Most Bible reading plans die somewhere in Leviticus. Mine did. More than once. So I made one with a finish line you can actually see: 55 days in the Gospel of John, eight minutes a morning, starting the day you sign up. Start 55 Days in John — free Here's what shows up at 7am: The day's passage and what's actually going on in it. One takeaway. One thing to do about it. A short prayer. And the audio, if you'd rather listen on the drive. That's it. Eight minutes. It's free, and nothing starts...
23 days ago • 1 min read
CREEPY LULLABIES & STOLEN PEACE When Judah was a brand-new baby, we would strap a little monitor to his foot every night. It was supposed to give us peace of mind by alerting us if he ever stopped breathing. I think it actually took 10 years off my life. Every night around 2am, a creepy lullaby would start blaring, signaling that our baby had stopped breathing. Deliriously, Faith and I would launch out of bed, wrestle past each other down the hallway, and burst into Judah’s room, only to find...
5 months ago • 2 min read
TURKEY EGGROLLS? Our friends have a Black Friday tradition that sounds a bit off the wall, but is apparently amazing. The day after Thanksgiving, they take all their leftovers—turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, everything—and wrap it all up in egg roll wrappers, then fry them golden. They swear these "Thanksgiving egg rolls" are better than the actual meal. (BTW...we are definitely going to test it out today!) It got me thinking about how easy it is to believe our best days are behind us....
11 months ago • 1 min read
HELP MY UNBELIEF I don't know about you, but the past couple of weeks have been a little overwhelming. Ministry stuff, personal stuff, family stuff—it's all felt like trying to fold laundry in front of a swamp cooler. I keep finding myself sitting in my car or lying in my bed, just talking to God about it all. Not with perfect faith or eloquent prayers, just honest conversations like, "I don't know what I'm doing here, God. Help me figure this out." Sometimes that's all we've got. It reminds...
11 months ago • 1 min read
THE DESTINATION OR THE JOURNEY? "Ugggh! I hate traffic!" Our quick Saturday trip to Home Depot had become sitting in gridlock. "Maybe Siri can give me a back way," I said, swiping around in search of the Maps app. We'd been living in North Dallas for a few years, but I still wasn't used to how many people all had the same idea to go to the same place all at the same time. "I hate traffic," I grumbled again, just to make sure we were all on the same page. Faith takes a different approach when...
12 months ago • 1 min read
BOREDOM TO BREAKTHROUGH I barely graduated from college. Seriously. I was bored out of my mind and kept bouncing all over the place. I transferred half a dozen times and changed my major at least eight times before finally settling on Communication Studies (just because it was the quickest way to get done). Instead of staying committed to one clear path, I was constantly trying to find the next thing that would be fun or feel most comfortable. It wasn't until seminary that everything clicked....
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
DON'T RELY ON THE MALLET Remember that arcade game Whack-A-Mole? After 20 years in ministry, I've learned some seasons are going to feel exactly like that. A handful of people get upset, and all of a sudden, you're scrambling to address different issues popping up one right after the next. The past couple of weeks have been a classic "mole season." Just like the game, it's easy to hit a ceiling and feel completely overwhelmed by all the chaos. But here's what I've learned after two decades:...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
TRUTH IN LOVE If you knew today was your last day to serve Christ, what would you change? Who would you forgive? What conversation would you finally have? With Charlie Kirk's tragic passing still fresh on our minds, I've been reflecting on some profound biblical truths we need to remember right now. One is how Ephesians 4 calls us to speak truth in love. Think about that: Truth... in love. Truth without love is just cruel. Love without truth is just sentiment. Truth IN love is what God uses...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
EASY AS G-C-D When I first started leading worship back in high school, learning new songs felt overwhelming. There were so many songs with so many chords! Then an experienced musician taught me something that changed everything: if you can play G, C, and D, you can play virtually any worship song. I wasn't intimidated anymore, and those three chords became my foundation for sixteen years of leading worship. And guess what? I had a similar experience with sharing the gospel once I learned...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read