Learn, follow, and share lessons from Scripture.

Christian Beliefs

I Am the Way: The Amazing Claims of Jesus

When you ask people today who they think Jesus was, their responses usually aren’t as outlandish as the characters in Talladega Nights, but the...

Christian Beliefs

How God Loves Us

Eventually, it was the football itself that threw in the towel, and it parted neatly in the middle. One half remained clenched in the Rottweiler�...

Spiritual Growth

Going the Distance – Spiritual Disciplines

Understanding the comparison between running a race and our spiritual journey can provide insight into how we are designed spiritually.

Living Like Jesus

God’s Invitation into Wholeness

When we broaden our definition of what it means for a person to be “perfect”—whole, complete, and ready to give and receive with open hands...

Justice, Mercy, and Humility – How We’re Supposed to Live

Life is full of expectations, from ourselves, of ourselves, from others, and on others. We all have them, and from time to time we find ourselves...

Christian Beliefs

God Is Love

The world does not encourage you to sing, but God does. Song is the sign of an unburdened heart; so sing your songs of love freely, rising ever h...

Spiritual Growth

God Answers the Silly Prayers Too

Whenever the check engine light kicks on in my car, I’ll mutter a prayer that it’s just a leaky vacuum hose that’ll miraculously seal back ...

Reading the Bible

The Story of God’s Quest of Redemption

Like all stories, the Bible opens on a life-as-we-know-it scene playing out with the fuzzy glow of normalcy. The first chapters of Genesis waste ...

Christian Beliefs

Gardens and the History of Humanity

Living Like Jesus

Fully Human and Fully Free

I can see those consequences already in my worldview as a child. Beneath the surface of my confident recitation of the formula (fully human + ful...

Spiritual Growth

Feeling the Weight of Sin

Genesis 3 is probably too familiar. Serpent lies. Eve eats. Adam joins. God walks. Humans hide and blame. God curses and promises. God covers and...

Christian Beliefs

Eye Contact with God

One of the most strident of those voices belonged to Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is not Great. Hitchens saw religion as “violent, irrat...

Life Struggles

When Violence Comes Home

Cindy’s voice shook uncontrollably as she explained over the phone that her husband Ron had just tracked her down with a loaded gun and threate...

Life Struggles

When Tragedy Strikes: Finding Security and Hope in an Unsafe World

When tragedy strikes, safety evaporates. Security is undermined. Uncertainty abounds. And fear threatens to take over the human mind and heart. R...

Life Struggles

When The Pain Won’t Go Away – Recovering From Abortion

Women feel compelled to choose abortion for a wide range of reasons, and they react to that choice in multiple ways. But the tragedy of abortion ...

Life Struggles

When Anger Burns

Anger is one of our most powerful emotions. Its intensity can lead us to view anger negatively, as if it is an invasive parasite. In reality, how...

Christian Beliefs

How Can I Have the Right Self-Esteem

Some believe self-esteem and the Bible don’t mix. Others are convinced there is no better place to find self-respect and self-acceptance. The t...

Christian Beliefs

How Can We Trust A Bible That Tolerated Slavery?

Behind race relations in America lies an ugly historical fact. Some people still believe the Bible justifies slavery.

Christian Beliefs

The Forgiveness of God

To be human is to second-guess ourselves. Even the most confident among us struggle with guilt and doubt. Many of us go through life hoping we’...

Christian Beliefs

God’s Design for Desire

Our culture reinforces such an assumption. We are surrounded by those who know that they can make a living career out of by stirring up and fanni...

Relationships

Open Hearts, Open Homes: The Call to Christian Hospitality

The way that I was welcomed when I was a stranger in Southeast Asia sparked in me a desire to extend the same kind of hospitality when I returned...

Living Like Jesus

Die First, Then Comes the End

After everything evil in the world, it just felt good to feed my imagination with the picture of God slamming the wicked with hailstones. Vindica...

Christian Beliefs

God Reigns: Living Out the Kingdom of God

Most of us are well aware that Jesus was a different kind of king. That helps us explain why he was crucified, and why the last question his disc...

Spiritual Growth

Clinging to Hope

Some of the biggest tempests come within our own families and among our closest friends. We have little control over other people’s actions and...