Pulling Up Roots: How Unhealed Hurt Becomes the Offense We Carry
I kept telling myself the meeting didn’t matter, but the dismissal burrowed in. Unhealed hurt does that — it throws vines over the heart until everything feels gray. Offense becomes our armor; it also becomes our cage. Jesus invites another way: name the wound, pull the root, abide in Love. With him, we can trade resentment for release, guardedness for grace and grow green again.
Courage to Be True: Moving From Shame to Wholeness
For years I hid behind a practiced smile. I longed to be loved but feared being known. Rejection felt deadly, so I performed, pleased and pretended. Shame taught me to hide. But God doesn’t heal who we pretend to be. He meets the real us — wounded, afraid, still in process — and calls us his own. Courage begins there: trusting our identity isn’t defined by our past, but secured in Christ alone.
Fruit Wars: Reclaiming Your Spiritual Garden
The sweetest fruit grows slow — and it’s often stolen before it ripens. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness — they’re not gone, just stunted. The enemy can’t steal what God plants, but he can distract us from abiding. Stay close to the Vine. Guard your spiritual garden. What the Spirit grows in you, no thief can truly take.
Sacred Texts and ‘Little Bells’: Arvo Pärt’s Musical Masterpieces
Arvo Pärt’s music feels both ancient and startlingly new. His tintinnabuli style — “little bells” of melody and harmony — distills sound into simplicity, letting sacred texts breathe. Silence is never absence but presence, the space where God speaks. At ninety, Pärt still teaches us that less can carry more, and that even a single note can draw us into eternity.
Baptism: Understanding Death, Burial and Resurrection
Baptism marks the end of one world and the beginning of another. The Cross wipes away everything born of Adam; the resurrection ushers in everything born of Christ. Going under the water, we consent to God’s verdict — that our old life is finished. Rising, we testify to his new life within us. The old creation buried; the new creation born. Christ’s life, now grafted into ours.
When the World Shakes
When the world trembles and my courage hides, I light a candle and ask my heart if it’s ready. I hear: surrender. I remember: idols won’t hold. So I breathe, unclench and let Love lower my center. Do what’s before you, he says. Fill your heart till it spills. Be loved, be loved, be loved. Hope descends like a rope ladder; I climb, eyes up, into his steady light.
Short-Term Missions: Their Value When Done Right
Short-term missions can be a holy gift — or a well-funded vacation with a paintbrush. What makes the difference is whether we actually love people enough to serve them wisely. Done right, we go invited, trained and humble, strengthening the local church instead of starring in our own story. Mercy matters. But so does meaning. We bring help — and we bring Jesus.
‘House Of David’ Season 2: The Bible Epic We All Need
With sweeping battles and heartfelt faith, “House of David” returns with a richer, bolder second season. It’s a rare biblical epic that captures both the grit of war and the grace of God. Saul’s fall and David’s rise unfold with cinematic power, reminding us that heroism under heaven isn’t about dominance — it’s about surrender.
When You’re Afraid of the Future
Worry doesn’t change what’s coming; it only steals peace from today. God’s promise to go with us means we can stop clinging to control and start trusting his presence. The future may feel uncertain, but it’s never unheld. He’s not asking us to predict what’s ahead — only to walk with the One who already knows the way.
Dreaming Bigger by Asking Better Questions
Good questions are like keys, flashlights, even shovels. They unlock new doors, shine light on hidden places, and unearth treasures buried just beneath the surface. Unlike questioning, which often carries suspicion, true question-asking is about discovery, curiosity and growth. It’s a posture, not a checklist. And when practiced with wisdom, it doesn’t just improve conversations — it reshapes our relationships, our work and the direction of our lives.
A Profound Forgiveness
Amanda Knox spent years wrongly imprisoned in Italy, vilified by the press, and haunted by the loss of her friend. Yet in 2022, she sat across from the prosecutor she once blamed and said, “I do not think you are an evil person.” Forgiveness didn’t erase her anger or pain, but it reframed her story. Grace became possible where bitterness had every right to stay.
The Speed of Soul
Harried sneaks in quiet — too many commitments, too little peace. It leaves us scattered, brittle, gasping for margin. But calm doesn’t just happen; it must be cultivated. That old man’s words still echo: find your center. Love deeply. Live quietly. Mind your own affairs. Work with your hands. An unhurried soul isn’t stumbled upon; it’s forged — slowly, intentionally, like wisdom cut through stone.
A Different Saint Film: ‘Triumph Of The Heart’
Most faith-based films avoid dwelling too long on real suffering, but “Triumph of the Heart” refuses to look away. The story of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom under the Nazis immerses viewers in hunger, brutality and despair — yet also reveals compassion and dignity stronger than oppression. Its beauty lies in showing that a Christian’s hope can outlast the world’s darkest will.
Ignatian Exercises: Keeping Company With Jesus
Five years ago, Jenn and I set out to pray an hour a day for 34 weeks — the Ignatian Exercises. We didn’t know what we were getting into, only that we longed for something real with Jesus. What we found wasn’t religion or ritual, but relationship — keeping company with him. Listening. Speaking. Healing. Becoming the people he always meant us to be.
Communion: The Lord’s Supper Can Change the World
The Lord’s Supper is not just a personal spiritual exercise — it’s a covenant meal that builds community, shapes character and unites us in Christ. In bread and cup, Jesus meets us, linking belief with practice, individual with church, gratitude with obedience. Properly practiced, this sacrament forms us more than culture can, making us people who live the gospel — and through it, change the world.
Quit Trying To Earn It and Receive God’s Love
You don’t have to earn what’s already been given. The voice in your head that says you’re only lovable if you succeed, perform or impress — it’s lying.
Living in Freedom Every Day
Freedom isn’t about doing whatever we want; it’s about living in step with the One who knows what’s best for us. Jesus promised us a Helper — the Holy Spirit — who leads us into truth when lies creep in, when prayers feel hard, when hope feels distant. Real freedom begins when we stop trying to muscle our way out and start asking for help.
How Leo Tolstoy Grappled With God And Meaning
Leo Tolstoy lived like a man at the summit, yet spent decades staring into a bottomless pit. He had everything — wealth, reputation, genius stamped onto novels that reshaped literature. And still, he couldn’t escape the fact that all of it would vanish. Death haunted him. Success mocked him. He tried distraction, denial, even despair. Nothing worked. Until the Gospels. Their words stripped him down and demanded he begin again.
Called To Be Friends, Called To Serve
In a culture obsessed with dividing lines — politics, race, wealth, worldview — it feels nearly impossible to imagine genuine friendships forming across the gaps. And yet, that’s exactly what happened between John Perkins and Howard Ahmanson Jr. Their story isn’t about ignoring differences; it’s about God transforming those differences into the soil where trust and love could take root. That’s what real friendship does. It points us back to Jesus, the friend who holds us together.
Crab Treasures and Learning to Let Go
A hermit crab dragging a pen across the sand reminds me of how tightly we hold things not meant for us. He thought he’d found treasure, but I knew it was dangerous. We’re the same with burdens and misplaced desires — clutching what will only harm us. God invites us to let go, trusting him to carry what we cannot.