Have you ever watched a small child jump into a swimming pool? It’s truly amazing. They’ll leap as far and as high as their little legs will allow, completely unconcerned about anything else in the world. Most of the time, the one thing that makes this possible is a set of arms waiting for them inside that water, ready to make the catch. It’s an in…

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a blessing? For many people, that word has something to do with position, possessions and prosperity. If we have a good job, we’re blessed. If we have a nice house, we’re blessed. If we make good money, we’re blessed. The problem with that logic is the number of people in the world that co…

Choices can be overwhelming, especially when those choices have to be made from a multitude of options. For as long as we might sit and wait for one of those options to jump out at us, we will ultimately still have to make that choice. Thriving in life works much the same way. We can’t just sit and wait for it to happen, we have to choose it.…

Investments. Some of us spend our entire lives trying to make the right ones. We dream about a huge return somewhere down the road. With just the right move now, our future can be secure and promising. And most of the time, those investments are in things. What if we did it differently?

Are we there yet? It doesn’t take long for that question to come up on a road trip. Why? Because any trip is always understood in terms of the destination. We know we’re not done moving until our “here” is “there.” While there are mile markers to celebrate along the way and good things that happen in the moment, if we haven’t reached the destinatio…

An online poll asked the question: Do you ever go to the movie theater alone? 32% of the almost 2000 participants said, “I prefer to go with someone else.” 11% felt that going to the cinema alone was “totally weird,” and would never do it. Have you ever wondered why so many of us feel this way? Perhaps it’s because the best experiences are best whe…

When you’re sick, where do you go? When you have a toothache, who do you call? Have you ever noticed that healing rarely happens in isolation? We need a doctor to heal physically. We need a counselor to heal emotionally. What if healing spiritually is no different? It would only prove God right because that’s exactly how he designed our path to who…

Have you ever said these words before? “I’ve never thought about it like that.” Do you realize that you’ve never, ever said that to yourself? It’s always because someone other than you offered their perspective or experience to you. Suddenly you understood some idea more deeply and with more clarity. It seems that the best learning happens with oth…

While we often cite individuals as the heroes of discovery, it is rarely one single person’s work. We talk about Benjamin Franklin as if he alone discovered electricity, but scientists named William Gilbert and Thomas Browne were already experimenting and writing about it when Mr. Franklin flew that kite. Think about explorers Marquette and Joliet …

In 1988, a review of research was published indicating that social isolation is on par with high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise or smoking as a risk factor for illness and early death. It’s safe to say that a lack of social interaction is literally bad for our health. And in a society that is increasingly isolated, it seems like we’re al…

Have you ever had doubts about Christianity? Do you ever wonder if it’s true...if Jesus was really Jesus? We often throw these kinds of questions at the people we look up to spiritually. Because their faith gives us faith. But what happens if the person’s faith you are depending on goes down? You go down too. The good news is that Jesus anticipated…

One of the things religious people are accused of on a regular basis is being judgmental. Have you ever wondered––honestly wondered––if that accusation is warranted? Are they true? Are we so busy sizing everyone else up that we’ve become nothing more than this? Or are we all just misunderstanding what Jesus meant when He said, “Do not judge?” Love …

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.” We laugh at the sobering truth in that statement, but why are so many of us perpetually worried? It’s as if we have a worry muscle that’s as involuntary as our heart beating or our eyes blinking. And stopping it or cha…

Sin is perhaps the most loaded word in the Christian worldview. The debate about what it is and what it isn’t has raged on for generations. And over time, many of us have come to think of it as the thing that makes God mad at us and warrants His punishment. But how does that jive with a God who sent his son to the world He so loved? Sin is worse th…

“Don’t be afraid.” That sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But Jesus said this all the time––it was one of his favorite commands for his followers. Is it even possible though? We all try and want this to be true of us, but life is all kinds of scary. That said, it’s unlikely Jesus would have said it if it weren’t possible. And one day, Jesus would make sur…

When you hear the word “commandments,” what comes to mind? For most people it’s probably a number: 10. Even if you haven’t been to church in a long time, you remember hearing about The Ten Commandments at an early age. And while they, and the other 600+ commands in the Old Testament are important, seeing the connection to Jesus and the New Testamen…

Ding! Another notification comes through on your phone, reminding you of the appointment that starts in fifteen minutes. Helpful? Yes. Harmful? Yes, too. Because for the next fifteen minutes, what are you thinking about? It’s probably not the person or task that’s right in front of you. This plays out on a much larger scale in almost every facet of…

“They’re so spiritual.” “They’re so deep.” Many of us long for words like those to be said of us. We’re hungry for that sort of recognition and appreciation. The trouble is that someone someday is going to out-spiritualize us and steal our glory, leaving us with a hollow and longing feeling inside. In the City on a Hill, though, there’s a deeper re…

It’s a common assumption that anyone without enemies must have defeated all of them. They proved their value by winning. This assumption is baked into our sports, our movies, and even our churches. In the City on a Hill however, there are no enemies. Not because they’re defeated, but because they’re loved. And when an enemy is loved like a neighbor…

Play fair. That’s what we all grew up believing was the cardinal rule of friendship and citizenship. What’s interesting then, is that the play is irrelevant...it’s all about fair. So if they’re nice, you’re nice. If they’re mean, you’re mean. As long as everything is even, everything is excusable. In the City on a Hill however, the rules of friends…