rebelling against low expectations
The world is changing all around us. For students in high school and college, it can feel like everything has been cancelled or is about to be cancelled. School. Church. Youth group. Field trips. Movie theaters. Everything. The gymnastics tournament you’ve been training for all year? Cancelled. The musical you were supposed to perform in next month? Cancelled. That mission trip you’ve been...
Every year has its fears—but this year has had more than its share of them. We’ve had fires, threats of war, and now this unknown that could be hiding anywhere among us—the Coronavirus. There are a hundred things we want to do. Be afraid. Hide. Use every bottle of hand sanitizer. Stock up on toilet paper. Live in a hazmat suit. As we see more and more people come down with this virus, it seems...
What do you do when someone knocks at your door? Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts. He desires us to open up and let Him have full access to every area of our lives. He has made a way for us to have a relationship with God through His death and resurrection on the cross. But, it is our responsibility to respond to His call for fellowship. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and...
I’ll never forget the day that I stepped onto the airplane at the Atlanta airport. This wasn’t just any plane or a normal trip. I was going to Australia. I was terrified, I was excited, and I was questioning my decision all at the same time. I thought I had lost my mind. About a year earlier, during my senior year of highschool, I felt God leading me to do something that was missions-focused...
I kind of hate driving. I passed drivers ed, passed my driving test (although that story is an article in and of itself), and even though I’m not old enough to get my license, I can drive myself to the classes I take at the public high school. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be able to drive. I wanted the freedom. I wanted the independence. I wanted to go where I wanted to go...
Recently I found a paper entitled “My Fear of Failure,” that I had written for an introductory writing course three years ago. I almost cried as I re-read it, because of how dismal my outlook was back then. At one point I had written the following: “If I could push aside this fear of failure, I’d be nearly limitless. I have dreams of going on adventures that I could never do now because my fear...
Reason and emotion. People often think of these two things as opposites, or maybe even extremes, where you should choose one and discard the other. Some people regard reason as superior, while others hold emotion as more important. Some people have passionate zeal for God and the ministry, but they have no true knowledge about God. “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not...
Imagine being with the disciples after the death and burial of Jesus. They had spent three years coming to know and love this Man. He had taught them, laughed with them, cried with them–he had done life with them. Not only this, but they had given up everything for him. They had left behind their trades, families, and the lifestyles they’d known to follow the One they believed to be the...
Kerthump. Kerthump. The pounding was real. When had my heart last felt this way, like a trapped animal slamming against itself against unescapable cage walls? I reached for the one-way ticket in my pocket, took a breath, and headed to the plane. Whose idea was this, again? Sure, I’d long felt called to write about how Christian students can navigate secular education without losing their faith...
A few weeks ago, a friend asked me, “What is one major thing you struggle with, that keeps you from striving towards God?” The second I heard it, the answer became clear– fear. We all face fears, fear of the future, failure, rejection, and betrayal. It’s crippling. The fact is, if we aren’t careful, fear will take root in our lives and control all our decisions. It creeps in like a thief seeking...
rebelling against low expectations
