Being Carried Downstream

The Impact of God's Love

God loves you. That’s probably the most used phrase in all of Christian history. To be fair, it’s a central truth in much of Jesus’ teachings, and you would be hard pressed to find a more valuable phrase in all of the Bible.  Like many popular phrases however, this tiny declaration has been used so […]

Learning To Love Well

Love Doesn't Take Joy In Others' Failures

Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing. Andrew Peterson is a singer, songwriter with an unusual voice, and deep, thought-provoking lyrics. In “The Silence of God” Peterson sings, “if a man is forced to listen to the voices of the mob, who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they’ve got”. In our world, […]

The Love of Power and the Power of Love

How To Stop the Hate

During a concert in Sweden a couple of years ago Madonna spoke words of love and hope in the aftermath of the then recent terrorist events in Paris. Yeah, Madonna. Those words are as applicable today as they were then. Here’s a bit of what she said, “Only love will change the world, but it’s […]

You’re Wrong

Why Our Favorite Words Aren't Helping

Why are we so eager to point out when and where people fail? When someone makes a very public mistake, it takes only seconds for people to post their disapproval on social media. This inclination seems to starts young for most of us. If you have brothers and sisters, you know what I’m talking about. […]

Love That Changes The World

The love for equals… is a human thing, the love for the less fortunate… is a beautiful thing. The love for the more fortunate… is a rare thing. And then there is love for the enemy. This is God’s love. It conquers the world.                                        -Frederick Buechner   Everyone is talking about how important it […]

Relational Momentum

The Importance of Doing What You Can, When You Can

I have a favorite coffee shop in town that I go to when I get stuck in a creative rut. It’s an edgy place with great coffee. Sometimes a change of environment can make a huge difference in my thinking.  I’m amazed when I go there at how all of the employees seem to be in […]

Cities of Refuge

Why The Church Must Always Be A Home For The Broken

For many years, the nation of Israel was just a nation of people with no land attached to them. They had spent the majority of their existence as slaves in Egypt, working other people’s land for other people’s profit. After escaping Egypt and battling through a series of military victories, Israel had a home of […]

Let Me Bring Peace

The Power of Proactivity

Last week was another amazing week at Mission Serve. Mission Serve is an organization that brings together student groups from multiple states to join together to impact people in need in various communities. Last week over 250 students and leaders gathered in Robbinsville, NC to help build handicap ramps, put new shingles on homes, and […]

The Danger Of Needing Your Relationships Too Much

If you need your relationships to make you ok, you’ll never be ok. In a previous blog post, I talked about the dangers of giving too much in relationships. While being too giving in relationships is dangerous, being too needy is a problem as well. We all know someone who defines themselves by their relationships, […]