Friday, January 24, 2020 | Reflections
If we’re lucky, we find a church that is a good fit for our most natural style of worshiping God. I love my church. But however much I love my church, I must remember that the relatively short portion of my life spent within church walls is not the beginning or end of...
Thursday, January 23, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: December 26, 1954Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is a superb example of the far-reaching effects of a faithful witness to one’s belief and conviction. Stephen kept the faith at the cost of his life, and becaus….(View this reading...
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | Reflections
Growing up the son of a policeman, I learned to love the law. That’s appropriate. But unfortunately, I came to look down on those who had fallen outside the law. Once outside, I reasoned, there’s no way back in. It wasn’t until later, through some ….(View this...
Tuesday, January 21, 2020 | Reflections
One day, I broke some rule or another. To avoid the act of discovery, I hid underneath our house. My parents weren’t strict disciplinarians, but I decided I wouldn’t be in trouble if they couldn’t find me. The longer I stayed down in the dark, the harder it became to...
Monday, January 20, 2020 | Reflections
I’ve suffered with depression since I was thirteen. This illness was later compounded by experiences in the military, divorce, and the loss of my career. If you are someone who also suffers from depression, you are not alone. You are fully and entirely loved—it’s okay...
Sunday, January 19, 2020 | Reflections
Everything about Christ defies this world’s measures of success and list of correct priorities. I can understand why following Jesus’ path may seem bonkers to those living outside of our faith. Our King is crowned with thorns and proclaimed King of the Jews on a Roman...
Saturday, January 18, 2020 | Reflections
The cornerstone is the most important stone in a structure because a builder aligns every other stone—from the deepest foundation to the highest tower—by this one stone. Jesus is rejected by the religious leaders of his day because they have aligned themselves to the...
Friday, January 17, 2020 | Reflections
I’ve had to learn to set healthy boundaries to prevent myself from being manipulated or used. Boundary setting is important self-care for everyone. There can also be unhealthy boundaries in our lives. We erect walls with our egos, fear, greed, and insecurity. We hide...
Thursday, January 16, 2020 | Reflections
From The Archives: August 31, 1972Cowardice is contagious. So is courage. Furnishing an example can be one of the greatest influences a person can have. When faced with danger and conflict, it is better for the coward to stand aside and not turn the whole company...
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | Reflections
There is perhaps no greater expression of God’s love for us than the incarnation. God becomes one of us. Seeing death’s grip on us, God chooses to become flesh, to suffer with us. In that suffering, by God’s love, Christ conquers death and frees us from slavery to sin...
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Reflections
I love this passage from Psalms because it reminds us it’s okay to have seasons when we’re weary and wasted with grief. God loves us and wants us just as much when everything is a hot mess as when we have it all together.I had to learn this hard truth when I went...
Monday, January 13, 2020 | Reflections
When I was thirty years old, a medical issue unexpectedly ended my career in the Navy. My career had been my entire focus in life, and I defined my personhood and my worth by it. When everything came crashing down, I had to learn the true source of my worth in Christ....
Sunday, January 12, 2020 | Reflections
Growing up around boats and having served in the Navy, I learned to both dread and love storms at sea. Nothing else makes me feel so small and yet so connected to the enormity of God’s creation as a storm at sea.Our lives are filled with storms that can make us feel...
Saturday, January 11, 2020 | Reflections
The Bible has more than 31,000 verses and roughly 1,200 pages, give or take a few depending on the translation. How wonderful it is when a passage like this one from Colossians ties all of them together so neatly. Whatever else we read, whatever points of doctrine or...
Friday, January 10, 2020 | Reflections
A state trooper raised me. As an adult, I served several years as a sheriff’s deputy. Law enforcement officers often refer to themselves as sheepdogs—protectors of their flock. We learned to see the threats in every situation—everywhere.All of us shoul….(View...
