Birthday Kickoffs
It is a major birthday year for the United States of America, as the dawn of 2026 brings with it the kickoff of a celebration (complete with newly minted coins) commemorating 250 years since the formal establishment of the nation. The year-long event will crescendo on July 4, 2026 on the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, but the entire 2026 calendar will be full of commemorations marking both the lead up to and the aftermath of that day.
Unrest in Iran
There is significant unrest in the streets of Iran, and dozens of demonstrators have reportedly been killed in recent days, including during a reported raid on a civilian hospital. Demonstrations in Iran have been frequent in recent years and have often centered on the lack of human rights, especially for women in the country. Numerous world leaders have spoken out in defense of the Iranian people and U.S. President Donald Trump said that if peaceful protestors continue to be attacked, the U.S. will come to their aid.
What I Learned This Week: What Are You Compounding?
What if you lived with the same intentionality about compounding joy, generosity, and humility as you do about compounding money — and shaped your daily habits around the return you actually want?
Running on Empty
Being a leader means recognizing that you are better when you work and lead from the overflow of life. Working from the overflow of life doesn’t only apply to a leadership scenario. When you work out of an overflow you are a better spouse, a better parent, and generally a better person all around. Practice these steps so that you will up your leadership game wherever you are in life.
Midnight Raid
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured by U.S. Delta Forces during an overnight raid of his compound early Saturday. According to U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the surprise raid was conducted with no loss of American life, but dozens of Venezuelans and Cubans providing security to Maduro were reportedly killed. Maduro was flown through Cuba to New York City, where he appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking. President Trump said the U.S. will “run Venezuela” temporarily until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” can be accomplished.
Choosing Overstory
You were made for God! This amazing reality does the opposite of dismiss the importance of your understory. To the contrary, it sweeps all of your understory up into the magnificence of His all-encompassing overstory!
Infanticide and Humans’ Pursuit of Perfection
Humankind’s pursuit of perfection on the road to paradise has always turned dark. Often this progressive pursuit has relied on questionable science that leads inevitably toward eugenics and planned breeding that culminates “in the lethal tenets of the Nazi regime.” This quest for perfection continues to reverberate throughout the West today.
What I Learned This Week: When the Words We Use Start Leading Us
What if the soundtrack you’ve been repeating lately isn’t telling the full truth — and the first step toward healthier leadership is paying attention to the words you keep saying?
Christmas Day Strikes in Nigeria
While a military strike from a foreign actor will always be met with mixed opinions, this week’s strikes were unsurprising to most observers, as the U.S. and many other nations have been warning of increased intervention if the violence toward religious minorities continued.
As a Jesus follower, scripture is clear about your role in this story: You are to remember those being persecuted and you are to pray for them (Heb. 13:3). This story will fade from the headlines, as that is simply the news environment in which we live. But you and I must continue to remember those in harm’s way because of their faith. We must hold in fervent prayer our brothers and sisters who the Father calls “blessed” because of their persecution (Matt. 5:10).
Meeting at Mar-a-Lago
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at Mar-a-Lago Monday and addressed the media in a joint press conference. Much of the discussion centered on President Trump’s insistence that Hamas and Israel begin implementing Phase Two of the recently agreed-to peace plan. Phase One centered on a ceasefire and hostage releases but Phase Two is slated to include the disarmament of Hamas alongside Israel’s withdraw from Gaza. As has long been the case for the Middle East, these deliberations raise additional considerations, including the posture of both Iran and Syria.
Spies and Jammed Signals
An enemy force doesn’t have to block an important message in order to render it useless. The enemy merely needs to create enough noise in the environment to distract the recipient for a while. In buying time with distraction, the enemy is able to carry out an attack and be gone before the message is acted upon.
Does this hit close to home for you? It does for me.
Christmas Eve Strike in Venezuela
The U.S. operations against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers ramped up on Christmas Eve, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, who indicated that for the first time the U.S. strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers moved from offshore targeting of boats to an onshore facility believed to be an “implementation area.”
Resolved
How about you stop playing the games and go ahead with no New Year’s resolutions this time? It will save some time, energy, and feelings of guilt when you abandon them a few weeks later. However, if you are resolved to make intentional changes to life in the coming year, here are several real-life resolutions that will bring about lasting impact to both you, your family, and the world around you.
Putting Infants to Death
Now, Canada is poised to follow Nazi Germany’s disturbing example by killing itself on a road marked with eugenics and alleged human progress. As highlighted in an Atlantic magazine article this past September, the Quebec College of Physicians has raised the idea of extending Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program to cover infants under one year old in cases of “severe deformities.”
As we know, once the barrier of killing the innocents is breached, there is no upper limit on the willingness of experts to end suffering, advance efficiency, and embrace despotism.
Fraud in Minnesota
Those who are ultimately found to be responsible for any proven fraud should be held to account, regardless of political affiliation.
What about your life and mine? How squeaky clean are our personal and business practices? If held up to the light, would they pass scriptural muster? They should, but human nature is such that they only will if we subject ourselves to the scrutiny of transparency. Matt 10:26-27 reminds us that all which is concealed will be made known and encourages us to proclaim in the daylight what God has instructed in the secret place.
What I Learned This Week: When I Deferred Instead of Dealt With It
What if the thing weighing on you most right now isn’t complicated at all — it’s just waiting for you to embrace the awkward and deal with it?
Document Dump
One thing is clear and it is consistent with the track record of human history: The human heart is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). It is easy to exclaim shock and acknowledge these crimes as horrific—and they are—but the inclination toward an evil like this runs naturally through your human heart and mine. But by the grace of God go you and I.
Precious Metals Soaring
As a Jesus follower, your posture toward money, wealth, and material possessions is one of the most important factors in your aim for a vibrant walk with Jesus. That statement might seem a little jarring, but God’s Word repeatedly returns to money matters to determine the health of your heart.
Good, Better, Best
Friend, you have been waiting. You have been longing for the fulfillment of what is promised. Your anticipation has been building. The wait can seem long and the pressure of the building anticipation intense.
But the celebration on the other side of the anticipation will be oh so worth it!
The long-anticipated Savior of the world has come! We celebrate the end of the waiting on Christmas! Death is defeated and the silence is no more! Allow the built-up pressure of your anticipation to burst forth into rejoicing!
Keeping Christ in Christmas
It would be silly to say that every year Christmas sneaks up on the world, but in a weird way it does. Every year. Every single year. Oh, not the celebration of Christmas, but the reality of Christmas seems to sneak up every year. Even in the church it can feel like the underlying reality of God coming as man gets lost in the production of a wonderful Christmas seasonal celebration. Undoubtedly the world is struggling with a broad secularistic move. And it can easily be argued that the church is as well. However, you can lead your family towards keeping Christ in Christmas this year and every year.