The concept of virtue signaling might seem rather new these days, but it is as old as humanity itself. Virtue signaling is the conspicuous, intentionally out-in-the-open expression of moral values, moral righteousness, or political orthodoxy. It can be as small as dropping a key word or phrase here or there,

Most of us are familiar with the Golden Rule where Jesus tells his followers, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). It is a command to extend our natural self love, self

One of the most common messages of God to people throughout scripture is “Remember.”  Over and over again God tells people, “Remember me.  Remember me.  Don’t forget what I’ve done for you.  Don’t forget what I’ve taught you.  Don’t forget who I am to you.  Don’t forget me. Don’t forget

Aleksandr Sozhenitsyn was a captain in the Soviet Army during World War 2 and also spent eight years in the Soviet gulag prison system.  More importantly for us today, he is the author of one of the most important books ever written – The Gulag Archipelago (link to an abridged

Sometimes we can feel like it’s only the big things that matter and if we want our lives to matter we need to prioritize and give our lives to the big things. We can live our entire life believing that our significance is “somewhere out there.” I love that this

Here is a confession – I get pretty frustrated about prayer sometimes and angry and frustrated with the ONE I am praying to. I know I’m not supposed to. After all, I’m a pastor and a longtime Christian.  I think the expectation is that I’m supposed to have unwaveringly serene

The Bible has a lot to share with us on the purpose of life from it’s combined centuries of experience and there seems to be a paradox that runs through these insights – a paradox on how we are to hold the purpose of our lives. The paradox of purpose

There are tons of encouraging verses in scripture.  Perhaps one of the most well known is found in Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’

This is a continuation from the post about the word “sabbath” and sabbatical and is an extraction from an email we sent out earlier in the year. A pastors need for sabbatical is something that few people truly understand, which is why a second Hebrew word comes in really handy

The Bible is an incredibly diverse book with different literary genres, authors, perspectives, but there are common threads that hold it all together.  One of those threads that we see from the very beginning is the Hebrew word and concept of “Sabbath.” It is a word that means “stop,” “rest,”