Disease. War. Famine. Disaster. Sickness. Poverty. Injustice. Discrimination. Open a newspaper, turn on the TV, or do an Internet search for current events, and at any given time, the world can turn into a depressing and hopeless place. When Jesus entered our broken world, He gave us an example of what it looks like to [...]

Sacrifices. They appear all throughout the Bible, beginning with the animal killed to clothe the first humans after they fell into sin (Genesis 3:21): “Adam, my sheepskin is wearing thin. Soon, I'll have nothing to wear.” “I need a new sheepskin too. I'll go hunting tomorrow for another one.” “Please be careful! Oh, I hate [...]

The tale of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is listed in all four of the gospels. In this account, Jesus rides a donkey's colt into the city as people— His people—threw their cloaks to the ground at His feet, shouting, “Hosanna!” But only one gospel, Luke, mentions a key factor that drastically changes the mood [...]

What is peace? Is it something to do with Christmas? Is it the end of a war or the lack of fighting? Is it having no worries? Is it the world being happy and working together? Is it an absence of noise and distractions? All of those things could be defined as peace, because there [...]

As Christians, we disagree on a lot of things. Is it okay to work on Sundays? Is it wrong to eat meat? What kind of schools should we attend? What kind of music can we listen to? How should we engage with political issues? I've had many challenging conversations with other Christians on topics like [...]

Do you have a theme song? Do you ever wake up with a song in your head? Do you memorize song after song? Psalms, which is actually a book of songs, is the longest book in the Bible. But, even though it is long, it's a great book to start reading because it's already broken [...]

How many times have you misread a text or an email? Now, let's flip it: how many times have you had a message misinterpreted? Maybe you took your friend's sarcasm literally, or—in a hurry to get the message out—you typed the wrong date in an important text. As Christians, we're called to represent God and [...]

Ever been wide awake at night? Maybe you're afraid of the unknown. Maybe you're overwhelmed with a never-ending to-do list. Maybe you're heartbroken by injustice and brokenness in the world. When I can't sleep—which happens to me a lot—I often end up reading the Psalms. They are like a prayer journal: the psalmists praise God [...]

Our world promises us a lot of “solutions” to anxiety: “Read this book! Use this blanket! Listen to this song! Exercise for one hour each day! Eat more of this! Buy this wristband!” The problem is, in our broken world, there is no one, easy solution to anxiety. For some, it is a lifelong medical [...]

"I'm so stressed! I have volleyball practice for two hours after school, homework in every class, and I have to study for my test tomorrow. I won't get to bed until after midnight!” We live in a fast-paced world, and we're asked to make a lot of decisions in the few short years of our [...]