My life has been pretty full. I have four amazing children. I work a job that I love. I have a husband that I’m crazy in love with. Ministry has been fruitful. I even have great neighbors – great enough to attempt being relational with them (even though I am an introvert). And I have a Savior who is all-satisfying. But even in the midst of this fullness, there has still been room for a question to fit in: “How can I love and serve Jesus and still feel this empty?”
Read MoreWhen I first became a Christian during my freshman year of college, I remember hearing so many Christians around me talking about what God was calling them to do. My pastor from back home had been “called” to leave our church and take a position at a different church. I had friends who were being “called” into marriage and others who told me they were “called” into a period of singleness. I began to wonder, “When is God going to “call” me to do something?”
Read MoreIt doesn’t take long to get to the heart of the University of Kentucky basketball team. Standing at 5’9 and 160 pounds, there is much more to Tyler Ulis than meets the eye.
Read MoreThis small section of a letter from Paul of Tarsus, to a region of churches in what is now modern-day Turkey, is packed with life-changing truths about how God views and relates to His people. In fact, this passage explains the heart of the entire Bible, and does so in an incredibly concise manner.
Read MoreThe clear teaching of Scripture is that a man named Jesus, who is called the Christ, came from heaven to earth and dwelt among us. He lived and taught the will of God perfectly, died a death on a cross, rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven. The Scriptures also clearly teach that this same Jesus will return to earth a second time to fully rule over all the earth. This “second coming” is called “the Day of Christ Jesus.” Let’s consider what Paul says about this “Day of Christ Jesus.”
Read MoreI’ve often heard the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” You may hear that phrase and think of a rags-to-riches story, or you may think it is a bit cliché. To me, it has long been a terrifying idea.
Read MorePrayer can be such a confusing thing. As a young child, I knew it was something I was supposed to do, but I had an awful lot of questions. If I prayed for one team to win the basketball game, and someone else prayed for the other team to win, what would happen? If I prayed for mom to let me play outside, would she have to let me? As you can tell, my 6-year-old self lived a simple life with very simple desires.
I must admit, prayer is something I still haven’t quite figured out! If you’re anything like me, you probably have questions as well. Although I still have much to grow in, here are five truths God has used to shape my prayer life. Understanding these things has made me all the more eager to come before God in prayer, and I hope it will do the same for you.
Read MoreAs we grow up, we are told that we can be anything we want to be, so long as we work hard to get there. We are told that we can obtain the amount of money that we want to make, go to the college we want to go to, and be as successful as we want to be. Essentially, we grow into independent people who don’t need or want the care of our parents, teachers, and coaches. Most of us strive to become the person that our parents would be proud of, and that our peers would look up to and even be jealous of.
The downfall in growing into this independent person, this “I can do whatever I want if I work for it” person, is that we fall into the trap of believing that we do not need God.
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