May 31, 2013 | Blog, Christianity, Following Christ, Hostage (Blog Series), Leadership, Life, Ministry, Pain
Over the past week, this blog series has addressed some pretty major subjects, such as bitterness and anger, feelings of inadequacy, guilt, worry, stress, anxiety, etc. But we saved maybe the hardest one for last. So batting clean-up for this series is addiction. The... May 30, 2013 | Blog, Christianity, Following Christ, Hostage (Blog Series), Leadership, Life, Ministry, Pain
“You aren’t good enough.” “You’ve made too many mistakes” “No one will love you.” “You’re hopeless.” “You can’t climb out of the mess you’ve created.” “No one cares.”... May 29, 2013 | Blog, Christianity, Following Christ, Hostage (Blog Series), Leadership, Life, Ministry, Pain
Here’s a thought that hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I fully understood it: How much I worry is an indicator of how little I trust God. That’s a tough realization. I worry about things all the time. I’m worried about some pretty major... May 27, 2013 | Blog, Christianity, Current Events, Following Christ, Hostage (Blog Series), Life, Pain
A few weeks ago, our entire region (and most of the country) was captivated by the news that three women who had been missing for years had been found in a basement in Cleveland. (Even if you weren’t captivated by that news, I guarantee the related, autotuned... 
May 23, 2013 | Blog, Christianity, Current Events, Following Christ, Life, Ministry, News, Pain, Politics, Vision, Worldview
You’ve seen it by now. Whether it was John Piper’s now-infamous tweet (which has since been deleted), Westboro Baptist’s new hate-slinging website (which has since been hacked), or any of a number of other disturbing, disappointing and discouraging... 
May 21, 2013 | Blog, Current Events, Following Christ, Life, Pain, Prayer
Last night I watched coverage of the storms in Oklahoma on CNN and as I heard of the numbers of those who had been killed, wounded, and estimates of those left homeless by the storms, I just stared at the TV and tried to imagine what it must feel like to be there in... 
