christianity Deconstruction: Falling into Resurrection Photo by Matt Brockie on Unsplash I wish I had a conclusion for this post, but this is a piece with no tidy ending. There is no bow to this poorly bundled package of questions. I am merely in a season of deconstruction — appropriate
christmas Ripped Pants: Learning How to Serve I hadn’t been there more than ten minutes. I’d ripped. My. Pants. Before tonight, that had never to my recollection happened to me — other than the knee blowout or three growing up. It’s hard to calmly assess what feels to be
christianity Monsters That Lurk in the Depths I’ve continued churning through the idea of conquering monsters and I realized I needed to readjust the way I speak about monsters. It also dawned on me that I could help you with a little context as to where this word ‘monsters’ is
dependence Dependents (When I Am Not Enough) I’d be willing to bet that the idea of being dependents ranks right up there with submission, meekness, and self-denial. That is a downright scary list of terms. But it’s a damned important one; in the life of faith, they are nothing
Donald Miller Intimacy Issues fearing intimacy is wearing a mask, a very scary mask. I just finished reading Donald Miller’s Scary Close. I highly recommend the book. To anyone. I’m not here to talk about the book specifically, but I am here to share some inspired
Art Crying Out to Be Heard It’s sobering seeing that the last post here was from March. That was nearly 5 months ago for those of you doing the quick math. If you had been following along with this blog for any period of time, I apologize for my
Christian life When Creativity Dies, So Does Purpose Aw, screw it. You know, I had something for this. I had a post written in my head, but somehow it just doesn’t seem to matter much at the moment. Maybe I should just stop here and send this draft to the trash.
church Believing Lies Will Distract You from Purpose I’ve believed a lot of silly half-truths and lies thus far in my life. Like, when I was 5 or so, my brother and dad convinced me that I was going to spawn a watermelon from my abdomen like an alien from the
discrimination Ferguson, UVa, and a Great Darkness Truth be told, I’ve written this post over 20 times in the past couple months. Returning to this blog has been monumentally daunting. As the days passed, the idea of returning and what I should say have been blowing in like a Midwestern
forgiveness Redeeming the Shame There are many things that can seem to bring us shame in this life. We are fragile souls treading lightly across an unforgiving and often harsh earth, so it should be no surprise that we all at some point experience shame for something we
community Stress and the Months of Darkness I don’t know where to begin, as it’s been…too long. So, like any good writer, I’ll start in the middle. I’ve been struggling to put words to paper (screen) for over two months, because I’ve been unwilling to
christ The Great Longing for God I know it’s been a while friends and I’m sorry. I’ve had the following verses on my mind for a long time and felt I needed to share some thoughts and reflections. First, a question: What would truly yearning and longing
easter Good Friday and the Meaning of Goodness So, tomorrow’s Easter, huh? And that means yesterday must’ve been Good Friday. I see. This is me most years the day before Easter. I don’t know about you, but Easter’s a weird holiday to me. I mean, I enjoy the
Father For His Steadfast Love Endures Forever It’s been a really long time since I last blogged. Forgive me, friends. I’d completely intended to post after spending a morning reading through the words above “for His steadfast love endures forever,” twenty-six times throughout Psalm 136. For perspective, there are
Christian living Marketing God In a World Filled With Noise While having a conversation the other day, I was asked the question, “Is a marketer successful if their efforts don’t result in sales?” “No,” I answered instantly, startling myself with my certainty. I gathered my thoughts and explained how the purpose of a
children Sabotaging God and the Pursuit of Happiness We all want to be happy. We’re all in our own ways striving after the things we think will bring us that long happiness. I know I am. But I also know that I have a tendency of sabotaging God when He does
community Relationships Are About Community Sorry I’ve been incommunicado, friends. Life (as a whole) has been rather hectic and busy as of late. It seems this blog and my quiet times are the first things to go, and that’s a shame. But one thing that has kept
busy Obstacles to Prayer and the Busy What gets in the way of your prayer? What, if you could push it aside for a few minutes is the biggest reason you don’t pray more? Everyone of us has our own obstacles to prayer. However, I’m willing to bet that
children Prayer Will Break Your Heart Over the last week or so, I’ve come to believe that if you’re doing it right, you’ll eventually find yourself in prayer for something which you never thought you’d pray. You’ll pray for things like broken relationships, hardship, destitution,
culture Humility Is Inherent in Recovery So, it’s been three weeks since I pulled my back. Therefore, for one who treats most things as if they have an on-off switch, it’s been three weeks of moderate torture. I’ve always been fortunate enough to physically do just about
authority Authority Is the Basis for Freedom Sunday’s message at church focused on dispelling the myth that authority and freedom are mutually exclusive concepts. Naturally, I have a hard time believing these words, being deeply mistrusting of authority. However, somehow or another it clicked in my mind as I was
Christian life Resolutions for the New Year Now that it’s the first Monday of the year, last year seems pretty firmly in the past. Not that I’d want to travel back, but for some reason there’s a finality that this morning brought. With that being said, I hope
Breaking Down Broken Gratitude and Pulled Muscles So, it’s fitting that I’d be sitting here typing this post on New Year’s Eve with a strained back. No, I’m not going for self-deprecation or even some take on karma. The past few weeks have been a noted time
busy Busy Christmas and the Busy Heart I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Actually, I hope everyone had a phenomenal Christmas unlike any before it. How was your Christmas, though? If I had to pick one word to summarize mine, it’d have to be “busy.” Yes, I had a
Advent Advent and the Already But Yet to Come Advent is an interesting word. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly until I looked it up. Dictionary.com has the standard coming into being, Jesus, and holiday references, but then there’s a curious one at the bottom of the list.