Good vs. Bad Fruit If a false teacher is known by their bad fruit, then it makes sense that true disciples of Jesus would be known by our good fruit—but what is this good fruit? Obviously, the first place most of us would think to look is the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness...  Read More

Work is a gift from God. It doesn't always feel like it, but according to the Bible, it is. God gave Adam work in the brand new world. God gave Noah work--a job that made absolutely no sense to him. God even gave Jesus work. It stands to reason that He gives us work too.I have to admit, I've had jobs I did not see as a gift. They were drudgery that I looked for an escape from, and I escaped in way...  Read More

Fulfillment in a Vaporous LifeBefore diving into Part III, be sure that you have read Part I and Part II of this blog post so that you have an understanding of what I mean when I refer to the word hebel and its applications throughout the book of Ecclesisates. With the prior segments in mind, what should we conclude, then, from the teachings of Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes? Is life essenti...  Read More

Hebel Applied Before diving into Part II, be sure that you have read Part I of this blog post so that you have an understanding of what I mean when I use the word hebel. Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesisates, has no qualms with opposing the prevailing, idealistic view of Wisdom. Though he recognizes that “there is more gain in wisdom than in folly” (2:13), he also acknowledges that “what happens to...  Read More

IntroductionHebrew wisdom literature explores the way the world works in order to instruct readers in how to live. It seeks to “make wise the simple” (Ps. 19:17) and to make our paths straight (Pr. 3:6). Three of these biblical wisdom books are Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes; these three provide a unique and necessary perspective on life. Proverbs presents an idealistic view of life: if you do ri...  Read More

It would be difficult to find a passage in Scripture that scared me more as a child than Matthew 7:21-23. Every year or two, a good old-fashioned Baptist revival would roll through my hometown, and the visiting preacher would read those verses from the pulpit—his sermon conjuring images of hellfire and brimstone. His voice would boom, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the king...  Read More

The Will of GodThe final thing we must address is back in Matthew 7:21 when Jesus says that only those who “do the will of my Father” will enter the kingdom of God. This naturally poses the question, “What is the will of God?” This is another one of those intimidating church questions that confused me as a young believer. We can blow it up so often to seem like something that is ambiguous and unat...  Read More

Mr. and Mrs. Arrington were old when I was a kid. Although physically they were slight people, they are still some of the mightiest people I’ve known. Shortly before my family went to Ecuador as missionaries, the Arringtons had us over for dinner. As an eleven-year-old, I was less than thrilled. I wanted to spend the afternoon at my friend’s house, not sitting quietly while my parents visited for ...  Read More

I grew up in church. I am quite confident that I had been taught the Golden Rule or at least had heard of it, but it wasn’t until the 5th grade that it started taking shape in my life. My teacher, Mrs. Dimmick, loved people, but more than that she loved Jesus. She knew the importance of memorization. Every morning of my entire 5th grade “career”, we recited 3 things: the Pledge of Allegiance, a po...  Read More

I have a confession to make: I'm a closet worrier, and the thing that causes me to worry most is car accidents. Yes, I know. We're not supposed to worry. I know that if (or when) something happens, God will still be with us and will walk with us through whatever it is. I know this. I find peace in this--usually.Several years back, I traveled a lot without my husband, which meant I was the one driv...  Read More

“How is being hungry going to make me any closer to Jesus?” You cannot always tell why someone asks a question. Maybe this person felt her pastor asked his church to engage in a senseless task. Perhaps she knew Christians modeled fasting in the Bible but was unwilling to be hungry, and the lack of explanation salved her conscience. Maybe she was afraid that she would commit to the church-wide fast...  Read More

I was 13 months old when my mother, my older brother, my twin sister, and I were out on our daily walk. It was an average, unassuming morning until we were struck by a negligent driver carrying a tractor trailer full of concrete. My siblings and I were left lodged upside down in a ditch, battered and bruised in our stroller. My mother was killed instantly after taking the brunt of the force to pro...  Read More

Prayer is something that can often be overly complicated and intimidating. Which method do I use? What words do I say? What if I forget something? If God already knows it all, what’s the point in praying? But “Jesus prayed constantly - if He felt the need to pray, how much more must we?” Matt Chandler explains in a sermon that there are 3 ways to pray. Through praise, acknowledging who God is and ...  Read More

A while ago, someone stole our dog, Crash. They entered the yard and unclipped him from his lead at the barn. He was a beautiful dog, friendly, cheerful, and excellent with children.  In the days and weeks after, I struggled with anger and bitterness. Every time I thought I had confessed and removed it all from my mind and heart, I’d drive past the house of the people we suspected of stealing him,...  Read More

“This changed my marriage and my life,” my future brother-in-law said, as he handed me and my fiancé, Joel, a book: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. We had been engaged for just a few weeks and we were all so excited! Joel does not enjoy reading, so he smiled at me and I knew exactly what that meant. I would do the reading and pass the word along...so that’s what we did. A few chapters in,...  Read More

Every time I open my email lately, I am offered the opportunity to opt out of Mother's Day emails.Will it be too hard to see Mothers being celebrated? It makes me think - should I be sad on Mother's Day?I lost my mom very unexpectedly to cancer six years ago this past September. Life changed after that. I didn't know I would have to do the rest of my life this soon without her. Without her here to...  Read More

Happy Friday Everyone! I’ll be honest. One of my biggest struggles as a young Christian revolved around the issue of prayer. Specifically, I had a hard time believing that it really had much of an impact on my life or my circumstances. It seemed like the things I prayed about rarely turned out the way I wanted… or if they did, I could easily explain it away and convince myself that it wasn’t God w...  Read More

Happy Friday! America is a country that loves its stars. I’m not talking about constellations here… I’m speaking more along the lines of Julia Roberts and George Clooney. In fact, there are multiple TV shows that solely focus on the life and times of our beloved celebrities. Here’s what I learned while watching one yesterday: Blake Shelton got a new tattoo of deer tracks around his forearm (he app...  Read More

Happy Friday! Can you see what it is? (If you can’t, I’ll give the answer at the end �� ) Remember the “Magic Eye” craze of the 90’s? It seemed like all of a sudden these books were everywhere! They were so fascinating because there had never been anything quite like them before. There was a picture hidden within a picture… and not everybody could see it. If you wanted to see the hidden image, you...  Read More