“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” —1 Corinthians 15:1–2 The apostle Paul was a man that God used in […]
The Christian’s testimony begins with and is rooted in the miracle of our salvation. There is no greater miracle in the universe than the transformation that happens when someone rests in Christ as their Lord. The miracle of God’s salvation of us is, as Ephesians 2:5 says, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, […]
The birth of your child is supposed to be an unforgettable day of joy and celebration. It is the culmination of nine months of dreams, hopes and prayers. It’s anticipation that builds to one beautiful moment in the hospital delivery room. That was the sort of moment that my parents were hoping for the day […]
I was born without arms. Every day is filled with the physical and emotional challenge of accomplishing tasks with my feet. Trying to make my big toe stand in for a thumb is hard enough, but even harder is the heartache of being different. The daily stares and comments from strangers prick my heart with […]
There’s a Post-It note that sits on my desk right now that has the names of seven churches on it. These churches are all very different: they’re from different parts of the country, different denominations and different church sizes from mega church to normative size. Yet, there is one thing they have in common. […]
Over the past few years it has felt there is an unending barrage of sexual abuse allegations. Those who seem to have it all have lost it all because of an appetite that they cannot control. Even beyond the focus on famous faces, the #MeToo movement across social media exposed that there is a pattern […]
So there we were — six of us seated around the table and enjoying each other’s company. Our distinct looking group began to elicit stares. Our group didn’t look like it should go together. At our table were a Lebanese pastor, a bearded evangelist born without arms, a black writer, a white church planter, a […]
Having a conversation around suffering is not one that any of us want to have with one another, but it is the single common thread that spans the length of every single one of our stories. Suffering is not contained in the testimony of just a few, it is common to all. Suffering is not […]
As of this month, I have now been preaching for 22 years. It is wild to think that more than half of my life has been spent in the rhythms of preparing and preaching a sermon week in and week out. I have grown and learned a lot about preaching but there’s one aspect of […]
“You are going to have a healthy baby boy.” Those are the words every expectant couple wants to hear. But what happens when a couple gets the most stomach-churning news imaginable — news that there’s a medical issue with the tiny little baby growing in his mother’s womb? Parents start to ask questions. Will my […]
