My sermons from the mount. ;)
Reading Time: 4 minutesPeople love exciting things. The chemical secretions in the brain can be enthralling—if you love roller coasters, you know what I’m talking about. In the same way, people can enjoy something terrifying as long as they’re personally safe: wildfires, pandemics, airplane crashes, you name it. The panic of a pandemic can give you a good little jolt—boy, this is bad!
Reading Time: 2 minutesGod made you to excel in a time of turmoil.
Reading Time: 10 minutesLessons from Luke Wilson, who has the best marriage on this planet.
Reading Time: 2 minutesYou’ve wanted someone that you could hold tight, to feel less alone, to just breathe a sigh of relief with, or you’ve wanted someone to hold you, to say to you, “Don’t worry, WE’VE got this. It’s going to be alright.”
Reading Time: 2 minutesJesus stressed the importance of forgiveness when he remarked, “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn my reading, one quote changed my perception of life, but I’m still struggling to actualize it.
Reading Time: 2 minutesPick a battle buddy that will help you run this race into a ferocious finish.
Reading Time: 11 minutesAngels are more interesting than popular culture would lead you to believe.
Reading Time: 3 minutesOh, Lucas. What an idiot! (Plus a good poem!)
Reading Time: 2 minutesI’m kind of an A-or-F student, but people have given me some great advice. I figured that I’d share it.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHumans have an amazing ability to adapt to horrible situations. That same ability can also cut deeply in a bad way.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteI have a very hard time with goodbyes. I never know what to say or how to act, and I’d rather just kind of nod my head and walk away. In fact, you might say that I’m not really in touch with my emotions, period, but goodbyes make me sad. I was doing some reading, and I saw an awesome goodbye that the apostle Paul wrote: “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEver been kicked when you’re down? My friend Slade went through an utterly hellish time, but I was so encouraged by how he took it—his words to me were so helpful that I had to share: “Our ever faithful God has His love over us. Especially when we are feeling ‘kicked.’ His love is still right here.” There is no way that I could have said it better, but I…
Reading Time: 2 minutesToday, master the art of hanging on in spite of what seems like unyielding defeat. Have you wondered with tears why God hasn’t come through for you, why He doesn’t seem to care about your suffering? In the depths of my own despair, when I’ve wanted nothing more than to cry out, “Maranatha, Lord,” I have. But I have forgotten that I already have the answer. In the end, Heaven…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThere are things that I am not comfortable talking about. They’re not who I see myself as being, and they’re not things that I’m in touch with…yet these things which make me want to glance away, to pretend that they’re not there, they are what make me who I am. Your friend told you, “There is nice and there is naive. You’re on the naive side. Hurt so often. Don’t…
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe constant tension wears you down. You’ve thought of ways to deal with it; to try and take your mind off of it. It’s still there, though, and it’s become like a constant, low-level adrenaline rush, frazzling your nerves and burning you out. And deep, deep down, you know what’s wrong. You need to make changes in your life. You’ve been running from your bad habits—or more accurately, running from…
Reading Time: 2 minutesI have never cheated on anyone, and I praise God for that, but I understand that I certainly could have. It’s a huge blessing that I’m not incredibly rich or incredibly good looking, as I imagine that all sorts of temptations are opened up behind those twin doors. I am so blessed that God has kept me from infidelity, and even more so that He has given me the ability to put…
Reading Time: 2 minutesPeople say that I’m quite vain; my sister says that it’s surprising given my looks. But that’s not true. I may hold myself in high esteem, but I know that I’d never be able to satisfy a woman whose instagram consists only of pictures of her. That above paragraph is a little bit of humor, and probably objectionable, but there’s some truth to it. I’ve never been the best looking…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDon’t call JG Wentworth, but you must act now.
Reading Time: 2 minutesRecent news has been pretty incredible: a man sacrificed his career, just a step away from being a flag officer, to protect his people. He was cheered by those who loved him even as he was removed from serving in his capacity as leader. But there’s a lesson: lead your team so that whatever was achieved while you were there will continue long after you have gone. My brother and…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIf I’m a preacher riding a donkey, surely I can’t be accused of wording things poorly. Right?
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you look at what is fake for too long, you will begin to find faults in what is real.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIf you have never read CS Lewis’ book, “The Four Loves,”go and buy it immediately. There is a selfish love in humanity which is no love at all—”If I can’t have you, no one will.” Or perhaps, “If I can’t be happy, I’ll make sure that you aren’t, either.” Contrast this “love” with appreciative love. “Appreciative love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should…
Reading Time: 3 minutesThis is a guest post from Temitayo Adebisi Adekunle, a Nigerian-born microbiologist. Look at the beginning of verse 1: “Therefore be imitators of God.” The goal of the Christian life is perfect imitation of God. The apostle John said that one day, “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” So, really, the whole of the Christian life is summed up right here: be imitators…
Reading Time: 2 minutesInception was nifty movie in a way. The protagonists infiltrated people’s dreams and manipulated them, effectively making them a lie within a lie…within a lie. Each level of “lie” you went deeper, the greater the chance that you’d never find your way back to reality. The same is true of sin. When we try to hide or keep a sin, we tend to pile on additional lies, building a foundation…