Philippians 1:3-11 This section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians has long been a favorite of mine. A phrase of it was written in a note of encouragement given to me upon my college graduation by my mentor: “Being confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will continue.” Later, as I discovered the rest of the passage, it became a prayer over my students in my youth ministry. I quoted it so often that a group of students gave me a Christmas Ornament with t

At the beginning of Lent, in search of something to fast from, I asked myself the question, “What’s something that is no longer serving me?” It was a softer way of urging me to take a harsh look at my patterns and what I was filling my time and space with. Rather than try to shame myself out of certain behaviors or reliances, I wanted to use this season to take a deeper look into the places in my life where I was digging out my own cistern rather than drinking from the Living

By faith, Alicia took to the dark roads. She put on that one song that reminded her to be bold. She rolled down the windows, turned up the heat, and poured her angsty heart out to the one who created the mountains on her left.

During a recent discussion about the Holy Spirit, I was asked by a pre-teen, “Is the Holy Spirit the same thing as our conscience?"

May we take the words of Isaiah 35:4 as our mantra, our kind word to ourselves and one another. “Be strong, do not fear. Here is your God.”

Psalm 77 urges me to remember the both/and of deliverance. The joy and celebration coupled with the grief...