Journey of Faith

I've been doing a lot of reflection on this past year as it is drawing very quickly to an end. In a way, it feels as though I've lived an entire lifetime in 2016 alone. The year has had its ups and downs, constantly surprising me. I've gained friendships and I've lost them - made personal progress and had some regression. As most people do, I like to go into a new year with some goals and things I'd like to see change. I'm not a perfect person and I always have room for improvement. There's always a need for growth and sometimes, that can be super overwhelming. My shortcomings and faults are many. However, there is a truth within that is so beautiful to contemplate. I may not know what 2017 has to hold. My world may be flipped upside down and I could leave that year an entirely different person than before. But the one constant I can always hold tight to is this: Jesus will not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is forever truth, fo...

Alright friends, it's confession time. There is one area in life (okay, probably a lot of areas) that I really, truly am miserable at. I'm talking "dolphin trying to walk on ground" bad. And the worst part is, it's only recently that I have learned this flaw of mine. I cannot give grace to myself. Well, I probably could, but I don't. I expect constant perfection in every aspect of my life. And when I fail, I do NOT react well. Like, I'll keep myself up at night for weeks over something that most people could probably just brush off. Now, you may be saying, "Hold on. I thought that setting high ecxpectations for yourself is a good thing!" And, sure, it's great to set a high standard for the way that you conduct your life. However, you have to remember that the same grace God gives to every single one of us applies to you as well. Jesus died on the cross for MY sins because He knew that I could never achieve perfection. He knows my human li...

What a week. For those of you who live under a rock, the election just happened. And I think we can all agree that this one has just about taken the cake for ugly elections. I mean, people just got downright nasty with each other. At first, it made me mad. I had to take a week off of Facebook because the way people were posting was affecting the view I had of them in real life. But then, it hit home. My family got involved. Words were thrown; words that can never be taken back. I think that 20 years of pain and hurt all culminated into one ugly Facebook showdown. And sure, the post was deleted. But the hurt wasn't. I was heartbroken. These are my loved ones. And politics brought out such a painful side. But the more I thought about it, I realized the heart issue here isn't politics. The heart issue is the past 20 years of disconnect and family pain. It just took one comment that came across the wrong way to bring all of that to the surface. That got me to thinking ab...

I don't know about you, but if I had to have a theme word for how I've been feeling lately, it would be "worn." These past few months, it seems as if everything and then some has been thrown onto my plate. Last night, when it was 7:00 pm and I couldn't keep my eyes open, I started to realize that my body is slowly but surely shutting down on me. Why is this? I can't help but think of Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28 where He says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." That sounds like such an amazing promise! Just come to Jesus and I'll get the rest I need??? But here's the thing. Now this is going to sound awful, so try to withhold your judgement faces, though they are well-deserved. Even coming to Jesus sounds like work. Dragging my tired body to the foot of the cross feels so far away. I mean, I can BARELY force myself out of bed in the morning and make it to the coffee pot. Not to mention, ...

Some days, I feel as though I'm treading water in the ocean with cinder blocks tied to my feet. There are times when the very thought of making it through my day seems like a terribly daunting task. I find myself saying, "Jesus, I tried to step out of the boat in faith like Peter, but I'm sinking and slowly drowning! I truly cannot do this!" I feel what seems to be a gentle chuckle from my Savior. How dare He laugh at a time like this, when His child is in dire need? "Oh, my child," He soothes, "You were doing a good thing in stepping out of the boat to walk to me, as Peter did. However, like Peter, you have made a crucial mistake. In your journey to me, you have forgotten the most important thing: keep your eyes ever fixed on me. If you look around at the waves, your fear will take your straight down." How true are these words? Far too often, I look at the waves of my life and allow myself to be overwhelmed. Of course they will appear to be ...

Do you ever forget sometimes? I don't mean forget, as in you have no memory of it happening. I just mean forget as in you don't really think about it. The reason I ask is because I think that is what happens to us in regards to the Gospel. I just got done reading through Colossians and I simply cannot get over something that I read in the first chapter. Paul is talking to this church and he says that his prayer is for the Gospel to increase in them. That's kind of wild to me when I really stop and think about it. What in the world does that even mean? Well, let's break it down. If you don't know the Gospel, here it is: our perfect and holy God knew that there was no way for us to have a right relationship with Him and make it to heaven on our own. Because of that, He sent His perfect Son to die on the cross and rise from the dead as the sacrifice for our sins. All we have to do is place our faith in Him and we are able to be right with God! Honestly, how excitin...

As many of you know, I started a new job a few months ago. I work in social services, working with people to find them needed assistance with problems they are having. And let me just tell you: my job is HARD. Yesterday, I spoke with 75 different people. That's 75 hurting, broken, and needy people. Quite frankly, it drains the life out of me sometimes. I got to the point where I was dreading going into work every day. I'm sure that many of you have been/are currently right there with me. It's tough down in the trenches. But let me tell you something so awesome. Every single morning, during my time with Jesus, I have prayed that I might find joy in my job. And every single morning, he has answered my prayer. Every. Single. Morning. Now, don't get me wrong; my job is still hard. And I still struggle going into work. But when I am there, I have contentment. I have joy that I can't understand or explain other than I asked God for it and he gave it to me. And it isn...

There it is. ANOTHER tragic news story. Someone was shot, someone was killed. Names, videos, and pictures flood our screens. We are all shocked and appalled at what our world is becoming. And then it begins. The posts. The opinions. The hateful words flying. Somehow, the horrific death of a human has become a platform for peoples' personal agendas. Instead of joining together as mankind to mourn the loss of a life, we demonize whatever side we don't agree with and yell at each other through the internet. When did we as Christians decide that this manner of conducting ourselves was glorifying to God? I mean, truly. What part about slander, snide comments, and judgements bring praise to the name of Jesus. We have gotten so caught up in the politics of life that we have forgotten when is important. A life has been lost. We don't know whether that soul is with Jesus or forever separated from Him in hell. Friend, if that last statement doesn't just break your heart, I ...

I don't know about you, but lately I have been so completely overwhelmed by all of the hurt and brokenness in this world. Maybe this is in part because of mass shootings, famines, or the like. However, I do think part of it has to do with my job. I work with broken person after broken all day long, and frankly, it can really wear a person down. I have truly learned just how much need there is right in my area, not to mention the rest of the world. You see, I suffer from this thing called Big Heart. I'm the person that will go to an animal shelter, cry about all of the dogs with no one to love them, and end up picking out the oldest, most pitiful dog in the whole building. While this sounds like a good thing, it can be detrimental at times. I'll find myself completely broken down by all of the sadness around me. What do you do about this? Where do you even begin? I once heard someone say that doing good felt like they were just trying to empty the ocean with an eye dropp...

Lately, I have seen a lot of controversial stuff in the news and on social media. People are pretty ticked off over who can use what bathroom, concerts being cancelled over bigotry, and all kinds of nonsense. I get it: we want our rights and for our beliefs to be respected. We have this "righteous" indignation over Christians being mistreated. We believe that we deserve to be treated better. Look, I'm not trying to start a fight. But before we get all up in arms about these "rights" that we believe we should have, let's take a walk through the words of Jesus, shall we? "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against your falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." -Matthew 5:9-12 (ESV) "I have said these ...

This past week, I spent time doing mission work with Operation Mobilization in the wonderful country of Ireland. Ireland is truly one of those places that looks just like the movies. The country is full of breath-taking, green, majestic life. However, shortly after arriving to this place, I learned something truly heartbreaking: while the landscapes may be full of life, spiritually, the country is dead. Estimated statistics state that 1.5% of Ireland's population knows the Lord personally. 1.5%. As far as English speaking, free-religion countries go, that is the lowest percentage of saved people worldwide. How devastating is that? If that country was wiped out tomorrow, 98.5% of its inhabitants would be permanently separated from God in hell. That was so sobering to me. And here is the problem:people do not think that they have a need for Jesus Christ. Time and time again, as I was speaking to people about the Gospel, they would say something along the lines of, "Sure, I t...

I was in church this week and we sang a worship song that I have heard many times, yet hit me in a new way I had never thought of. The song was "Thank you God for Saving me," by Christ Tomlin and Phil Wickham. Obviously, one of the lines in it goes, "thank you God, for saving me." Now don't get me wrong, I am grateful for my salvation. I know that I did nothing to earn it and it was entirely God. But here's the thing: I think that I had ceased to be amazed that God chose to save me. I grew up in a Christian home, am a pastor's kid, went to AWANA (if you don't know what that is, you totally missed out), the whole works. It only seemed natural that I would be saved. In reality, there is nothing natural about my salvation. I was running a hell-bound race. None of the church in the world, none of the Christian parents in the world, no AWANA program, nothing could have saved me from that destiny. The only thing that pulled me out of that was the superna...

I'm sure that many of you have heard the phrase, "Well that sure hits close to home." However, for me, this topic does not simply hit close to home. It hits smack dab in the middle of my home. And that topic is loving the lost. The reason this hits home for me is because of my brother. He is so completely lost, striving for fulfillment in ways that could never satisfy. It's completely heartbreaking to see, yet also sometimes extremely frustrating. Because of how lost he is, he often does things that are downright infuriating. I find myself so often wanting to last out at him, or throw in a snide comment when, once again, he's in my face about being loud and waking him up (apparently 11:30 is far too early to be woken). Or when my sleep is disturbed by raunchy rap music turned so loud you would think we run a trap house. I have to admit, sometimes I do lash out. But then I am reminded of the humbling phrase my dad so often uses. "Getting mad at a lost pers...