The buddy system
It seems to me that over the course of the past decade or so, the media has revealed a lot about Christians getting caught doing very un-Jesus-like things. And it hurts. It hurts to reflect on the fact that someone who loves Jesus got caught up in something that breaks Jesus’ heart. It hurts to […]
Choose your hard wisely
I’m not usually a fan of inspirational quotes, but this one has stuck with me: “Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard.” It lingers in my mind because it speaks of a necessary but seldom-heard truth. Inspirational quotes typically are made as motivators to grow self-love, […]
God’s definition of excellence
I recently read a book on leadership written by Joe Sanfelippo, the 2019 national superintendent of the year, and a quote from a chapter entitled “Moving Forward Together” stopped me in my tracks. He was relating a story about a high-performing softball coach who counseled her team with this idea: “Excellence means achieving at a […]
Navigating the gray areas of life
I love being told what to do. Life would be so much easier if someone would tell me who I could hang out with, what I should think about the world, and how I ought to go about my life. In short, I want my life to be black and white. I think many people […]
Rest and reset
Is it really a Happy New Year for you? I mean, we all hope for one, but the reality is that you might want to replace the H with a Cr. Maybe it’s because you’re starting off with a Stressed New Year, a Burned-Out New Year, an Exhausted New Year, a Health-Challenged New Year, an […]
5 ways to live for Jesus
How do you and I show the world we are people who give their hearts to God and not imposters who only give him lip service? How do we point people to Jesus with our lives so we can reach hearts that desperately need Jesus’ love, peace, and forgiveness? Here are five ways to do […]
Praying against evil
I was having a conversation with a group of strangers when things started getting weird. The woman next to me said all sorts of things about manifesting and light and energy, things that sounded thoughtful, encouraging, wise, and spiritual. Most people nodded in agreement, but none of what she said was true compared to what […]
How could a good God allow so much suffering?
The problem of evil and suffering is the most challenging indictment against the Christian faith. The question is straightforward: How could a good God allow so much unjust suffering? Whatever philosophical answer we come up with will likely fall flat, especially for the person in pain. So instead of giving us a simplistic answer to […]