Over the course of a single day, who do you speak to? Family members, friends, coworkers? A spouse or significant other? And what about the people you encounter briefly at the drive-thru window, the cashier register, and the check-in counter at the gym? Maybe you speak casually to the people sitting in bleachers, a church…
Category: Christian Living
A Life Lived Captive to the Light of Jesus
Summer nights around the fire are one of my absolute favorite things in the world. Spring and fall nights around the fire are pretty great, too! This past summer, I studied Hebrews with a few friends, and we had our weekly gatherings and discussions around a fire pit on a friend’s beautiful deck. We had…
Backward Planning Your Way to a Matured Faith Life
Many teachers utilize “backward planning” when mapping out their classroom lessons and master plan for a particular semester, quarter, month or maybe even week. They look carefully at whatever assessment will be given at the end of a given time period, and then backward plan accordingly to make sure they cover everything students will be…
Take Heart, the Holy Spirit is Not in Short Supply
In a world where everything seems expensive these days, I often find myself in a ‘conservation’ mindset. I carefully preserve leftovers from restaurants to use as additional meals, I strategically plan my errands route to conserve gas, and I surely do park across the interstate from Kauffman Stadium in a little known free parking area…
The Powerful Pros of Writing Things Down
When I stop and think about how powerful written words are, it’s really quite astounding. To me, anyway! For example, as I sit at my desk writing these words, right next to me is a pile of notes I received from high school students last May for Teacher Appreciation Week. And ya know, it’s one…
A Challenge to Follow Jesus’ Example of Solitude
How often do you get away from the hustle and bustle of life? No matter what life season you’re in, you’re probably surrounded by something. It may be kids and their busy schedules, or it may be volunteer commitments you’ve made. You might be surrounded by technology and the distractions that come from phones, computers,…
How to Set a Christlike Example Under Pressure
One of my favorite sports events of this past summer was the NBA playoffs. I keep up with the NBA loosely, watching games here and there. But when the playoffs roll around, I tune in a lot more frequently. Why? It’s different watching playoff basketball than regular season basketball! The stakes are higher, which means…
When to Care About What Other People Think
One thing I often struggle with is being too worried about what other people think about me. In fact, as I think over just my past 24 hours, I can think of several times I was stressing (not too seriously, but it was on my mind nonetheless) about what other people might be thinking about…
Seeing Obedience in a Whole New Light
The word obedience doesn’t immediately fill me with happy, joyful thoughts. What about you? When I think about being obedient, for some reason I seem to automatically think about situations when I need to submit to another person even if I don’t want to. The dictionary definition of obedience doesn’t help make the word seem…
Practical Ways to Block Out the World’s Distractions
My parents don’t watch much TV, but when they do, they enjoy the entertainment value of commercials right alongside whatever it is they’re viewing. If we’re ever watching TV together, usually a sporting event of some kind, they let me know when one of the commercials they like comes on. And I usually am unable…