We're about three weeks out from Pentecost Sunday, which means most of us have already moved on from it. It happens every year. Easter gets the candles and the lilies and the packed pews. Pentecost gets…a mention and something red in the sanctuary. But the Holy Spirit didn't get the memo about being easy to overlook. I've had a fan running in my office for the last week because without it, the heat just sits there. The air doesn't move, and you don't notice how still it's got

I spent most of last week on my knees on the nursery floor, surrounded by instruction sheets, hardware bags, and furniture pieces that didn't obviously connect to anything. Assembly directions for baby items are either perfectly clear or completely baffling — there's no-in-between. At some point I stopped checking the steps and started just staring at what was in front of me, trying to figure out where it all was supposed to go. By the end of the week, the room looked like a

This past week I've been converting my upstairs office into a nursery. That means hauling every piece of furniture downstairs to the basement, then turning around and hauling a different set of boxes and furniture back up. At one point I was carrying two boxes stacked on top of each other, a bag looped over my wrist, and my car keys pinched between two fingers — convinced I could squeeze in one more trip. My wife offered to take one. I said, "I've got it." Three steps later,

When I was a kid, I loved when my parents put out our Slip 'N Slide in the front yard each summer. All the neighborhood kids would come over to cool off, laugh, and have fun. Recently my wife and I were lamenting the loss of carefree summers. We're not kids anymore; we have adult responsibilities. But there's still something in my brain, almost like a circadian rhythm, that's triggered by sunshine and summer heat that signals maybe it's okay to coast.

I like to think I'm pretty good with directions, but sometimes I need to use the map on my phone. Typically it does a good job of getting me to my destination on time, although once in a while it decides to tell me my next turn is RIGHT NOW and by that point it's too late. I've passed it. The destination hadn't changed. My phone's lackadaisical approach to giving me directions hadn't cancelled the trip. I just added a few miles. We tend to treat our spiritual wrong turns diff

I know the season of Advent was quite a while ago, but I am living in my own personal advent, at least for the next month and a half. This personal advent has provided me with a new perspective on waiting. Waiting isn't idly sitting — quite the opposite — waiting involves actively preparing. My wife might tell you I'm experiencing partial preparation paralysis. Anticipation can cause anxiousness, but you cannot let it cause paralysis.

Rechecking the weather app won't change the storm that's coming — but it feels productive, like staying close to the problem is the same as solving it. We do the same thing with worry. We rehearse hard conversations, run worst-case scenarios, and call it being realistic. But Paul offers something better than calm: prayer over anxiety, and a peace that actively guards your heart.

Your storage is full. So is your schedule. One commitment follows another until there's no white space left — and usually, God is the first thing crowded out. Jesus faced the same pressure in Mark 1, and His response is worth sitting with: He woke before the noise, slipped away, and prayed. Not because He had extra time. Because He made the space.

"Can you hear me now?" Even with today's technology, we still lose signal — and our spiritual lives work the same way. In John 15, Jesus calls Himself the vine and us the branches. A branch doesn't generate its own life; it receives it. Apart from Him, we produce nothing. But when we remain in Christ, our desires align with His and the Father is glorified through our fruit. Staying connected looks ordinary: reading His Word, praying honestly, trusting Him today. Can you hear

Most of us have someone we find very hard to forgive — and Holy Week has a version of that person for many Christians. His name is Judas. But before we spend this week nursing contempt for him, consider this: Judas wasn't the only one who failed Jesus that night. Every disciple fled. Peter denied Him three times. And if we're honest — so have we. This Holy Week, don't cast yourself as the bystander. You're in the story too. And Jesus died for everyone in it.

There's a strange thing that happens near the end of a long book. You've invested hundreds of pages, but suddenly you want to set it down — not because it's bad, but because the end feels close enough to count. Lent works the same way. The temptation isn't always to quit at the beginning. It's to quit right before the end. That "good enough" feeling is a subtle lie. You haven't crossed the finish line yet. Keep reading. Easter is worth finishing well.

"I know I'm forgetting something... but what?" Between work tasks, home responsibilities, birthdays, and appointments, there's a lot to keep track of. Memory is unreliable, and I know it. So when life gets hard, it's natural to wonder if God functions the same way: has He forgotten about me? Isaiah 49:15 gives one of the most direct assurances in Scripture: "I will never forget you." God doesn't hedge. He simply states it as fact.

Every conversation has two roads. One is easy — play it safe, say what they want to hear, or take the bait. The other is harder. It's the one where I stop and pray, Lord, yours is the path less traveled. Holy Spirit, give me the words. Jeremiah walked that road. So did Jesus. Speaking God's words faithfully tends to cost you something. But our reward isn't meant to be collected in full in this life — and the enemy's power is borrowed time.

Most of us learned to walk by falling down. Nobody said to a stumbling toddler, "Walking just isn't for you." Falling was part of learning. Lent works the same way. Maybe you're a week in and you've already "failed." You ate the thing you gave up. You scrolled the app you deleted. But God is not grading your fasting. Lent fasting and prayer were never meant to be a willpower contest — they were meant to draw your heart closer to the Father.

When we’re exhausted, it’s tempting to treat church like an optional calendar event—but a “quick fix” won’t nourish the soul. Like one potato chip can’t satisfy real hunger, extra sleep can’t cure spiritual weariness. Jesus invites us to come to Him for true rest in Jesus (Matthew 11:28), and He often meets us in the gathered body through the Word, encouragement, and worship that lifts our eyes beyond our circumstances. This week, choose the meal—not the chip. Come ready to r

Philip's immediate obedience to God's call teaches us about spiritual preparedness. Like preparing a go-bag for unexpected moments, we need to stay spiritually alert and ready to respond when God prompts us. Philip didn't demand details before obeying—he simply went. His readiness positioned him for a divine appointment that carried the gospel across continents. God still works this way today, prompting us toward encounters we can't predict. The question isn't whether He'll c

"Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."" ~Luke 9:62 In Disney's animated film Meet the Robinsons , the titular family's motto is "Keep moving forward." According to numerous examples throughout Scripture, that should be our slogan, too. In this passage, many people are coming to Jesus, asking to follow Him...but they have a few things to do first. This is an instance where history repeats itself because Elisha a

"we are more than conquerors" ~Romans 8:37 Why do we resist doing what we know to be right? Jesus gives us the answer before he is arrested: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41). In my mind I am gung-ho to be the best person I can be today but when it comes down too it…I fail. I choose what I know isn’t right. I’ll figure out ways to justify my behavior even though in the end lying to myself does

"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" ~Colossians 3:2 Between the second and third decade of the 19th century, Helen Howarth Lemmel was inspired by Isabella Lilias Trotter's tract, "Focussed," to write the song "The Heavenly Vision," which is more commonly known as "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." I'm sure many of you know the song well. The tract is a convicting work I encourage you to read here . In both the tract and the song, the words "strange" and "dim

"in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing" ~Colossians 1:6 Did you know the universe is constantly expanding? Do you know why? Well, neither do I, but if you could travel to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, you would never find the end. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he reminds them that from the day they learned of the Gospel, it has blossomed in their life. Now, it is expanding throughout the whole world! Something fascinating is happening here. The Gosp