Do you know what it means to be authentically you, to live in a way that’s aligned with God’s purposes and the unique gifts and talents he’s given you? If you don’t, you’re not alone. People from all walks of life struggle to be true to themselves especially when they face real or perceived expectations. […]
Culture Clash
Before communication and connection exploded with the Internet and social media, most groups of people used to be more monocultural, where their beliefs and values were far more similar within their families, neighborhoods, and communities. Boy have times changed! What once seemed like a large world just several decades ago, now feels like the smallest […]
Running By Example
The day Instagram found out I was a Christian was a very strange day for me. My feed suddenly went from posts of computer repairs, Star Trek facts, and memes to a mix of all those things interposed with what I can only call the Christian side of Instagram. It wasn’t uncommon to find myself […]
Music Christians Make
While living in California, my wife and I enjoyed attending the concert of my cousin Rachel who was a classical musical director at a church in Sacramento. On Christmas we sat in the audience of several hundred people and eagerly anticipated the evening. The musicians came out first and each sat in a designated seat […]
How Anyone Can Study The Bible
“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t,” said the Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. Navigating the Christian life requires you clasp your Bible and use it for guidance in relationships, work, and spiritual life. When you study God’s word, you obey God. He told his people, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. […]
Remarkably Dramatic
I have a confession. I have a favorite book of the Bible. I know they’re all inspired by God, and they all have authority over my life, but I just can’t help it. Something about the Book of Mark just grabs me in a way no other book does. But if you’re like me, or […]
ENGAGING WITH GOD
With our busy get-up-and-go lifestyles, it might seem more difficult than ever to find time for God or where we can fully make time for the essential aspects of the Christian life like prayer and Bible reading. Yes, like working out or eating healthy, it comes down to the priority and importance of those things […]
IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: CORPORATE WORSHIP
Prior to having children, I had not considered that participating in a faith community could be an act of spiritual discipline. I have learned over the past three years that the 10 minutes, and sometimes 3 hours, before church on any given Sunday tend to be the most unholy minutes or hours of the week. […]
IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: SIMPLICITY
The discipline of simplicity is, simply put, the practice of living with less. This practice is unique from the other spiritual disciplines that we have explored in this series, in that the need to be intentional about living with less applies specifically to those living in societies and situations that allow people to live with […]
IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: REST
Back in 2007, during my junior year of college, I was a resident assistant in the dorms, and I spent that entire year going to bed at 2:00 am then waking up each morning at 8:00 am. I felt tired most of the time, but not particularly exhausted. That six-hour stint of sleep each night […]