Christian Life
Remembering the Shooting at Columbine: 20 Years Later
REMEMBERING COLUMBINE It has been twenty years since the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine, yet the memories I carry and the spiritual lessons learned are still very present. "THERE HAS BEEN A SHOOTING AT COLUMBINE..." That day was an idle Tuesday and the first warm day of spring in Colorado. I was sitting in a high school class against my own...
10 Bible Verses to Support Your New Year’s Resolutions
A New Year is seen as a fresh beginning, a time for resolutions and promises on habits and behaviors we’d like to incorporate into this new start. Here are 10 Scriptures to support and encourage you in your New Year’s New Beginning. All verses from the ESV translation. Psalm 5:3 "O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare...
Judas betrayal of Jesus Christ
The time in the Garden ended when He went to the disciples a third time and found them sleep. He alarmed them to their stupor state and begged them to pray. As He spoke He heard a crowd coming and saw the fiery torches bobbing in the dark night. His betrayer had come. A crowd sent by the chief...
Listen to Your Dad and He’ll Listen to You
When I was a little kid, I would play on a merry-go-round at the park with my dad. We would both run around it to get it spinning as fast as we could, and then on the count of three we would hop on. It was fun, but not always easy… many times I would miss the platform and...
How to Allow the Goodness of God to Overwhelm You
At a wedding I attended recently, the couple had each of their parents pray for them. As the bride’s father began to speak, you could sense the emotion welling up within him. I haven’t been able to forget what he said. “Each year, at Thanksgiving, my kids tease me and ask if I’m going to cry again. And, every year,...
The Unstoppable Force of Love [Sermon]
1 John 4:7-16 The church is God’s means of expressing His love to the world. When we fully understand the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be quick to love others as we have been loved by God. We live out our love by encouraging, comforting and admonishing others to abide in the love of God. Sermon Outline: Put fuel in...
The “If Only” Game We Play with God: A Lesson for Dealing with Divine Disappointment
Anger is the aircraft carrier in the fleet of our emotions. Not only because of its massive size, but also its ability to do harm because from it proceeds a multitude of other feelings—grief, sadness, hatred, loss, horror, and doubt. Anger in itself is not necessarily wrong. It is an emotion God has given us, but as with anything...
Christians and the Government
Last night I spent the evening with a friend, and we inevitably got into a conversation about this week’s election. We started to ask questions about what God thinks of the earthy government. As we searched the scriptures for some answers, this particular passage jumped out: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority...
Where is your hope?
H-O-P-E. As a child, I always thought “Hope” was just the girl who lived across the street. As I’ve grown up, I’ve come to learn that “Hope” is an essential tool on the road of life. The dictionary defines “hope” as, “A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Getting through the rough and often-unexpected trials of life...
“That Cross Was For Me”
Rembrandt, one of the most famous artists to ever live, painted a picture of Christ being raised on the cross. In the darkness of the picture you can almost feel the agony on Jesus’ face as the cross is lifted and the nails in His hands hold his body weight. As you peer into the dark picture, you can...
The Secret to Knowing Who You Are
We live in a day-and-age where making our personal identity known is of great importance to us. Consider social media; we post all sorts of things as if it validates our mere existence, but all the while we struggle in the quietness of our hearts to identify who we are. At some point, all of us ask the age-old question,...
Why Repeating Yourself Can be Worth It
Communication is the crux of all relationships. We live with people who we love and some we merely stand. No matter the nature of the relationship, we want to make sure we are communicating for the sake of being understood. I was recently counseling a couple through conflict in their marriage. As I watched them, I noticed they continued to...