rebelling against low expectations
Controlling non-productive media and entertainment, such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, is obviously important. But what about technology mediums we deem necessary or important? We couldn’t possibly turn off our phones. What if someone texts us? We must have an app for our email, so we can respond immediately, right? Since I try to respond to emails promptly, I never, ever thought I...
Everyone wants to stand out, these days. Have you noticed? Whether you’re Coke trying to differentiate yourself from Pepsi or Joe trying to differentiate yourself from Tom, the weirder the better. It wasn’t always like this, though. I remember in my middle and high school days, always looking (or envying maybe?) to my peers and their respective styles for cues on what to purchase at the local...
Sometimes it’s painfully obvious I’ll never be one of the cool kids. I’ll never have the right clothes or be in the right crowd. We all pursue fitting in and being accepted, but end up short. But that’s okay. We’ll never fit in. Ever. As believers, this world is not our home. We are not of this world. We’re not created to fit in. The enemy has lied to us...
“Stop suffering!” reads the words emblazoned across the front of a church building not too far away from my home in L.A. I can’t say I know the people who put those words up because I’ve never even stepped foot inside the building. I don’t know what denomination the church is a part of or the heart of the people attending it. I’m sure they’re good people with love and hearts even bigger than mine...
Crash! I heard the sound before I actually saw what had happened. Looking up from my task behind the counter at work, I saw a customer standing over a shattered snow globe. My manager saw it too, and hurried over to where the shattered glass lay in a watery mess. Asking if I would stand near the mess to warn customers to be careful, she hurried to get something to clean it up. I stood...
We’ve all had those relatively smooth “good weeks” when temptation isn’t shouting in our faces. Once sin has taken us out in battle, it retreats for a season, crouching quietly in the shadows (Gen. 4:7). Then, temptation comes in poisonous innocence. Just one more time. You haven’t done this for weeks, it can’t hurt to do it once more. A harmless offer, right...
With a weary heart, I picked up my Bible, my journal, and a colored gel pen to begin my day with a quiet time. Though I understood the words I read, I did not feel moved by them. They didn’t stir my heart or rouse my mind. Nothing stood out to me, and nothing seemed to apply to my life. They just felt like words on a page that told me what to do. I was experiencing yet another period of spiritual...
What has God called you to do? If you’re a Christian, you know the first, great, overarching calling God’s given you: to know him, and to bring him glory. We’re to grow in our relationship with God by reading, studying and memorizing his word—and then we’re to make him known to the world through our words and actions. Often, he also gives us specific ways to do that. Maybe he’s called you to...
She was an unlikely queen. The orphaned daughter of Jewish parents, Esther was raised by her uncle Mordecai in Shushan. As the years passed, Esther grew into a stunningly beautiful woman. Yet she never dreamed she would someday wear a jeweled crown. She never imagined she would bear the weight of her people’s destiny on her slim shoulders. After King Xerxes banished his first queen for...
When you live in a family with six people besides yourself, “shower planning” is critical. In fact, the situation is potentially dire. If your planning is slightly off, you might find yourself trapped in a bitterly cold shower that creates an intense and immediate desire to curl up in a ball, wrap yourself in approximately three blankets, and dwell beside a toasty, warm fire. This topic is fresh...
rebelling against low expectations
