What if the people we influence learn how to behave, but never learn how to come to Jesus? What if they remember our advice, admire our values, and follow our example, yet never meet the Savior we claim to represent? That possibility breaks my heart. It also makes me examine my own. I recently heard [...]
What if trusting God leaves you with tears in your eyes and questions you cannot answer? Several friends are walking through difficult seasons right now. As I think about what they are facing, I find myself remembering my own painful days. I know how quickly faith becomes personal when the hardship we once prayed about [...]
My friend Rick’s life changed on the drive home from a West Virginia ski trip. His ten-year-old daughter, Emily, had broken her leg. She rested in the back of their SUV with her mother, Joni, and little brother, Gabriel. Thirty minutes from home, Rick was imagining his children attending Christian camp someday. That is his [...]
Have you been holding on to the hope of something for so long that you sometimes wish your dream would die so you could be relieved of longing? If you're like me, you've wrestled with a desire or two for years and there are times your heart has sometimes felt worn out from waiting. Which [...]
I love a great story. Don’t you? Personally, I’m drawn to biographies and autobiographies. I love the truth, the grit, the unexpected turns, and even the messy parts that come from a life that has actually been lived. A good story needs two things: someone who has lived a life worth telling and a writer [...]
Psalm 84:10 says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” When I first read that verse, I understood it to mean that I would rather do something small for God, like [...]
On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan officially surrendered. World War II had finally come to an end and people around the globe celebrated a return to more peaceful times. However, on a small island in the Philippines, four Japanese soldiers continued to fight. They spent their days hiding in the mountains and conducting [...]
A magnifying glass fascinated me as a child. It helped me see things I normally couldn’t see. Fasting can have a similar effect on our relationship with God. It helps us look closer. Fasting is more than skipping a meal. It is an intentional decision to humble ourselves and make room for God. We temporarily [...]
Early in my Christian walk, I went through a difficult season when I began questioning is God really in control. I had trouble trusting Christ, and because I struggled to trust Him, I also struggled to believe He was truly in control of the things that mattered most to me. My job.My purpose.My relationships.My finances. [...]
Yesterday I took a “selfie.” It wasn’t flattering. In fact, it was downright ugly, and I wish I could have deleted it. I’m not talking about a picture taken with my phone. The “selfie” I’m talking about was self pity. I’m usually an optimistic person, but something happened yesterday that completely threw me off. Before [...]
