One of my former pastors encourages people to ask “what is the right Christian response to this?” when faced with conflict. It's not just conflict, though. It’s an appropriate question for all matters of life. Being able to press pause for questioning an appropriate...
I am the biggest sinner. That's not a title I wear with any sense of pride, however. I wear the title with shame and humility. But the bigger question, though, is why I am the biggest sinner? The answer to that is rooted in the study of Edwards’s resolution number 8....
“Chad, every day can be a literal hell on earth, and it will never even begin to compare to the joys of heaven.” A good friend of mine shared this little bit of wisdom with me many years ago, and I have not once forgotten it. It’s been a refrain of perseverance during...
In modeling the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to seek “Your Kingdom Come.” This is probably viewed by most as a bringing of Heaven to earth. In other words, it’s something we long for in a future tense. What is forgotten or ignored, though, is the present perspective...
Are you fooling yourself? It’s an honest question, but one that is hard to answer. Along with it comes other questions. For instance, how do you know you are fooling yourself? And how might we get awareness of fooling ourselves? It’s really no simple matter, but it is...
Holy Communion is sort of my personal New Year or rebirth. That may sound ironically selfish, but stick with me. You see, when I have the opportunity to join with fellow believers in Holy Communion, I view it as a cleaning of the slate. A moment when I come into the...
We often hear about attitude and the importance of it. Clichés, like “your attitude determines your altitude" and “attitudes are contagious, make yours worth catching” are pretty common. As you may know, I am no fan of clichés , but I do also acknowledge that clichés...
There’s a lot of focus on how we build relationships throughout many areas. I find it to be true in my business trade, my ministry work, my roles at church, and in so many others. Some will call it customer service, experience management, or any of dozens of other...
Judging others is a character trait I’m always working to overcome. I have more success at different times, and I frequently fall into old patterns. However, as I have matured and grown in my faith, I’m realizing my judging others is really me mentally tearing them...