Friends, Followers, and Socializing September 29, 2025 We live in the most “connected” moment in history, and yet loneliness, anxiety, and depression are at record highs. Social media promises community, but what it actually delivers is an endless scroll of comparison, outrage, and curated highlight reels. It’s a counterfeit form of relationship.   Research shows that heavy social media use increases depression, disrupts sleep, and rewires the brain to crave the dopamine “hit” of scrolls, likes, and notifications. Ironically, the very people who built these platforms know the dangers and designed them into their code and algorithms.   Social media designers and executives often do not allow their own children to use the platforms they create. This practice is widely reported among leaders in the tech industry, who are aware of the addictive design features and potential harms associated with social media. For example, executives at Facebook, TikTok, and other major platforms have stated they restrict their children’s access to these ...READ POST

God Told Me… September 22, 2025 In Bible school, I had a friend who claimed that God told him he would marry at least five different women during his time there. Coming from a conservative church background (where I was never really taught how to hear God’s voice), his week-to-week “revelations” didn’t exactly build my confidence that God actually spoke.   Almost 25 years later, and after 21 years of marriage, I’ve realized that hearing God’s voice is actually a lot like being married. At first, I thought I understood my wife pretty well. And while I can usually read her now, she’s still full of surprises. Relationship takes time, trust, and daily practice.   Hearing God works the same way. It’s not about getting it perfect — it’s about growing in relationship.   Here are a few things I’ve learned about hearing God’s voice and learning to walk with Him:   Pray Specific Questions. Instead of “God, bless me today,” try, “Holy Spirit, what ...READ POST

When evil seems loud, God is scheming louder! September 15, 2025 Last week’s assassination of Charlie Kirk shook many. It’s been heartbreaking, infuriating, and sobering to see evil take such a public swing at someone who has committed his life to declaring and defending the Truth. Moments like this make it feel like the world is spinning out of control — like darkness is advancing unchecked.   In times like these, I must choose to remember Joseph’s words in Genesis 50.20: “What others have schemed for harm, God schemes for good.” Evil may be scheming, but God is scheming louder. And His plans always trump the enemy.   When I flip on the light in my dark tin shed, it feels chaotic as all the critters scatter. But the light isn’t the problem. It’s actually the solution. The increase in visibility amidst darkness is not proof that evil is getting stronger, bigger, or louder — it’s evidence that God’s light is shining into more places ...READ POST

Thanksgiving = The Answer to All Your Problems September 8, 2025 In 2019, I went through one of the most depressing seasons of my life. I had just had major surgery where part of my colon had to be removed. During the surgery, I was woken up by the surgeon to make a decision that I had feared would happen since I was a little kid. Between the surgery, being woken up, and the lasting effects the surgery had on my body, this depression was the most difficult and darkest season I have ever walked through. It had gotten so bad that my family had to literally do an intervention.   In prayer, one of the things the Holy Spirit led me to do was journal things I was thankful for from the day. By the end of 2020, this habit — along with several other practical steps He had me take that year (including only listening to worship — click here to ...READ POST

Avoid Parked Cars… Your Teeth Will Thank You. September 1, 2025 When I was younger, I knocked out my front teeth in a bike accident. I had seen the parked cars when I began my ride and would have sworn to anyone who asked that I was at least a half a block away from them. But I was completely unaware of how quickly I was moving toward the parked truck because I was sidetracked by a girls’ soccer game. Had I been more aware of my surroundings, I would have noticed the danger I was heading straight for.   The same is true spiritually.   We can get so sidetracked by our circumstances — and feelings of disappointment and frustration — that we lose track of how our own unhealthy mindsets and behaviors can hurt us. Habits form quickly, often without us realizing it, and soon they carry us into situations we never meant to be in. But transformation doesn’t come from trying harder ...READ POST

Do NOT minister to this person… August 25, 2025 As Christians, we do not have a choice but to make disciples. It is literally our job description.   However, one of the hardest parts of discipleship is not just who we are willing to minister to, but who God is actually highlighting to us. The Spirit leads us to people — not our own preference, guilt, or sense of obligation. That being said, the Scriptures do give us some clear warnings about people.   Here are four examples of people we need to be on guard with:   1. The Unrepentant (or the willfully disobedient) Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5.11 not to associate with someone who calls themselves a brother but shows a pattern of willfully giving into known unhealthy behaviors and sins. With this type of person, ask God for discernment to see if they truly desire a life change before investing deeply in them. This may include asking the Holy Spirit to reveal ...READ POST

The Bible wasn’t written to you… August 18, 2025 Several years ago, our family moved to Ireland, and one of the first things we learned was that you will always be offered tea. What we didn’t realize, though, is that if you accept it right away, it comes across as forthright and entitled. The polite thing is to refuse it one or two times before finally “giving in” and accepting. Much of Irish culture works this way. It’s the same reason you can’t just say “bye” once and hang up the phone — that would seem rude and abrupt. Instead, you say “bye, bye, bye” repeatedly, while slowly hanging up the call.   Needless to say, most of our time in Ireland had Lacey and me unintentionally coming across as forthright, entitled, rude, and abrasive — simply because we hadn’t yet learned the culture and taken the time to discover how people there think and behave.   The Bible works the same way.   Every ...READ POST

What if Jesus can’t relate to you? August 11, 2025 I remember sitting as a kid in a wooden pew, staring up at a painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane inside our old brick Congregational church, thinking, “There’s no way he gets me. He’s God.” You probably know the painting — Jesus with a soft glow around His head like a holy Chernobyl survivor, hands perfectly folded, peacefully gazing up at some celestial spotlight in the clouds. (If that doesn’t sound familiar, do yourself a favor and Google “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by Heinrich Hofmann.” Tell me that’s not exactly what I just described.)   Have you ever thought that — “Yeah, but Jesus was Jesus — I’m just me”? Totally human, totally flawed, totally overwhelmed.   But here’s the thing — so was Jesus (to clarify, flawed as in human, not flawed as in sinner).   Hebrews 2.17 says, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things…” ...READ POST

Break-Through Requires Follow-Through August 4, 2025 We’ve all been there — a powerful moment of prayer, tears shed, truth spoken, breakthrough felt. And then… we get up, go home, and wake up the next morning feeling the same way, struggling with the same temptations, or continuing to grieve the same loss.   Don’t get me wrong — prayer is powerful. James 5.16 says the prayer of a righteous person “can accomplish much.” But the pattern of Scripture shows that prayer often ends with a next step. God speaks, moves, or convicts — and then expects a response.   When Jesus healed people, He usually followed it with an activation step: “Go, show yourself to the priest” (Luke 17.14). “Get up, take your mat, and walk” (John 5.8). “Go and sin no more” (John 8.11).   Paul affirms Jesus’ pattern by reminding us in Philippians 2.12-13 that we are to “work out” our salvation with fear and trembling — not because it depends on us, but ...READ POST

The Perfect vs Progressive Church (yes, this is click bait) July 28, 2025 If you’re looking for the perfect church, you’re going to stay disappointed. Why? Because the Church was never meant to be perfect by your standards — it was meant to perfect you through Jesus.   Ephesians 5 doesn’t just give instructions for marriage — it paints a picture of how Jesus relates to his Bride, the Church. Ephesians 5.27 says he is “sanctifying her… so that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle.” But how does he do that? Through a messy, perfectly imperfect, progressive relationship. It takes commitment. It takes mercy and grace. It takes forgiveness. It takes repentance and beings willing to be cleansed. It takes vulnerability.   Marriage doesn’t take two perfect people becoming one. It takes two imperfectly perfect people and, progressively, through maturity, mutual self-sacrifice, and preferring each other, creates the perfect marriage. Perfection, therefore, isn’t found in the destination; ...READ POST