(Part 1 of 4 in the “Performing or Belonging?” series) It often goes without saying – we’re exhausted. Not from work. Not from parenting. Not from the latest crisis-of-the-week. So many people exhausted from pretending. Smiling when we’re breaking. Posting like we’re thriving. Walking into rooms, churches included, wondering if we’re being judged for not…
There’s something sacred about those beloved colors of red, white, and blue. They’re more than just a color scheme for a t-shirt or those skirts around floats for a parade. They tell a story. They tell our story whether we like it or not. Every thread of that flag carries the weight of history and the…
There’s an American flag flying outside my home, and it doesn’t just go up for holidays. It’s there most every day, through wind, rain, snow, and sun. It flies for the men and the women who stand for me. It flies for my family, my cousins, my grandfather, my brother, and even my son –…
We spend years in the trenches of parenting between car seats and curfews, timeouts and tantrums, grades and guidance. For two decades (give or take), we pour everything we have into shaping, steering, and correcting. We raise them to grow up, to think for themselves, to stand on their own two feet. But here’s the…
Drive through almost any county in America and you’ll spot them: gorgeous brick steeples hovering over empty parking lots, sanctuaries built for 300 now echoing with twenty voices and a stubborn furnace that costs more than the weekly offering. We’ve become better caretakers of drywall than of disciples. And the numbers back it up. Lifeway Research…
Ever have this thought go through your mind? Raising kids today feels like building a straw fort in a windstorm. The world is loud.The rules keep changing.The pressures seem to start earlier with every generation. The questions get heavier.And half the time, we don’t even feel confident in our own footing, let alone how to…
Have you noticed it? How quickly everything turns into a fight.How often people talk past each other instead of to each other.How even simple conversations feel like walking through a minefield. We’re surrounded by noise, not connection.By opinions, not understanding.By constant talking, but not much listening. It’s not just politics or big debates either. It’s…
I think it’s safe to say. The modern American church is addicted to safety. We’ve built sanctuaries that feel more like coffee shops than spiritual battlegrounds. We’ve traded sermons that pierce the soul for talks that soothe the ego. We’ve made small groups “low commitment,” worship “non-offensive,” and mission trips “Instagrammable.” Somewhere along the way,…
We live in a world that subtly, and not so subtly, says the same thing over and over:You should be doing more. Work more. Be more involved. Cook from scratch. Get ahead. Stay informed. Stay fit. Stay positive. Stay available. And if you’re tired? That’s just proof you need better habits. Or a better planner….
Let’s be honest: most of our prayers are weak. They’re soft. Safe. Domestic. “Help me have a good day.”“Please heal Aunt Carol’s bunion.”“Let the traffic be light.” We toss these up like God is our cosmic butler, here to make life smooth, not holy. And when Paul drops to his knees in Ephesians 3:14-21, he blows…
