With my daughter home from college and temps rising, I am ready for summer. Maybe you’re getting there, too? There’s nothing like a good book by the pool (or ocean!) to make a perfect summer day.
Church, Evangelism, Gratitude, Mission
“We won!” If you’re a sports fan, you might have bellowed those words when your favorite team emerged victorious from an epic showdown.
But of course, we know that we didn’t win at all. I sat on my couch and cheered for my Chiefs. But it was Andy Reid who drew up the play, Patrick Maholmes who threw the pass, and Travis Kelce who caught it.
They, not we, won.
Many of us have come to believe the opposite lie regarding the church. It’s easy to think they are doing the work of the gospel. In a celebrity culture, it’s easy to get sucked into thinking that pastors do ministry and preachers do gospel work.
Christian Living, Consumerism, Culture, Finance, Relationships, Wisdom
“Download this app!” I urged my family, “You’ll get $200 free to bet!” Five years ago sports betting became legal across most of the United States. From 2019 to 2023, sports betting downloads increased from 6 million to 33 million. In 2021 alone, the percentage of Americans who regularly bet on sports more than doubled jumping from 5% to 12%.
By 2024, the sports betting market reached an estimated size of $70 billion, generating $13.7 billion in revenue. Analysts predict the industry will continue its skyrocketing growth, projecting it to reach $187 billion by 2030.
Recommendations, Abortion, Culture, Nature, Sexuality
What to do in conflict: Benjamin Vrbicek says, “Rarely do interpersonal struggles get better until the people involved move up what I call the ‘Hierarchy of Communication Ladder.’”
Five ways AI is impacting the next generation: Shelly Melia reports, “According to Common Sense Media, half of teenagers use AI companions regularly, while almost 75% of teens have experimented with them. Another study found almost 1 in 5 students have used their back-and-forth conversations with AI to have a romantic relationship.”
Family, Forgiveness, Marriage, Parenting
Today I have the privilege of having my wife, Angel, share her thoughts on motherhood and her spiritual journey. You’re in for a treat. Angel is a counselor at Whole Hope Christian Counseling
I am a type A, firstborn. By the time I was twenty, I had my life planned out. After marriage, John would work to get me through college, and then I would work as an elementary school teacher to get John through seminary without debt. Then he would graduate, we would move into our white-picket-fence dream home, start our family, and begin a life of ministry together.
I feel like you went through marriage, education, and childbearing at such a young age. Would you please consider adding your age at various stages? You’ll see my clues, lol.
Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Leadership, Suffering, Spiritual Growth
You see it, don’t you? A co-worker quietly losing their battle with alcoholism. A cousin whose marriage and family are unraveling. A friend struggling under the weight of a debilitating eating disorder. Pain is everywhere. People are hurting all around us.
If we are able to glimpse even a fraction of the world’s pain, can you imagine what Jesus saw? For any one of us, such suffering would be overwhelming. Yet, what was Jesus’ response to a world filled with the “harassed and helpless”?
Recently, while reading through the gospel of Matthew, I returned to the well-worn passage where Jesus tells his disciples,
