When God Asks You to Pray for Difficult People

July 9, 2020

I regularly encounter a person who makes me uncomfortable. She’s brash and rude. She’s one of those people you can’t tell anything. And, when she’s wrong, you can’t find a drop of humility. She brags about not getting along with anyone. And, she’s often praised for her behavior. I’ve tried being friendly. I’ve tried being positive. But, when I see her – I cringe. I want to walk the other way. I just wish she wasn’t present.  

The Blessed and Blessing God How We Experience Divine Happiness

July 2, 2020

Paul calls God “blessed”: “. . . he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). Why is God blessed, and what does that mean? The answers to these questions are the source of great Christian comfort and happiness.

One Simple Way to Encourage Your Pastor

June 25, 2020

You may be reading this because you love your pastor and want to bless him, but you aren’t sure how. This is a great starting place. Remember: he is a person, a heart and soul, who values relationships, and is affected by words and actions (silence, too). While he is “up there,” he is also right here next to you, running the race of the Christian life––and your encouragement may be God’s providence to spur him onward, to give him grace for the next leg of the race. 

What Does “Do Unto Others” (The Golden Rule) Mean in the Bible?

June 19, 2020

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a biblical concept spoken by Jesus in Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12; it is commonly referred to as the “Golden Rule.”  

Want to Be Faithful? Think Like a Farmer

June 11, 2020

I tried to grow a garden once. It didn’t go well. I had great aspirations when I planted it. I pictured a well-watered and neatly weeded patch of earth that would yield a steady supply of summer vegetables. I planted, watered, and weeded really well—at first. But then came the heat. The bugs. The weeds. And it was taking such a long time for the sprouts to grow! Eventually, I gave up. It seemed easier to simply buy some vegetables at the grocery store.

How Do We Cultivate a Thankful Heart in Hard Times?

June 4, 2020

When things are difficult, one of the first things that Christians are prone to forget is how we are called to be a thankful people. Thankfulness is an active disposition of praise and gratefulness to God for who he is and what he has done, is doing, and will do in our lives and in the world. Admittedly, with our present circumstances and the grim forecasts that we have been hearing and seeing over the last few months, it can be hard to be thankful. Yet, the difficulty of our situation does not exempt us from our need to be thankful. 

A Desire to Journey, A Desire for God

May 28, 2020

One of my favorite hobbies is hiking. I love finding a new trail, tackling the unknown terrain and enjoying the beauty and peace of nature. There’s so much to reflect on and experience along the way. And in the end, there’s nothing like the satisfaction of making it to the top and viewing the city below me. Our lives are a bit like a hike. We are all journeying in some way. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we set our paths towards certain experiences and aim for a desired destination.

God is Love

May 21, 2020

God’s Love is the love of a Father, Creator, and Friend. The Bible is full of examples of how He has shown His love to people throughout history. He showed love to Adam, first by warning him of the danger of temptation, and then, when Adam had to leave the garden because of his sin, by both clothing him and by promising to fix the evil that Adam had caused. He showed His love to His people in Israel by saving them from the oppression of the Egyptians and continually calling them back to Himself when they disobeyed (again and again and again).

9 Ways Faith and Hope Work Together

May 14, 2020

I’ve been spending a good amount of my time studying the biblical doctrine of faith and hope. In doing so I uncovered this gem from John Bunyan and thought you might enjoy. (I’ve tried to modernize the language or summarize where necessary)

Here are nine ways which faith and hope are different and yet work together:

Three Reasons Church Unity is Important

May 7, 2020

Unity in the Christian church has been a challenging thing since the earliest days of Christianity. The importance of getting Christian belief and behavior right, coupled with the open-to-interpretation nature of much of Scripture, leads to VERY strong feelings and uncompromising convictions on all manner of Christian theology and praxis.