When I was in fifth grade, I made a unique request of my mom. For my birthday, I wanted a homemade cake with homemade icing. Specifically, I asked for frosting made of peanut butter and jelly. Once in a while, my mother would whip up a cake for dessert and, if she didn't have a [...]

Humans are flawed, but God is not. Humans mess up, hurt us, or abandon us, but God never will. Humans pretend to love, run out of love, and turn love into hate, but God isn't like that. You are precious to God. He is a perfect Father. He loves you like no other. When humans [...]

Years back, my nephew told what he had experienced. His mother, who at the time was not a Christian (she has since been saved), was trying to take him and his sister to a witchcraft-worker supposedly to get protection. The girl refused, but the boy went. When asked later why he had agreed to go, [...]

Thick and impenetrable silence hung over the village. For as long as the villagers could remember, no one had spoken a word, not even a whisper. A command from an enemy kingdom forbade anyone in the village from uttering a sound. While many villagers had grown accustomed to the forced silence, one girl increasingly found [...]

One of the first missionaries, Paul, left Titus on the island of Crete to oversee the new churches there and appoint elders in every town. Titus may have been young, or at least younger than Paul since Paul refers to him as “my true son in our common faith” (Titus 1:4). In the book of [...]

“Put on” is a phrase we use every day. Because on a daily basis, we do the physical act of putting on clothes and shoes in order to be clothed. Just as we get clothed physically, we also need to get clothed spiritually. In Ephesians 4:24, we learn that, in Christ, we put on a [...]

"Wouldn't these magnets make great souvenirs from my trip?" I thought, browsing the little shop high above the ground. My summer of serving with inner city ministries in New York was drawing to a close, and my friends and I had wanted to visit the Empire State Building one final time. We stopped by the [...]

There was a point in my life when I was so ashamed that I didn't want to associate or talk with people. I had messed up so badly that I didn't see myself as fit to be with others. I was so down that I didn't have the confidence to face people. I thought I [...]

I confess the things I did. And the things I didn't do but should have done. I confess letting anger explode And bitterness smolder inside. I confess that I strayed off the path of following you. I missed the mark of the goodness you planned for me. I lay down my pride and envy, selfishness [...]

God doesn't despise our brokenness. He doesn't look down on us when we are hurting. He doesn't think less of us because we are broken. God loves the broken. He offers healing to the hurting. God is a comfort in times of trouble and sorrow. God doesn't despise us when we are broken. He is [...]