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Earth is small and your time on it short. Mankind has only just barely explored beyond the moon, leaving our understanding of creation microscopically small. Eternity, on the other hand, is limitless, and creation vast beyond expression. One day you will know it all in full (1 Cor. 13:12), and it is impossible to describe just how much that will entail!
Ben Sasse’s Road to Golgotha and the End of All of Our Exploring
Ben Sasse is rapidly approaching where he and we began, as he reaches the end of all his exploring, with full knowledge that God created the heavens and the earth. Knowing where we began helps us discover who we really are: little more than a mist in the face of eternity.
Forced Retirements
Matthew 7 reminds us to take personal stock of our own lives and reputation. What fruit is born out of your life? Does it contribute to the health and wellbeing of your community? “Every good tree bears good fruit,” so take a good look in the mirror of your life today? Where is there good fruit, and where is there a need for the cultivation of good fruit?
Are You Holding Yourself Back? Part 3
Growing as a leader requires that you never stop seeking to learn. Learning about your own tendencies, giftedness, background, and experiences is vital. Often, a leader stops learning and develops blind spots. These areas end up stalling the leader out. But you can restart your learning and work to overcome these false beliefs to grow as a leader.
On the Clock
You are on the clock. But when you reach the arms of Jesus, time no longer has any hold, and He will be everything you need. In the meantime, my friend, as long as there is breath in your lungs, run well!
What I Learned This Week: The Belief Beneath the Barrier
What if the thing keeping you stuck right now isn’t your ability — but a belief you’ve accepted about yourself that deserves to be challenged?
Birthright Citizenship at the High Court
Our hearts should be inclined toward, and our energies focused on, the eternal condition of every person—citizen and foreigner—we encounter. While our earthly citizenship and legal status is of some significance, we are each traveling to an eternal home and our status in that place is of far greater consequence (Philip. 3:20)!
The Supreme Court Upholds Christian Therapist’s Challenge to Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy
On the Supreme Court’s view, Colorado is engaged in a naked application of its power in a way that shrinks Chiles’ viewpoint and diminishes her speech rights in contravention of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Put differently, Colorado regulates Ms. Chiles' expression while declining to regulate the speech of counselors with which the state agrees.
Are You Holding Yourself Back? Part 2
Leaders develop blind spots the longer they lead people. And it can be very easy to try and blame outside factors for that tall in your leadership growth, or the growth of the organization. But it is rarely an outside factor that stalls out the leader. Nearly always, it is internal blocks that exist in the belief system of the leader that impacts growth both inwardly and outwardly.
Under the Wire
God, may you grant wisdom in these deliberations that determine life-or-death for so many, and may you soften hearts in a way that creates and enables a path to lasting peace. We will give you glory for the miracle of that outcome.
Being is Better than Doing
Your pursuit to be thoroughly equipped for every good work is a noble one. But it is not your chief end. In fact, it is but a natural outcropping of your primary purpose, which is to abide in Christ, to grow in your likeness of Him, to bring Him glorify, and to spend eternity enjoying Him.
Social Media Verdicts
Who (or what) is getting the first fruits of your attention? Who or what do you turn to when your mind finally has a chance to rest (translation: restore)? Are you rooted in all that is true and beautiful (Philip. 4:8) or does the scroll capture your every in-between moment? It is a hard thing to consider, but one each of us must seriously contemplate it.
Are You Holding Yourself Back? Part 1
Have you hit a wall? Has progress ground to a halt? Is your team stuck? Mired in an inability to make decisions? Maybe it isn’t them. It’s you. Leaders, especially ones that experience a level of success, often unknowingly began to hold themselves back with beliefs, operational methods, or task orientation. These things might have worked at a second, or third, tier of leadership but have stopped working as more responsibility has come to the leader. The worst thing a leader can do is to stop learning. You never “arrive” at an apex of leadership ability. There is no mountaintop.
Correcting
The work of Jesus on the cross is a finished work. You cannot add to or detract from it. Your action is not what accomplishes your salvation—Jesus already accomplished it.
But there is a required standard. The finished work of Jesus invites you to that standard. God offers to set right all that is currently wrong with you. It is a finished work that achieves it, but He is a gentle Father, and He waits for you to yield to the correcting (Rev. 3:20).
Then There Were Four
You serve a God who has promised a peace that passes all understanding (Philip. 4:7). Don’t let it be lost on you that this promise immediately proceeds our foundational reminder in Philippians 4:8 to set our minds on all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy!
The Tentacles of War
You can have peace even amid times of war! Your possession of peace is in fact what motivated Jesus to give you a glimpse of what was to come! He knew this world would bring you heartache and pain, and He conquered it all in order that you might have peace!
Are We in Desperate Need of More Exorcists?
The world is not what we think it is. It is far more interesting, mysterious, exciting, connected, and adventurous. The world cannot be reduced to ideology, nor should we accept the shrunken world-view fashioned by elites. Instead, Christians should seek to live in a world that has regained its sense of wonder and awaken their sense of God's presence. Such a world offers an antidote to the life many of us are living.
The Supreme Court Resurrects Street Preacher’s Free Speech Lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that a Mississippi street preacher’s lawsuit challenging restrictions on speech near a city amphitheater can proceed. The court held that his prior convictions do not bar claims seeking only prospective (future) relief. This case reflects the increasingly frequent collision between the secular West and churches and ministers.
Mr. Secretary
Regardless of your feelings about the Secretary or Senators from either party, you are now tasked with praying they would govern wisely and with humility (1 Tim. 2:1-2; Rom. 13:1-7; Pr. 8:15-16).
More Than a Name
Your human family name carries great significance. It lends association and belonging. It carries legacy and lineage. But it doesn’t convey salvation. Your relationship with Jesus is not one of generational bequeathing or one imputed by force.
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. He seeks entry. But the door to your heart can only be opened if you incline your ear to His voice (Rev. 3:20).
It is a beautiful thing, really. Your human name does not determine your eternal destiny. But the Name Above All Names has invited you into identity with him (Philip. 2:9), and taking on that Name marks you as royalty for all of eternity!