Can I trust Jesus? Psychology studies show that it can take only a tenth of a second for a person to build an impression of a stranger by their face. And that this first impression can be so strong that longer exposure doesn’t really change that first impression.  What does this mean for our spiritual... Continue Reading →

Willpower is not that powerful.  Movies will celebrate athletes, military heroes, and leaders who appear to have super human will; but the rest of us are usually languishing in our efforts to beat our social media addiction, start an exercise program, and find some patience with our kids. Our will seems feeble and prone to... Continue Reading →

What intentions have you put towards getting closer to Christ today? Does your rhythm of life demonstrate a dedication and devotion to Jesus? What rituals or practices do you participate in on a weekly basis? How does your followership to Jesus affect your decision making and the purposes you live by? Your answers to these... Continue Reading →

I recently had a conversation with a friend who told me about a time in her life when a middle school boy ridiculed her ears. Up until that moment, she had never once felt bad about her ears but now, decades later, she still despised her ears and was self-conscious about them. This demonstrates the... Continue Reading →

When I look at my own life, my prayer is that I will become a child of light. A child of light rejects its former life that was marked by darkness and revels in all that is good and right and true. They spend their days trying to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.... Continue Reading →

Pharisees are all around us in every aspect of society. It is one of our cultures most seductive tendencies - to puff ourselves up by letting everyone else know how righteous we are and how lacking everyone else is. It is seductive because all we have to do is to tick a few boxes of... Continue Reading →

Can I give you something else to read? Can I give you something else to scroll through? Can I give you something else to like and follow and share and tweet?  Haven’t you got enough of the destruction of our times and the destruction of your own heart?  What if I showed you a story... Continue Reading →

The loss and sadness that I have experienced could bring one of two things.  One, I could, as Henri Nouwen says, “become accustomed to living with sadness” and let it define my future. Or, I could recognize the great goodness that has always been open to me in God’s kingdom.  Being accustomed to living with... Continue Reading →

When I was in 7th grade my life science teacher got a scientific thing completely wrong.  This was the height of the AIDS hysteria of the 1980s. AIDS, or more accurately HIV, was all over the news because of its deadly nature and horrible symptoms. My science teacher told the class that we could catch... Continue Reading →

This world is our laboratory for Christian living. Though our future is assured in heaven, our present is in this context full of hatred, violence, loss, grief, betrayal, backstabbing, lies, idiocy, destruction, and self-centerdness. God intends for us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling here in the muck of human existence. If... Continue Reading →