How Working Hard Connects Us To Giving More
“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Eph. 4:28)
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Bible | Discipleship | Gospels
How Loving Jesus and Obeying Jesus Are Connected
If we love Him, we obey Him. In my opinion, this is the hardest teaching that Jesus ever gave. Lately, this instruction on obedience has been coming up a lot, and challenging me to my core.
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Why We Should Run To the Father with Our Shame and Remorse
As a father, my relationship with him has caused me to consider my relationship with our Heavenly Father on numerous occasions. The other night, he once again opened my eyes to a new understanding of the Father.
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How Small Events Can Kick-Start a Child’s Prayer Life
“How hard could kick-starting really be?” The first couple of times I stepped on the kicker with no luck. My wife informed me that her dad used to really jump on it when kick-starting it. “Alright,” I thought “I can do this!”
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How the Creativity of a Child Is Expressed Through Prayer
Much like other parents, my wife and I try to be intentional about praying with our oldest son. It’s tough to stay on top of it, but as I said, we’re trying! Since he’s been praying on his own, his typical prayer will sound something like the following.
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Bible | Church | Discipleship
How Checklist Spirituality Slips Into the Church
Human beings have been tempted to keep a spiritual checklist for centuries; striving to do enough good or avoid enough bad to be accepted by God. It’s an unhealthy temptation of our sinful nature that slips into the church. It surfaces when someone is trying to be a “good Christian” by adhering to certain rules and standards.
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How Does One Boast In the Lord?
What is boasting? According to Merriam-Webster, boasting is defined as, “to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, especially about oneself.” Unfortunately, many people struggle with self-boasting, present company included. It happens so quickly and easily.
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Bible | Discipleship | Leadership | NT
Why “I Can Do What I Want When I Want” Doesn’t Work
As Believers, we can get caught up in what we ought to do, or ought not to do. We try to justify our feelings about actions we should be or shouldn’t be taking. All of this is in order to achieve a type of holiness through self-imposed regulations.
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The Benefit of Embracing Stories Instead of Checklists
During my youth pastor days, we worked through John Eldredge’s EPIC series within our High School Discipleship program. John explains Christianity as a great story that we are living. He proposes that history’s great stories became great because they have the key elements of our story.
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Bible | Discipleship | Family | NT | Outreach
How God Is Faithful Even In Times of Sorrow
Loss is hard. I remember walking with my wife after losing her father. It was really hard. However, when I think back, it was during our family’s sorrow that I found a renewed understanding of eternity and God’s faithfulness.
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When Loss Hits Close to Home For the First Time
I’ve been processing through the morning my father-in-law lost his battle with lung cancer. That morning will forever be solidified in my mind. It was my first real, close-to-home experience with grief, and I was not prepared for how debilitating it would be.
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Adventure | Discipleship | Gospels | Leadership | Outreach
What If You Didn’t Get Back On the Bus? Exploring the Desire to Stay On Mission
Returning home from a short-term mission or spiritual retreat can be difficult. On the one hand, you have this odd desire to keep travelling, embracing a nomadic servant leadership lifestyle as a permanent gig. On the other hand, you crave the comforts and security that come with getting home to family and friends.
