life. faithful.

I honestly don't know where to start...this world is an upside down, mixed up place. It is dark and broken and confused. And I don't know why we're all so surprised. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep" Genesis 1:2a A world without God is nothing but darkness. We are living in a world full of empty people, desperate to fill the void in their heart with something--anything--that will make them feel better, feel complete, feel like something, feel like they matter. They search in an empty world, so it's no wonder all they find in emptiness. You can't fill a void with emptiness. You can't ease the aching of your heart with the promises of an empty, broken world. So people do selfish things, trying desperately to make themselves feel something other than the brokenness. They reach for the next thing and the next thing and the next promise, thinking that just maybe, somehow, that elusive something ...

"You're enough! You don't have to be perfect." The words are all over the place today. You hear them in podcasts, from the pulpit, and in everyday conversation from well-meaning friends. They are feel-good words, the type that make us feel better about ourselves. People tell us to stop the "negative self-talk" and focus on all the good. And while there's some truth in that, those words irk me. Because, you see, if I'm enough, then what was the point of the cross? If I, in all my humanity, am enough, then I don't need a Savior. And if we don't have to be perfect, then what do we do with Jesus's words in the Sermon on the Mount: " But you are called to something higher: Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48 (Voice) His words, calling us to be perfect. They aren't easy words to swallow because they mean that we can't just keep doing what we've always done. We can't keep liv...

I've been blessed with some amazing teachers in my life, from kindergarten through to grad school and everywhere in between. My favorite teacher, coincidentally, has been there since the day I was born--Pop. Though I never sat in his school classroom, he's been teaching be since the very beginning. Sometimes the lessons were easy and sometimes they were hard. Whatever the case, though, I can say that Pop has taught me well through the last 34 years (although whether or not I've learned well is sometimes debatable). Today, I want to share the lesson he taught Sunday morning. On a side note, if you're around Green Forest on a Sunday morning at about 10:15, come visit our little church. We meet in the little white building across from the sale barn, right next to the car wash. And yes, those are sufficient directions to find us even if you've never been to Green Forest. It's not a big place, but you'll get to learn from one of the best teachers around. We...

"You just have to believe." Just. It's a tiny word with big implications. Just believe . It sounds so simply--just believe, and everything will fall into place. Just believe, and it will all work out. Sometimes, though, "just" is a really big hurdle to get over. It becomes a mountain looming over me, in between me and... well, whatever lies ahead. Because it seems like that "just" is blocking my view of the road God has laid out for my future. Don't take this the wrong way. I believe. I believe in God, and I believe the promises that tell me that God planned my place in this world and in His story long before I ever drew my first breath. Sometimes, though, my prayer has to become the desperate prayer of the father in Mark 9:24. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" It's a short prayer, but I've found that sometimes those are the most meaningful. For me, it means something along the lines of the following: Lord, ...