Leaving what is behind and entering what is ahead with eager expectation and anticipation. As I step into this new season, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and thanksgiving to the Lord. “Lord, before we start this new year, I want to say how much I need You. Thank You for Your lovingkindness, Your great […]

For the Underdogs: Reflections, Regrets, and Redeeming the Time For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a heart for the underdogs. Long before I understood theology, leadership, or calling, I instinctively gravitated toward those on the margins. I think back to my childhood in National City, California. There was a boy in our […]

“While men reach for thrones to build their own kingdoms, Jesus reached for a towel to wash men’s feet.” We are living in days of increasing chaos, compromise, and cultural confusion. In such a time, there is a desperate need for leaders who have not just been trained but transformed. The world isn’t longing for […]

(Extrapolated and shortened from original post on August 19, 2013 and then published as “Are We Spiritually Prepared and Fit for the Days Ahead”) I’ve encountered many within the body of Christ who are going through a process of pruning. I first noticed this in my own life and in the ministries I oversee. But […]

The Gospel is simple, but it’s not simplistic. It requires our whole life, but begins with a simple “yes” to Jesus. The power of the Cross isn’t found in eloquent words or clever theology, but in the life-giving, world-changing truth that Jesus saves. In a world filled with noise, distractions, and complications—even in the Church—it’s […]

A Church that is soft and apathetic will never succeed in reaching a lost and hurting world. People, young people in particular, are reluctant to give their lives for something that is shallow and hypocritical. Even unbelievers and the unchurched are tired of the hype and pretense. Our young people are looking for reality and […]

Paul wrote: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:21) The same is true today. We can attend church and profess Christ, but if our hearts remain divided, we cannot walk in the fullness […]

Legalism or License: Two Extremes, Both Rooted in Self-Righteousness BY DOUG STRINGER “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2) When we hear the term self-righteousness, many of us immediately think of the Pharisees—those religious legalists of Jesus’ day who were more concerned with […]

The gospel is simple, but it’s not simplistic. It requires our whole life, but begins with a simple “yes” to Jesus. The power of the cross isn’t found in eloquent words or clever theology, but in the life-giving, world-changing truth that Jesus saves. In a world filled with noise, distractions, and complications—even in the Church—it’s […]

For those who have EARS to HEAR! What does it reveal about a society when it begins to devalue human life—even celebrating the harm or murder of those it disagrees with? We are living in a time when anger and hatred are normalized, even glamorized. Jesus tells us that hatred itself is the seed of […]