Above all else, guard your heart,for everything you do flows from it. - Proverbs 4:2 When I was younger, this verse was constanlty used in the context of dating. It certainly can - and should - apply in that arena. We must guard our hearts lest we fall in love with someone who is not healthy for us. Many of us can attest to years - if not decades - of turmoil because we d...

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity" (Proverbs‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬, ‭5‬-‭7‬). In this...

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,but foolsdespise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). When I first held our oldest daughter Kayla right after her birth, I trembled. I was afriad of dropping her, hurting her, doing something wrong. Why? Because she mattered to me a great deal. It was not the kind of fear that made me stay away from her. No, I was i...

For the sake of anonymity, we will summarize the beginning of her email: She was married for 32 years to an abusive husband before finally divorcing him. Originally they agreed to run a business together, her on the front lines and him behind the scenes handling the books and taking care of the money. They had children together, and then after years of a toxic and...

Yesterday we were reflecting on Peter's journey and where he went wrong the night Jesus was arrested. At the last supper, he was over-confident in himself and swore that he would never deny Jesus, even if everyone else fell away. When they went to the garden and Jesus asked him to stay up and pray, he couldn't stay awake. As a result, he wasn't spiritually alert. And th...

For the next two days join me as we track with Peter. His actions, his words, his motives. Scene 1: The Passover Meal 31 Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'[c] 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 33 P...

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him...-‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ What does it mean that Jesus "learned obedience?" Was there a point when he was disobedient? Prior to becoming a human, Jesus was fully God and in perfect unity with the Fat...

Let's consider where Judas went wrong. I see two things - one that led to his betrayal of Jesus, and another thing that is far worse. Then one of the Twelvethe one called Judas Iscariotwent to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an o...

Leading up to our 10-year anniversary this past Sunday, I did not have many thoughts or feelings. It wasn't a big deal at first. And then it hit me on Saturday night. There was gratefulness and sadness. There was excitement and there was grief. And then over the course of Sunday there was even frustration. I want to try to share a few of the thoughts that emerged as I...

It is of foremost importance to state up front that the gospel we trust in is that "Christ Jesuscame into the world to save sinners,of whom I am the foremost." (1 Timothy 1:15). In other words, being "pro-life" or being against abortion is not what saves us or makes us righteous in God's sight. There are people who are pro-life, who stand against abortion, who fight for...