How to Eat Your Bible…What Does that Mean?

How to Eat Your Bible…What Does that Mean?

I vividly remember a point in my life when the Bible was completely foreign to me. I had heard and understood the gospel, confessed my sins to the Lord, believed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, attended church regularly, prayed often, participated in small...
The Joy Switch

The Joy Switch

Have you ever lost it—at a time when things were humming along for you? You were feeling good—until someone said or did just the thing to set you off. You got derailed, pushed out of your sweet spot. You stopped listening and started reacting. You no longer felt like...
Back to the Good Stuff

Back to the Good Stuff

  When we refuse to sacrifice our time for the sake of busyness or of keeping up with the person next to us, we can get back to the good stuff. We can enjoy the rewards that come from instilling these values in our children. We can get back to the simple joys...
Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 2

Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 2

Love. Even if we’ve never cracked open a Bible, most of us know evangelical America’s favorite verse, John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The verse sums up the essence...
Our Churches and the Great Commission

Our Churches and the Great Commission

Thoughts from the Back Pew All Christian churches preach and teach the “Great Commission,” the command Jesus gave to all of us to go and make disciples. The Greek word translated “go” is in the present-perfect verb tense and more accurately can be translated “while...
Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 1

Three Ways to Help Your Severely Depressed Loved One Part 1

Severe depression is, by definition, an unhealthy, unnatural state of mind, inherently and wholly illogical. It really and truly doesn’t make sense. And that’s what makes it so difficult for those who’ve never dealt with it (and even many who have) to understand....
The American Orphan Crisis

The American Orphan Crisis

Every Church Can Do Something I remember the first time I learned about orphans as a young boy. It was from a late-night infomercial highlighting starving orphans in Africa. It hit me hard then, and still today, I cannot fathom not having a loving family to take care...
The Scarlet Ribbon of Redemption

The Scarlet Ribbon of Redemption

As Adam and Eve left the Great King’s royal garden in Eden, they carried with them not only the consequences of their rebellion but the promise that God would ransom them, and all Creation, from the clutches of sin and death. Like a scarlet ribbon ever unraveling from...