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 [...]
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 [...]
Sometimes the hardest thing God asks us to surrender is something we once would have gladly left behind. In 2010, I read Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom. One account stayed with me: a single missionary who left her home and possessions to serve in China. Her greatest fear was becoming a grain [...]
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 [...]
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16 It is possible to sing about trusting God while quietly holding your breath over tomorrow. We know He is faithful. We have heard the testimonies, read the [...]
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 [...]
