Fishing for Friends
Patty spent the afternoon on the banks of a local river, using her fishing pole to cast bait into the water. Having only recently moved to the ar...
Jesus Our Peace
Joan groaned when she saw Susan’s social media post. The photo showed ten church friends, smiling around a restaurant table. For the second...
Caring in Christ
Ms. Charlene, my friend Dwayne’s mother, is ninety-four years old, under five feet tall, and weighs less than a hundred pounds. Yet this do...
Not Irrelevant in God’s Eyes
During the annual National Football League Draft, professional football teams choose new players. Coaches spend thousands of hours evaluating pro...
A Cultivated Life in Christ
When we built our home, it stood on little more than a muddy, empty lot at the end of a gravel road. We needed grass, trees, and shrubs to match ...
Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus
June’s eyes were fixed on the gray car beside her. She had to change lanes to exit the highway, but each time she tried to overtake it, the...
God’s Spacious Place
When theologian Todd Billings received a diagnosis of incurable blood cancer, he described his imminent mortality as like lights in distant rooms...
Lowly but Loved by God
One day at church, I greeted a visiting family. I knelt next to their little girl’s wheelchair, introduced her to my service dog, Callie, a...
Christ’s Visual Paradox
One of the great hymn writers of all time, Isaac Watts, wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” In penning its lyrics, he used the ...
Our Father’s Love
Kim settled in by the window, bag packed, waiting eagerly for her daddy to arrive. But as the bright day darkened and then turned to night, her e...
Compelled to Tell
“You know Jesus loves you. He really loves you.” Those were the last words of John Daniels. Just seconds after he’d given a hom...
What Would You Ask Jesus?
“If Jesus were physically seated at the table with us this morning, what would you want to ask Him?” Joe inquired of his children at ...
Becoming Holy
After viewing world-class ceramic sculptures at an art museum, I was invited to create my own “pinch pot” from air-dry clay. I spent ...
God—Our Sure Foundation
With a crumbling kitchen and sagging floors, our house needed renovation. After large sections of it were demolished, builders began digging a ne...
Blessed to Be a Blessing
During my years as a journalist, I enjoyed telling other people’s stories, but I was trained to not share my own opinions. So years after I...
Reverent Fear
Jeremy writes, “I know quite a bit about the fear of dying. Seven years ago . . . I felt intense, sickening, dizzying, overwhelming f...
God’s Perfect Care
David Vetter died at age twelve after spending his entire life in a bubble. Nicknamed “The Bubble Boy,” David was born with severe co...
Christ Matters Most
My wife and I like cheesy, feel-good romantic movies. I could say it’s her thing. But I like ’em too. Their charm and appeal lies in ...
God’s Promises
It was painful to see my dad losing his memory. Dementia is cruel, taking away all the recollections of people until there’s no remembrance...
Recognizing God
I flew to India, a land I’d never visited, and arrived at the Bengaluru airport after midnight. Though there’d been a flurry of email...
The Gift of Trials
The two men conquered human flight, but the Wright brothers’ journey to success was never easy. Despite countless failures, ridicule, money...
Let My People Go
The acclaimed painting Let My People Go by Aaron Douglas uses vibrant colors of lavender, green, and gold, along with traditional African imagery...
Still Fruitful for God
There’s an old folktale about a woman who carried water home every day from a river using two buckets at either end of a long pole—on...
Made Right with Jesus
“We’re ready to board our flight to Montego Bay,” came the announcement. I was traveling as a speaker for and leader of a high ...
