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 the biggest problem with our busy lives isn’t what we forget, but what we keep deciding can wait? We say God comes first. But sometimes prayer can wait. Serving someone can wait. Generosity can wait until we have a little more. Meanwhile, the urgent things get our attention, and the eternal things get [...]
It’s easy to talk about the love of Jesus until someone says something that makes you want to have the last word. Yesterday, that someone was me. I had a relational conflict, and instead of responding with patience and self-control, I let my emotions do the talking. I wanted my words to reflect Christ. In [...]
New research from the Barna Group reveals that three-quarters of U.S. adults (75 percent) say they are looking for ways to live a more meaningful life. Among Christians, there is an additional question: “What does God want me to do with my life?” According to the Barna study, only 40 percent of practicing Christians say [...]
Scripture reading: Matthew 22:37–40; 1 John 3:18 There is a particular ache in realizing someone you love has stopped asking for your time. The child who once begged you to play quietly finds something else to do. Your spouse stops trying to tell you about their day. A parent leaves a message that begins, “I [...]
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 [...]
This summer, my wife Hannah and I will celebrate our wedding anniversary. Fifteen years has taught me something important: you can love someone deeply and still slowly drift apart. It rarely happens all at once. It happens in little ways. A busy week turns into a busy month. One evening you are too tired to [...]
"A while back, I read a Facebook post from Ted Lowe, a speaker and founder of MarriedPeople. If you have been married long, you know that husband and wives can see things differently. Here are three one-liners from Ted to help you maintain perspective in marriage." When I ask people what it takes to have a great [...]
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 [...]
For many people, work is simply something they have to get through. Monday comes. The workweek begins. They count the hours until Friday and dream about retirement. But God designed work to be more than a way to pay the bills. Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the [...]
