Christian Life
The Importance of Slowing Down and Giving a Second Glance
The bottom of his pants were splashed with mud and it looked as if this homeless man had been walking for days. It was raining; he was cold and had already used up the last bit of change that he had been saving. He slowly walked past a coffee shop as the owner emerged to lock up for the...
Coram Deo: Live Life Before the Face of God
How foolish are we to hide from God? If you’re like me, you have times in your life when you try to get away from God in hopes that he won’t find you, convict you, or even change you. I’m under the firm belief that if we would just be people who are completely transparent with God, we’d experience true transformation....
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...
Avoidance or Honesty: A Path We Must Choose When Talking with God
If you’re like me, you can find a thousand excuses for putting off something you don’t want to do. I can walk a mile around a mess I don’t want to clean up. I can make twenty unimportant phone calls until I finally work up the courage to make that one really important and difficult call. Sounds kind of like...
Redefine Greatness: Living Out God’s Definition of Success
I came back from a long day of classes and meetings, just wanting to let my mind unwind. As I set my bag on my chair I notice that across the top of my desk someone had written in black ink, “REDEFINE GREATNESS.” At first I just wanted to know who had done it, and what kind of message...
More of God: When Grace and Honesty Collide
So how do honesty and grace connect? The grace of God is the very thing that allows us to be honest. If it were not for His grace – the combination of his unconditional love and His unrelenting mercy – we would not be able to say the things we need to say to God. Because He is full...
The Tragedy of Focusing on Peace More Than Christ
“Imagine there’s no heaven…it’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today.” Perhaps the words I just read sound familiar to you. They were the opening lyric to one of the most influential songs in pop history. The young people of the 1960’s & 70’s embraced John Lennon’s song...
I Want to Desire God, but How? Tips for Your Pursuit of God
Grasping for a relationship with God isn't always easy. If we are honest, it can sometimes even seem impossible. Yet, in the Bible we are commanded to seek after God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Deuteronomy 4:29). But how are we to pursue a God that we can't hear, see, or physically feel? Here are a few biblical tips...
Avoid Being a Dumb Ox: Tips for Abolishing Pride
In high school there I had this one girl that became the bandit of my breath and the captor of my heart. She was my dream girl and I was sure I was her dream guy. I had built myself up in my own mind to the point that I was convinced I would meet this girl’s wildest dreams and be...
A Great First Step to Sharing your Faith is to Shut Up
The command for us to share our faith literally in black and white in the Bible. But I gotta tell you, just getting a conversation started with someone about Christ gives me Godzilla-sized butterflies in my stomach. I get so nervous (and I'm a pastor). I have come to realize something – one of the greatest things that we can...
Virginity as A Mindset: God’s Standard for Sexual Purity
Culture screams that sex is just a part of life and nothing more than a Saturday night entertainment activity. You can turn on the T.V. or open a magazine and find that most pop stars, movie stars, and sports stars demonstrate a life style that years ago was only promoted by porn stars. Frankly, I’m sick of culture portraying that...
Dear Christian: Stop Using the F Word, FML and WTF
Far too many young people are using the F word as a creative expression without consequence. This must stop. The F word is a vulgar word that perverts the gift of sex God has given us and uses it to express a negative feeling. Nothing about that sounds like something a Christian should be involved in. However, many Christians are ...