Good Friday Reflection: What to Do When All the Lights Go Out
The long sea journey to Rome found in today’s Lent Reading of Luke 27 hits close to home because for many years of my childhood I grew up on boats. We were hit by hurricanes and dangerous storms. We sometimes miscalculated and ran aground. Once I was aboard a vessel...
What To Do When God Lets You Down
All too often I hear stories like the one I heard earlier this week. A young woman, (we’ll name Kailey for this article and her protection), approached me heartbroken. Her dad had been diagnosed with a vicious disease and given months to live. Her church community...
What is the Absolute Best Bible Translation?
If you’ve seen me teach, you know I use an old school, huge, could-double-for-a-weapon size Bible. The kind that has a concordance, notes, history, and enough extras to sometimes push my checked luggage over the limit. If I take out my Bible, I can drop below 50...
How Your Aversion to Conflict Is Killing Your Leadership (And 3 Things To Do)
No matter how close the relationship. No matter how long the relationship. No matter how deep the spiritual and personal ties. Conflict remains inevitable. Sooner or later you will disagree with those you love, those you serve, those you work along side. When this...
What To Do When You Step Out to Follow God and God Vanishes
One of the patterns that I’ve noticed over many years of following Jesus is that often the lower God speaks, the more difficult the road ahead. The more certainty I feel to respond to God in the beginning often means more questioning, doubting, and second-guessing...
The One Person Who Doesn’t Deserve To Know Jesus
Today, in Acts 10 as part of the #LENTCHALLENGE, we meet Cornelius. This Roman centurion reminds us of the centurion in Luke. A faith-filled man, he committed himself and his family to worship, prayers, and helping the Jewish people. (NOTE: Click here to download a...
The Star Trek Calling: What to Do When You’re Led to Go Where No One Has Gone Before
Many of my friends have what I call, “The Star Trek Calling.” They go where no person has gone before. They cross borders. Push boundaries. Explore uncharted frontiers. Perhaps I’m describing you. Those with The Star Trek Calling travel to places in time and space...
The Hardest Part of Breaking Free (and How to Get Through It)
Today’s reading of Acts 5 slayed me. I read. Reread. Then read again. I studied multiple commentaries in an effort to pop the hood on this chapter. Yet the lineup of stories leaves me undone. (NOTE: Click here to download a FREE one-page reading guide of Luke and...
How to Read the Bible One Layer Deeper
For those of you joining in the #LentChallenge, this is the week we cross over from Luke into Acts. No small transition. Much like the Gospel of Luke, Acts is written by a master storyteller whose dramatic scenes and startling details awaken our hearts to the series...
The Cure for Disappointment
Disappointment is a cruel reality of life. We hope. We’re let down. We anticipate. The plan falls apart. We expect. We end up empty-handed. Over the years, I’ve developed some less-than-helpful coping mechanisms for disappointment. 1. Practice hope management. I still...
