There is a very old lie.  It goes all the way back to the beginning.  It is a lie that says God can’t be trusted.  God is holding out on me.  God wants to control me and keep me from being happy.  My life will be better and brighter if

What does it mean to be an American? If someone said, “I ran into an American today” how would you know what they mean?  What would you know about this person they met based on this description?  Would it tell you anything? I would argue that “American” wouldn’t tell you

I want to tell you something about God that is far better than what many people know.  Unfortunately, to do that I need to tell you something dark about humanity. Human history is full of examples of people using all of the creativity and empathy God has given us for

The Bible is absolutely amazing!  There is nothing else like it. But it’s not for the reasons I was taught when I was younger.  It is so much better than that. The general impression I got from my early years about the significance of the Bible was that it was

I don’t know where you imagine God is when you pray or think of God, but for much of my life when I thought of God, I assumed that God was distant, far way, removed.  It was more than just a geographical sense or assumption, but a relational one as

This one comes out of a great conversation I had with a wonderful Christian friend of mine this past week about the Bible and our views of God. One of the things I get to do as a pastor and as a Jesus Follower is work really hard on healing

[This is an excerpt from a sermon I recently preached.] Later on Jesus would grow up and he would tell this story that helps us understand the joy, the magic, and meaning of Christmas (Luke 15:11-32) . There was once a wealthy man who had two sons. His youngest son

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. – 1 John 3:16 I love God because God first loved me I love God because when I was so incredibly lonely and hurting God gave me the most incredible wife, companion, and friend.

[This is the third part of a three part series on God’s Forgiveness. Part one is “Did God Forgive Before Jesus?” and part two is “Does God Need Blood to Forgive?“] God did and is doing far more through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to redeem and heal

[This is the second part of a three part series on God’s Forgiveness. Part one is “Did God Forgive People Before Jesus?” and part three is “Jesus’ Death and God’s Forgiveness.”] Does God need blood to forgive people? Of course not! Do you need something to die or bleed for