. We treat God like this. We pray for certain blessings. We even give back to Him with strings attached. We go to church, give money, heck, we might even buy a Christian book or CD in hopes that we are becoming spiritual enough that God would grant us the blessing we desire. When it doesnt turn out the way we want it to, we get angry with God. The question is not "Who gets angry wit

I have been at Meadowood for 13 months now. I am involved with a bowling league, and have become a household name at Elkhart Hospital and Valley View Nursing Home. All of the girls at the counter and the manager of 7-11 know who I am. The owner of Sunrise Canyon Coffee knows who I am. Yet, I feel like my feet havent even touched the ground as I try to set my roots into this community. Leith Anderson and Gene Wood have told me in their books about church turnaround that it will take me 5 years to get started planting my roots. Wow! I love living in the suburbs. I have been raised in the burbs my whole life. It's my natural habitat. I love the fact that I dont have to travel more than 3 miles to get to the nearest grocery store, gas station, coffee house, or golf course. I love the ethnical diversity of living in the burbs. There has been many occassions where I find myself as a minority as I cruise up and down the aisles of Meijers, Target, or Lowe's. I love it. I lov

A few years ago, I was taking a course on "Spiritual Disciplines" down in Indianapolis at our denominational ministry center. It was a great class. During those days, you could count on reading 100 pages a night out of textbooks, and work on a lengthy report (not kidding). But in this class, Mike Conkle gave us an unusual assignment. He wanted to show us that everything in our life is spiritual. So we were to do something that we really enjoy, and do it in the presence of the Lord. Now I am in a class with a bunch of good Free Methodists. One guy says that he will go on a prayer walk, another says that they will fast, while another one says that they will spend all night in prayer. I announced that I was going to a hockey game. My professor tells me to enjoy it in the presence of the Lord. After chapel and dinner, I notice that I was running late. So I drove over to the Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis because that is the home arena of the Indianapolis Ic

Hi, my name is David, and I am a pastor. (Hi David!) I never intended to be a pastor. It just happened over a period of 21 years. I know I dont fit the mold of what people think a pastor ought to be. I dont wear a suit. I dont sit around holding hands with needy people. I dont end every sentence with "God bless your soul." I still listen to secular music. I do crack up once in a while when I read the bible and remember a wise crack from Sam Kinison. I prefer to dress casual. And I really enjoy hanging out with the sinners of this world. It gets even better when we discuss spiritual things. It seems to be the chic thing right now to rip on the traditional institution that we call church. And why not? It is so easy to do it. There are so many churches filled with dysfunctional people. It's almost comedic. I mean there are people who are in leadership roles in a church that could never, ever obtain such a role in the secular world. I feel that we got so wr

One of the universal truths in the world is "Death brings life." You see it in many facets. The healthiest foods we eat were once connected to a lifesource. It's like you pick that grape from the vine, it dies. But yet the fruits and vegetables that we eat carry the nutrients that our body needs to stay alive. Meats were once alive. And yet, when we eat meat, it provides the nutrients that we need to stay alive. It's like to say, "that strawberry died for you" or "that cow died for you that you may have life." It's only healthy foods. There is nothing in a Twinkie or Mountain Dew that died for you. It's true in sports. For the Red Wings season to stay alive, the season for Columbus must die. For us to experience life, something has to die. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that he has come to give us life and give it to the full. If that is not true, then Jesus is a liar. So the best possible way to live is the way of Jesus. By the way, Jesus

As a wrestling coach, one of my biggest thrills is coaching someone to their first victory. Sandusky High School in Michigan is a small school that does not have a feeder program like many other schools have. We didn't have any depth either. So if you joined the team, you are on Varsity. So when guys start wrestling for us, they have no experience whatsoever. It makes their first year a tough year. Nick was a 189 pounder as a first year sophomore. He still had a little baby fat on him, and he was taking on juniors and seniors who have a lot of experience and are built like men. Nick lost his first 20 matches mostly by pin. He was getting a little discouraged. In wrestling, they have a term for this: bait. Nick finally got his first win at the Bluewater Invitational in Port Huron. He took a guy down with a head and arm throw. He had him on his back, but they went out of bounds. So the referee had them go back to the center with Nick on top. The ref blew the whistle, and I screamed,

I have been in the ministry since 1995. I have experienced some real highs in ministry and real lows. It's easy to praise God and sing all the happy songs when things are going real well. But when things don't go so well, it seems that our joy is robbed. I find myself falling into a bad, even evil mindset that when things aren't so good, that God owes me. That is called entitlement. It's toxic and from the pit of hell. I have found entitlement to creep in on me in three different ways. (1) I find my self saying that God owes me because I gave up a comfortable job to go into full-time ministry. (2) When things aren't going so well, I want to remind people of my resume, and all my successes. I tend to forget those successes were mine to enjoy in him. (3) When things aren't going so well, I go back to old wounds of the past. In each of these cases, I want to remind God that he owes me. It sounds silly doesn't it. Maybe I am the only one who has done this and no

A few years ago, I was doing some simple grocery shopping at Jerry’s in Sandusky, Michigan. It’s a good grocery store with an express lane to check out. I grabbed some milk, bread, and eggs and then proceeded to the express lane. I was standing in line behind a gal that had 19 items in her cart. You know how I know that she had 19 items in her cart? It’s because the gal in line behind me counted the items and proceeded to throw a massive fit. The sign for the express lane says “12 items or less.” It really didn’t matter much to me. But to that gal behind me, you would have thought that we were dealing with someone who drove 55 mph through a school zone. She lambasted the poor high school aged girl at the checkout for allowing this injustice to happen. She even announced to the manager that her husband was a lawyer and he could slap an injunction on Jerry’s market so quick that their heads would spin. I offered to let her cut in front of me. (I thought maybe she was upset because she is

Years ago when I was in high school, I went to a teen club with some friends in Waterford Township. There was a girl across the dance floor who was amazingly hot. To quote Thin Lizzy, "I mean she was steamin." My friends pushed me and prodded me and finally shamed me into asking this girl to dance. Now it was my senior year of high school, and I have had girlfriends before, but I never just walked up to a girl and asked her dance, nor have I tried to strike up a conversation.The walk across the floor seem to be a mile long. I felt like every eye in the room was on me. And as I tried hard to not hyperventiliate. But yet I did it, I asked that girl to dance. Does anyone else know this feeling? She now has control of where this relationship will go. She could either accept my invitation or reject it. She now has control of where this is going. It's the same with God. In Philippians 2:5-8 it says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in v

I just got back from a vacation in Florida. I took a few books with me because I thought that I would spend time on the front porch and along the ocean doing a lot of reading and relaxing. Laurie and I flew out of separate airports because she booked her flight a month before I did, and we were trying to save my in-laws a buck because they were paying for the tickets. The airport is charging $30 dollars per luggage item checked in, so we were creative in our packing. I took my golf clubs to check in, and I had two carry-on bags. One of those bags was my backpack with books that fit nicely under the seat. The other bag I assumed was a mix of clothing that couldn’t fit in the big suitcase that Laurie took with her. As I went through the security and my carry-on bag was being x-rayed, they saw something in my bag that was a cause for alarm, it looked like a container of hair gel. They pulled me aside and frisked me and asked me if I knew everything that was in my bag, and before I could a

In my household, we have carry on the one tradition that has been passed on from one generation to the next. I am talking about the livingroom wrestling match. When Melissa and Amanda were quite young, I would wrestle with them on the floor in our livingroom almost daily. We had a lot of fun with our wrestling matches. Melissa would deliver the flying elbow from the top of the couch, and Mandy would smash me with her foam chair. They learned that stuff from a dad who was raised on Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. I carry this on with my 7 year old daughter Emily. She prefers to hit me with the flying body block off of the top of the couch. In all reality, as they really tried, they could never hurt me nor take me down. (Granted, this is true when we stay true to the no hitting below the belt rule.) but they could come at me, but never defeat me. In the same way, Jesus endured everything that was thrown at him. He was betrayed, lied about, gossiped about, mocked, spit upon, beaten, tortured