Monday we talked about the fact that we all have a God story to tell. A story that is in fact a blessing, although we might not see it as such. In Mark 5 we read the story of a demon possessed man being healed by Jesus. After he was healed, the man wanted to go with him. 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let... Read more
You have a story to tell. Your God story. The story of how God intersected your life at key moments, in pivotal circumstances, with providential relationships. The story of how God intersected your life and you walked away forever changed. As Christians, our God story is a blessing, something given to us to bless others with. But many of us don’t see our story as a blessing. Perhaps we see our story as: Too flawed. You don’t think your story is... Read more
I have 601 weeks left until my oldest son Zeke graduates high school. I know that may seem like a lot, but when he was born I had 936 weeks. I’ve already lost a third of my time with him. In his book Playing for Keeps, author Reggie Joiner makes a great suggestion to help parents visualize the amount of time they have left with their kids. He suggests that you get a glass jar and fill it with marbles,... Read more
Monday we introduced the idea that you’re blessed with a burden. Today we’ll look at how to identify your divine burden (props to Craig Groeschel and LifeChurch.tv for his sermon on this issue). Identifying your divine burden is as easy as answering three simple questions: 1. What breaks your heart? What is it that, when you see a certain group of people hurting, or a certain situation that isn’t right, your heart just wells up and becomes heavy? You’re overwhelmed with the truth,... Read more
There’s something significant in your life that is bothering you. You look at something in your world, and everything inside you wants to scream out, “This just isn’t right!” You’re bothered by an issue or a group of people in need, and it just wrecks your heart. For some, it might keep you awake at night. For some, it just hits you in the gut every time you think about it. You’re bothered by it. You’re divinely unsettled. It disturbs you. It... Read more
I heard about it a lot growing up. There was a ‘soulmate’ out there for me, someone uniquely created for me that was going to fulfill my every longing and desire. While in high school, that prospect excited me and comforted me. Once I was in my 20s and started actively searching, the idea of a ‘soulmate’ terrified me. What if I couldn’t find her? What if I made a mistake? What if I chose the wrong one? Or worse,... Read more
It’s just another Monday. Nothing special. You get the kids up and off to school. You sit in your first period class trying to comprehend geometry or at your desk, beginning the Monday slog of unanswered email. No one usually looks forward to Mondays. They’re mundane, predictable, unexciting compared to the excitement of the weekends. It’s hard to think about beauty in the mundane. And yet, your typical Monday is an opportunity to make the rocks cry out. In Luke... Read more
We all want to be blessed, right? I mean, who doesn’t want to be blessed? Now the trick is, when we say we want to be “blessed,” what we’re really saying is that we want everything we need. We want to be self-sufficient. We don’t want to depend on anyone. When a Christian is well-off financially, what do they say? “I’m blessed.” Think back to the Prayer of Jabez craze back in 2000-2001 or the popularity of positivity preachers like... Read more
Growing Up Amish is a moving memoir of a life and lifestyle that is foreign to most of us: the Amish. Ira was born and raised in the Amish tradition, leaving and coming back several times before leaving for good when he was twenty-six. Years later, Wagler writes this heartwarming memoir that gives us a vivid picture of Amish life. That’s the greatest aspect of this book. Wagler writes in a captivating style that explores the Amish life he left... Read more
Did you know that if you repeat a lie long enough, people will start to believe it? By repeating it over and over, people’s defenses eventually wear down. That doesn’t make the lie any truer, just people more likely to accept the lie as truth. Here’s one of the biggest lies we’ve been duped into believing: debt can be a good thing. Debt can be managed. Debt can be leveraged. Watch this short commercial and see if you can spot... Read more
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