A common question I hear from people is, “How can I be a Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit, and still do this thing I’m struggling with? What’s wrong with me?” People feel such enormous shame because of where they’re struggling. We feel like we’re the only one. We feel like we’re a bad Christian. […]
As much as we try to ignore it, we all have pain in our lives. And we all touch the pain, one way or another, for better or worse, in each other’s lives. Yet as universal as pain is, we typically don’t talk about it, for a couple of good reasons. First and most obvious, […]
The Tree of Discernment There were two special trees in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (I’ll abbreviate that last one to The Tree of Good & Evil, for short.) Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from the Tree of Life, but […]
We can unknowingly do tremendous damage by guilting ourselves (or other people) into forgiving too soon. What?!? The Bible commands us to forgive! Yes, it does. I completely believe in the power of forgiveness, no argument there. But it has to be real forgiveness, not cheap forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood topics […]
Another quiet night’s sleep was shattered by the midnight alarm. The claxon went off in the small, New England lighthouse on the rocky Massachusetts coast. Another ship had run aground in the night fog on the rocks. The men and women in the small, dingy lighthouse jumped out of bed, pulled on their gear, and […]
Having doubts doesn’t mean you don’t have faith, in the same way that having fear doesn’t mean you aren’t courageous. What?!? You can’t be courageous and fearful at the same time, can you? Yes, absolutely you can. Having courage doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. In fact, the brave person and the coward both feel the […]
Every relationship pursues one of these two goals. Every relationship protects one of these two things. Either connection or distance. That’s it. Terrified of What We Desperately Long For The truth is, we all long for connection, for intimacy. We long to be fully known, accepted, and loved. And there’s the rub. We’re terrified that […]
One of the biggest obstacles we’ve seen to people receiving healing is when they are all caught up in their own head. There are entire denominations that have intellectualized the Bible, believing the lie that the battle is all in the mind. Yes, there certainly is a battle in the mind, in our thoughts. But […]
As the church, we are Jesus’ hands, feet, voice, and heart to the world. We invite wounded people into transformational intimacy with our Savior by stewarding both truth and compassion. But there are 3 mindset traps that sabotage Jesus’ mission to wounded people. These 3 mindset traps are so insidious and sneaky we often don’t […]
As God brings wounded people to himself, we as the Church need to learn how to facilitate the healing transformation God wants to bring. Often, this starts with just learning how to pray for people effectively, whether it’s after-service prayer, a phone call from a friend in need, or in a private, dedicated, ministry setting. […]