We all understand that abuse is harmful. It leaves deep scars and wounds on our heart, especially when committed by the people who should have loved us. That’s Type B trauma—a “Bad” thing happened. We all get that abuse is really bad. But Type A trauma—the “Absence” of the necessary good thing—is still trauma. But […]
People come to church in silent pain, isolated and hurting. “Look at all these happy people getting close to God. I’m the only one who’s faking it.” Nothing could be further from the truth. But we drive people to internalize and hide their pain because, by and large, the church doesn’t know how to help […]
As our regular readers know, this blog is all about our true identity in Jesus—the identity God created us to become. But let’s take one giant step backward. How can we understand who we really are in God if we’re confused about who God really is? In order to understand who we really are, we […]
There’s one quality of Christianity, a central feature actually, that other world religions just don’t have. And the world lacks completely. In fact, being able to do this one thing separates Christians from the rest of the world. That thing is Forgiveness. Being raised in a (mostly) Christian culture, at least one founded on Christian […]
Everything in the Kingdom of God is upside down and backwards compared to how we as humans think. The best Kingdom gifts, the ones that give us the most pleasure and the most joy, are the ones we give away. In Matthew 7:2, Jesus says, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to […]
One of the hardest things to navigate is helping someone in a healthy way, without rescuing them in an unhealthy way. We don’t want to interfere with God’s process of sowing and reaping in their lives. (Here’s my previous post with 3 reasons why.) Sometimes it feels like watching a train wreck in slow motion. […]
Speaking up for what’s right is important. As God’s people, if we don’t speak up for what’s right, we leave the world in a moral vacuum that our enemy is all too happy to fill with deception. Much of the societal decay in the world around us has risen to unprecedented levels because God’s people […]
One of the most painful things in life is to watch one of our loved ones destroy their lives. It doesn’t matter if it’s drugs, alcohol, promiscuous sex, porn, gambling, or workaholism. Or something worse. When we medicate the pain in our lives instead of dealing with it, it’s always destructive. And it’s hard to […]
What do you want in your friends? What makes a good friend? Many people would answer, “A good friend accepts you just the way you are.” I beg to differ. That’s not a friend. Both your local waiter and the cashier at your gas station accept you just the way you are. Because they don’t […]
Starting in late February 2020, during Lent, our church embarked on a sermon series called “Reset: Next Generation.” We sought God through congregational fasting about if and how the Holy Spirit wants our church to change. We found out later that many prophetic voices across Christendom in that same time period received similar words. Reset. […]