Articles
5 Mistakes Businesses Make When Marketing to Churches (And How to Avoid Them)
Churches play a major role in their communities, making them a valuable audience for businesses looking to connect with faith-based organizations. However, marketing to churches is not like marketing to businesses—many companies struggle to engage pastors and church...
Church Decision-Makers: Who They Are & How to Connect With Them
When businesses think about expanding into new markets, they often focus on industries like tech, healthcare, or retail—missing out on one of the most engaged and influential audiences: church decision-makers. Churches operate much like any other organization,...
Spiritual Growth: A Life of Fruitfulness
After years of apartment living, an overseas move, first jobs, two small children, and nearly ten years of marriage, we bought our first house. It was perfect: huge picture windows, original wood floors, a yard for our children to play in, and a front porch where we...
Servant Leadership: Leading by Example
My approach to leadership has always been comprehensive, which is why the C in chief executive officer (CEO) often represents more than just “chief” for me—it also implies the idea of “contractor” and “custodian.” This reflects my commitment to lead by example, never...
Savoring Scripture: A Feast for the Soul
Let’s consider this common analogy: the Bible is like an owner’s manual for life. What a pragmatic picture. What a joy-killing image. The owner’s manual for my car is hidden in the glove compartment along with napkins, the car registration, and ketchup packets. The...
Delighting in God’s Word: Cultivating a Life Rooted in Scripture
I am going to do better, I told myself. First thing tomorrow, it’s going to be different. The number of times I have had this exact conversation with myself regarding the conviction to be daily rooted in Scripture is too many to count. Can you relate? My spirit...
Prepare for Life’s Storms with Biblical Wisdom and Leadership
Forecasting the weather isn’t new. Jesus said as much in Matthew 16:3, “And in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” When we...
When Work Disappoints: Finding Biblical Wisdom in Setbacks
Disappointment at work is an everyday experience for most of us. It happens when work fails to live up to our hopes or expectations. We don’t finish everything on our to-do list. Only one person attends the online event we planned. Customers prefer our competitor’s...
Understanding the Parable of the Two Lost Sons
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable. —Luke 15:1–3 The Elder Brother and the Two Lost Sons...
Understanding the Gospel Mom: A Calling Rooted in Christ
Over the last decade, the two of us (Emily and Laura) have embarked on our own journeys to understand what a good mom really is. If you’re familiar with our ministry, Risen Motherhood, then you might know that as sisters-in-law and friends, we talked regularly in the...
What the Early Church Knew About Biblical Family
The Early Church’s View of Biblical Family When I was a kid growing up down South, my mom always referred to her in-laws as “Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard.” My parents both grew up in the small town of Talladega, Alabama, where every adult was a “Mr.” or “Mrs.” to anyone...
Miracles Lead to Worship
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. —Psalm 77:14 The Power of Biblical Miracles Miracles are hard to believe in, and they should be. In Matthew 28 we are told that the apostles met the risen Jesus on a mountainside in...
The Righteousness of Christ Transforms Your Life
Imagine that you are sitting in a chair in front of God the Father, and all his glory is blazing in unapproachable light, and Jesus, in his blood-soaked robe, is sitting in a chair next to you. An angel asks God the Father, “Who is more righteous, Jesus or this image...
When We Can’t, God Can: Surrendering Our Struggles to His Power
I can’t fix my family. I can’t keep my job. I can’t salvage my reputation. I can’t protect those I love. I can’t stand the pain. I can’t stop drinking. Can’t stop binge-eating, binge-watching, binge-spending, binge-working. Can’t stop looking at porn. I can’t find a...
Understanding Calling Burnout: The Devastating Effects on Purpose and Identity
While burnout in general is definitely concerning—leading to depression, anxiety, increased sick days, relational conflict, a kind of psychological paralysis, and an overriding sense of shame—burnout from a calling is more than that; it can be devastating to the core....
The Resurrection’s Power to Transform and Empower
On Holy Saturday in 2019, The New York Times published columnist Nicholas Kristof’s interview with Serene Jones, the president of New York’s famed Union Theological Seminary. In the interview Kristof, Nicodemus-like, tiptoes toward Christian faith with hesitation but...
How to Let Go of Control and Trust God’s Guidance
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34, NIV) Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the command center aboard an extremely large ship. Toward the end of the tour, the...
Reverse Engineering Your Life with God’s Wisdom
We built a log home twenty-five years ago. Sadly, it burned to the ground, and we needed to rebuild it. Log homes are built in a parking lot somewhere, where all the logs are cut, notched, carefully fit together, and then numbered. Then they disassemble the structure...
God’s Heart for the Vulnerable and How We Can Reflect It
God’s Compassion for the Vulnerable Through Scripture God’s heart for vulnerable groups is threaded throughout the Bible. Verse after verse, chapter after chapter in the Old and New Testaments reveal God’s compassion, mercy, grace, and love for those who are...
Finding God’s Glory in the Uncertainty of Life
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV) Trusting God When the Path Seems Unclear I feel the most unsettled when I’m uncertain about the future....
