How often do we casually invite our family or friends out to dine at our favorite restaurant, check out some views at our favorite rooftop, or even grab the best desert at the most Instagram-able location we’re sure they’d love? It’s easiest when we’re almost certain of their response, and it’s even easier when it’s a shared common interest.When we truly love and enjoy something we obsess about it...  Read More

When life gets hard, our instinct is to run. We want out of the difficulty, away from the pain, free from the struggle. We pray desperate prayers for escape, for rescue, for immediate relief. And if we're honest, we sometimes wonder why God doesn't respond the way we think He should.But what if suffering isn't something to simply escape? What if there's a profound purpose woven into the fabric of ...  Read More

Some days, it is hard to get out of bed in the morning, to make my body move despite the pain I experience. Some days, even when I don’t move, I feel pain throughout my body from fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome.Some days, when the medical bills are mounting, the extra expenses just seem too much. Some days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, depressed, and hopeless.It is easy to listen to th...  Read More

Read: John 6:51 (NIV) “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”ReflectMerry Christmas! Today, we celebrate the greatest gift: Jesus—the eternal Son of God—became flesh and moved into our world. John’s Gospel doesn’t tell the Christmas story with shepherds or angels, bu...  Read More

Read: Micah 5:2–4 (NIV) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”ReflectOn that holy night in Bethlehem, God was doing more than just s...  Read More

Read: Micah 5:4–5 (NIV) “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace.”ReflectAt Christmas, we talk a lot about peace—peace on earth, goodwill toward men. But what kind of peace do we really need most?Micah points us ...  Read More