God speaks in many ways. He is not limited to burning bushes, pillars of fire and smoke, wet fleece on dry ground, angels, and Scripture. God can still use any of those things, He can speak directly to your heart, and He can speak through others. The point is that He still speaks today, but in order to hear Him, you have to be listening.

Sometimes we get a feeling that we should take action in a certain way. Sometimes that nudge is chalked up to being our conscience, but sometimes it’s deeper than that. It’s a nudge or push from deep within our soul.

When you hear about the problem of human trafficking in the world today, you might get an urge to do something. I think most often, that is an emotional response to what has been presented to you. If you continue through your daily life and that urge does not go away, or gets even stronger, chances are that it is something more than just your emotions getting the best of you.

I’ve heard sermons, read blog posts and books, and talked with mentors about how to discern God’s voice. I’ve seen seven steps to hearing God’s voice, five keys to unlocking spiritual puzzles, and three ways to know you’re hearing God. Even though I’ve acquired a lot of knowledge about hearing God and understanding what He is saying in my life, I still have doubts when I think He is speaking to me. Continue Reading…

As men, our society needs us to step up every day with great courage to fight against evil in this world and be the hands and feet of God’s mission to redeem all of humanity.  According the Bible, the original man, Adam, struggled with passivity.  He chose not to live out of his strength when something evil was going down.  He was standing right there next to Eve when she chose to eat the fruit.  Just like back then, men today often become crippled by passivity.  Our society subtly tells us to take the easy path through life, and so we try.  Instead of fighting the good fight, we remain on the safety of the sidelines while we watch as evil unfolds in peoples’ lives.

God requires so much more from us than passivity.  He designed us to live from our hearts, out of our strength.  We have a vital role to play in the world… in our own lives, in our friends and families’ lives, and even in the lives of people we do not even know or might even be enemies with.  I am not talking about macho aggression.  I am talking about courage… the kind of courage that God gives us to live out our crucial roles in his mission to fight against evil in this world.  The opposite of courage is passivity and indifference to the struggles of others around us.  Let’s live courageously.

The last couple of evenings have been great because we’ve shared meals with good friends.  These are the type of friends who we have shared our lives with over the past few years.  We laugh together and support one another when we’re going through difficult times.  Life can be hard sometimes, so it’s important to be in close relationships with friends who will support us, pray with us, laugh with us, cry with us, and dream with us… in short, to love us. Continue Reading…

God is on a mission to redeem the world.  He has chosen, at this point in human history, to do that through his Church.  With that in mind, if we are followers of Christ then we cannot afford to waste this day, this week, this month, this year, or this life.  In this world, there is an enemy that wants to destroy us and keep us from living out the unique mission that God has for us during this life.  That is especially true in America, where there are many idols all around us to tempt us away from living a radical life that is sold out in order to fulfill our roles in the mission of God in this world.

Let’s choose to be different this week.  Let’s live our lives on fire for the God of heaven and earth.  Let’s engage the world… not just the people who we are comfortable with or other Christians, but people who are far from Christ.  Life is short, and God has big plans for us.  Let’s live like that this week!  Let’s go into the places where we have typically been afraid.  Let’s take risks for the sake of God’s mission to this world.  Let’s choose not to get caught up in all of the things in this world that would seek to destroy us, but instead we will wake up each day and give our lives away for the sake of Christ and for everyone who is lost.  Today is the day!