With constant distraction at our fingertips, our routines around work can add up to days filled with...
We have an honest conversation about what it's like to struggle with mental health at work. With...
Emergency room physician Mike Sunu discusses his experience of God in the ER during COVID19.
You know that time is running out to do that thing you’re supposed to do. You should have started it yesterday. You...
What if you could experience God's presence in the midst of your ordinary, everyday work?
For this entrepreneur, God's grace pushes her to do good works through business.
Text: Isaiah 43:18-19 18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold...
Genesis 39:20-23 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s...
The Main Text: Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came...
Thanksgiving: from pumpkin pie to football and family get-togethers, American Thanksgiving traditions are well-established. But sometimes we find it hard to offer...
Philippians 1:3-11 (NIV) “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always...
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in...
L.L. here, with an Easter story. (Technically it happened on Good Friday, but you're going to forgive me for that, right?) On...
I’m a natural-born skeptic. I find it hard to believe in things unless I can be convinced of their reality with proof...
Have you ever been talking to someone who is saying good things about you, but whose tone makes you nervous?
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
It’s here—the annual season of goodwill and peace. But what do we mean when we say peace? Commonly, peace means the absence of war, no conflict—a truce among people—living in harmony with others...
God is a master craftsman who has given us everything we need. His gifts are beautiful, well-built, and practical. We, however, are like ducks.
Not only are we dependent on Jesus’ forgiveness, but we also need him to grant us supernatural peace in these dark days.
It’s not the size of the storm that matters. It’s not the impossibility of the job. It’s not the length of the invitation. What matters is the One who asks.
Perhaps the disciples' hearts were burning at his teaching along the road, but they actually saw him for who he is when he had bread in his hands and a plate of food...
Holiness happens when children are present.
When Jesus told his disciples they’d always have the poor with them, he was reminding them of a passage from Deuteronomy—a passage...
She received an invitation for a wedding of the man who had hurt her many years ago. Should she attend? Jann Cobb wasn't sure, so she prayed for God to give her wisdom...
"I know how to give the most vicious, wicked cold shoulder and silent treatment." author Monica Sharman writes in a featured community...
Laura Lynn Brown found peace with a co-worker during a Communion service at church. The act of reconciliation happened quietly, but it was powerful.
"Jesus believed in a reconciliation fueled by grace and motivated by a belief in the future, because of love--truth-breathed, justice-birthing, agape love," writes author and speaker Lisha Epperson.
As Paul shared in his letter to the Ephesians, our sisters and brothers are not our enemies, even when we disagree on...
"Sunday mornings gathered around the communal table offer a reminder of my desperate need for grace," writes Kris Camealy. "I come filthy...
Every mischievous kid knows that freshly poured concrete is an opportunity to leave a mark.
What can the formerly faithful hope for? How will God respond to them?
When we see a need, most of us want to help. But how easily we fail to consider the person on the receiving end. Even our best intentions can unwittingly rob another person...
As current events serve to polarize people further from one another, Kristi Atkinson invites us to consider how people of faith might respond.
It would be wonderful if we would all walk around with signs that preemptively explain the nasty things we do.
Have you ever said to others or yourself, "Quit Pouting," "Don't feel that way," or "Get Over it?' By saying this, you...
I want her to begin learning to weed out the good questions – the ones that help her change her world.
When an employer goes above and beyond, it can feel like “grace upon grace” to an employee.
Shifting our focus and outlook on prayer in this way changes how you view your workplace. It impacts how we view our...
Stay in conversation with the world, and witness to the grace inherent in every nook and cranny of this life.
God took the first great risk when he moved into the neighborhood.
When a foster parent stands in the gap, they stand between a wounded child and the rest of the world
When we follow Jesus, we don’t stop sinning, but we stop enjoying our sins.
Things were almost exactly like they had been when Jesus was with them healing and teaching—except Peter was doing the healing.
When our hearts cry, "Am I good enough?" Jesus is the answer, writes Katie Reid.
Death is our mortal enemy, but resurrection promises that we can defeat the enemy.
I used to preach freedom from oppression vicariously through my student’s stories, but I wasn’t experiencing freedom for myself. I needed a...
John Blase shares three prose poems to help you meditate on Easter and the resurrection.
Confession both cleanses ourselves and leads to authentic relationships.
Saying “Don’t worry” to a worrier doesn’t help. Anxiety demands more concrete assistance.
So when I look at my neighbors, whatever their faith is, the first thing I can say about them is they're image...
Remember, regardless of what you see when you look in the mirror, Jesus wants you to know that you are his twenty-four-carat disciple.
Allow the one who created work to use you in His redemptive plan.
There’s an old saying: “You can’t choose your family, so be glad you can choose your friends.”
In C. S. Lewis’ beloved story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the land of Narnia is under an evil curse. It is always winter, but never Christmas. Only Aslan, the great...
A woman named Deborah was teaching her young daughter to count. One memorable day, the little girl realized that numbers could express quantity. She said, “Mommy, I love you 10 times.”
Howard Butt Jr. shares a message about a mother's love. At the end of the day, true relationships are about grace, not grudges.
Certain biblical imperatives have often made me feel like a spiritual nincompoop. “Pray without ceasing” is one of those (1 Thes. 5:17...
Randy Kilgore "God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Backstage before our annual banquet in my first job out of college...
A frank conversation about faith, work, and culture with Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts.
Do you dread your morning commute? What if a full orchestra performed for you tomorrow morning?
Psalm 116 celebrates God’s goodness. The psalmist has experienced God’s grace in manifold expressions. God has heard his prayers (116:1). God delivered him from death (116:3-6), guided his steps ...
Greg Buell doesn't have all the answers, but for now he's learning to live with mystery.
How do you find meaning in your work? How do you discern your calling? What is it...
When Jesus entered the Temple on the day after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, those who had welcomed him the day before...
As Jesus and his disciples journeyed near Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was about to pass his way...
For years, an old gentleman living outside San Antonio invited his city doctor to visit his property and enjoy the wonderful hunting. After three vacation trips to the ranch, during which he hunted...
Perhaps you remember the Saturday Night Live character known as Stuart Smalley. He starred in a fictional self-help program called "Daily Affirmation...
I love the book of Proverbs with its 31 chapters . . . perfect for reading a chapter a day, month after month, year after year. This mighty collection of small sayings never fails to yield rich...
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we are told, “Now when Jesus had finished...
The Seven Last Words of Christ for Holy Week
On Sunday morning, we wave our palms and sing Hosanna in the Highest. ...
God's plans work, not only on the grand, sweeping scale of stars and galaxies, but also on the small, quirky scale of...
In yesterday's reflection on Ephesians 4:32, we saw that we are to forgive others, not only in obedience to Scripture, but also...
Have you ever wondered why you should forgive someone who wronged you? I expect you have. I know I have. To be...
In 1969, country singer Glen Campbell released a hit single called "Try a Little Kindness." The catchy chorus urged, "You've got to...
For centuries, Holy Week was the focal point of the Christian calendar.
Michelle is that rare CEO who makes everyone around her feel like the most important person in the room. She wants people's opinions. When someone speaks, no matter who, she listens. Her secretary...
Recall a Christmas when your entire life seemed to wait for one never-to-be-forgotten present. For me it was a tennis racket. My parents had great fun presenting it to me that Christmas morning. I...
FOR A FEW MINUTES AFTER HE WAS SUCKED UNDER the life raft, Ryan struggled against the breaking swells, trying to make it...
After the disciples of Jesus returned from their mission trip, in which they proclaimed and demonstrated the kingdom of God, Jesus perceived...
Below is my graphical representation of the Gospel. It is the four-chapter story of God’s working in history for the restoration of the cosmos that He created. ...
Leslie Weatherhead preached for years in London. He told the story of a young nurse at City Hospital who had just started when she was assigned a terminally ill man. Unnerved and frightened, she...
One of my favorite scenes in literature appears in Charles Dickens' novel, Oliver Twist. Oliver, an unfortunate...
Ephesians 2:10 reveals that we have been "created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us...
In Ephesians 2:9, after saying that salvation by grace through faith is "not by works," Paul adds, "so that no one can...
In yesterday's reflection, I wrote that faith, though our human response to God's grace, is also in some way a gift from God.
As you read Ephesians 2, you get the idea that salvation by grace is a big deal. Verse 5 reveals that we...
In 1911, Cal Rogers answered a national challenge to fly from New York to Long Beach in 30 days. Day one, he flew 105 miles. Day two, he crashed into a chicken coop.
For whatever reason, I always thought about this parable as it related to the generous master and those ungrateful invited guests.
I am a very goal-oriented person. When there is something I need to accomplish, I often set a timetable and backwards-plan.
My sixteen-year old daughter needed panty hose for her show choir costume, so after her brother’s saxophone lesson, we headed to the giant big box retailer. ...
As you may recall, I have suggested that we set aside the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving Day in the United States...
Standing around the kitchen that night, we all knew that we weren't there together because of luck, and the food we were...
What is your glory? What is it that you value most in life? What is the thing about you that people are most likely to praise? Again I ask: What is your glory...
Perhaps one of my least favorite parts of being a pastor is hearing people’s complaints. During my sixteen-year tenure as Senior Pastor...
The more we allow God's Word to shape our relationship with him, the more we reflect upon the wonder of the cross...
Mention the word "predestination" among Christians and you're likely to get strong, diverse responses. For some in the Calvinist/Reformed tradition, you'll get a cheer, because predestination is...
I thought about my son, Nathan, before he was born. I also prayed for him well before I knew that "he" was...
Just last week, our church was filled with over a hundred children for vacation Bible school. The kids played games and made...
First came the public meeting where the boss chose Jan’s project over David’s. Then came the private confrontation. David accused Jan of undermining him. Going behind his back. Sabotaging his team....
At first glance, Psalm 136 is a psalm of thanksgiving.
"Prayer should be brief, frequent, and intense."
The way the world values our work might be different than the way God does.
Psalm 124 offers a stirring word of encouragement.
In Ezekiel 25, the Lord reveals to Israel's neighbors that he will judge them for their bad attitudes toward and mistreatment of...
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Know that the LORD is God—he made us; we belong to him. We are his people, the sheep of his own pasture. Psalms 100:3 I’ll never forget my first baseball uniform. As a...
After Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cheers of his followers, who expected him to confront the Romans and begin his messianic work...
Are you open to being surprised by God today? What helps you to have an open heart when God does the unexpected?
Arise, O God, and defend your cause. Remember how these fools insult you all day long. Psalm 74:22 Psalm 74 was written...
Transcript Bob did not like Kate. People said she promoted herself more than her team. They said she was vain. Bob hated those qualities in anyone. And when he found himself teamed on...
I was listening to a podcast of the radio show, On Being, as host Krista Tippet interviewed the astrophysicist, Lord Martin Rees, about how scientific discoveries - specifically, the deep structure of space...
May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. Psalms 67:1 The New Living Translation of Psalm 67:1 speaks of God’s face smiling with favor on us...
"When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices." Luke 15:5 When I reflect upon Jesus' story of...
Transcript What exactly was Ted’s value? In meetings, he seldom spoke. He wasn’t the idea guy. He appeared to add nothing. On the day of the big presentation, the team leader aimed her...
God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks...
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give...
My management team got together the other day to review our progress on a major corporate initiative. About a year ago we had laid out a huge, exciting new vision, and we've been...
Mike Singletary spent a lifetime in football. And he succeeded at every level.
Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, "We have seen amazing things today!" Luke 5:26 This...
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus. Luke 5:18 This...
I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness. Psalm 119:40 Psalm 119, the longest of the Psalms with 176 verses, celebrates the truth and power of God's revelation. In...
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Psalm 19:1 I grew up in Southern California. The combination of smog and ambient light from Los Angeles and its suburbs...
Transcript Billy Graham once estimated that the average believer has twenty-five encounters with Christians before choosing to accept God’s gift of grace. The thing is, Billy said, the first twenty-four Christians think they...
Last week I attended a Strategy conference featuring some fancy Harvard Business School professors at a swanky California seaside hotel. During one of the luncheons, I struck up a conversation with...
There is a type of person in this world who can have long serious discussions about what zombies represent in horror movies...
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I...
The Christian Gospel is a jewel with many facets. It embodies the love and mercy of God. It shines with his grace...
I've witnessed dozens of children's sermons. In fact, I’ve probably given a few dozen as well.
Steve watched a young friend typing on the computer. When he made a typo, he just hit the delete key, corrected the error, and went on. Steve spoke up: "With typewriters, it wasn't...
Normajean Honsberger was a Salvation Army captain. Only forty years old, she lost her eight-year battle with cancer. She called it her promotion to heaven.
On an otherwise ordinary day, little Siri Jordan's grandmother asked her to ride along to the airport. "I'm picking up a friend," the grandmother said.
An amazing – and perhaps unprecedented – story occurred in Philadelphia.
A little over a century ago, a California couple named Leland and Jane took their teenage boy on a trip to Italy. While there, the young man grew sick and died. In their grief,...
In two days, residents of the United States will stop as a nation for a day of thanksgiving. At least, that’s the idea. (For a brief history of Thanksgiving, see this item from...
They were eleven friends, and they blew the friendship. Jesus poured three years into them, taught them great truths—let them into his very heart . But when popular opinion turned, when crowds...
In Exodus 33, the Lord delivered the bad news to his people that he would not go with them to the Promised Land because they were “a stubborn and rebellious people” (33:3).
Forty-five American missionaries were arrested in a foreign country. Then they were tried, convicted, and sent to prison for sharing their Christian...
God, who set up the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, says he doesn’t need sacrifices. Rather, he desires worship and obedience.
A woodpecker can peck 20 times a second. A second. And if you think that little jackhammer gives you a headache, think of his cranial strain. But no . . . a woodpecker's skull has extra air pockets...
When I was growing up in Glendale, California, I lived about a quarter-mile from my grandparents. In fact, their house was on my route home from school, and I often stopped in to...
If we are to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), we have a crucial role to play. We must choose to say “No” to the ways of the fallen world.But...
Almost all religions in the Greco-Roman world involved sacrifices of one kind or another. People would offer their gifts to the gods in order to gain their favor. If you wanted a successful harvest...
Chapter 12 marks a major turn in the flow of Romans. For eleven chapters, Paul has explained how God’s own righteousness leads us into a right relationship with him through Christ. Now he...
Throughout Romans, Paul has been dealing with the question of how we are made right with God. Is it through our own efforts? Our own good works? Or is it through God’s grace...
Let’s be clear. There is a mystery in God’s story that we will never fully solve. That mystery begins in the fact that God is “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4), yet doesn’t give...
Romans 8:1 is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture, from both a theological and a psychological point of view. Theologically, this verse makes crystal clear the fact of our...
One of the first things I believed when I became a Christian was that I had eternal life . . . or at least I would have it after I died. John 3:16...
The original language of Romans 6:13 is structured in a way that makes a powerful point, though this is sometimes lost in translation. It could be laid out in this way:Do not present...
In Romans 6, Paul responds to a possible implication of the fact that we are brought into right relationship with God by...
Romans 5 outlines the terminal impact of Adam’s sin: because one man sinned, all will be condemned, all will die. Yet God’s...
Recently I received a note from a young woman who was struggling with a renewed sense of her own sinfulness. She saw clearly just how wrong her sin was and how much it...
In Romans 4, Abraham demonstrates that we are made right with God, not by works of the law, but because of faith. Though Abraham was the founder of the Jewish nation (v. 1)...
We have already seen in Romans that the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ comes in response to the bad news of our sin. Romans 3:23-24 puts this in a nutshell...
Throughout the Scripture, God sets apart people for himself and his purposes. Often the Bible uses the language of holiness to depict this act of setting apart. In Psalm 4:3, however, the language...
Romans 1 ended with a long catalog of human wickedness. Chapter 2 begins with the recognition that we might hear such a list as condemning others but excusing ourselves. As a Jew, Paul had heard...
In 1818, in the tiny town of Oberndorf, Austria, a song was sung commemorating a special day. Today that same song is performed all over the world. It's been translated into more than two hundred...
God is a God of second chances—no matter what you and I have done or will do.
Ralph Winter produced the Star Trek and X-Men movies. One time, on a location shoot, his director lost focus when the frappacinos weren't prepared to his taste.A producer's job is to keep the...
I want to spend another day reflecting upon Isaiah 34.
Remember the film Chariots of Fire? Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian, refused to run the 100-meter race on a Sunday morning. But two days later, in the 400, he won the gold...
Oberlin College once gave an honorary doctorate to Theodore Steinway—president of the company that crafted the world’s most prestigious pianos.The tribute said...
We live in a spectator age. I don't play basketball. I watch the San Antonio Spurs play basketball. But Church isn’t a stadium or a theatre. Jesus doesn't call us to be spectators...
Jacob set up a pillar in order to identify the place where God had spoken to him. This was, in fact, the second time Jacob did this in Bethel (see also Gen. 28:18)...
God's commitment to justice led him to condemn the evil city of Sodom. Yet, in an astonishing display of boldness, Abraham challenged God's standards of justice. He appealed for Sodom on the basis...
Recently, I accepted an invitation to do a newspaper interview that I didn't much want to do.
Virginia O'Hanlon's school friends told her Santa Claus wasn't real. So her father suggested she write a letter to the newspaper. And she did. ...
We want to see God in the miraculous. We want to see God in the spectacular. We want to see God in the inexplicable. I go through life wanting earthquakes and thunder and...
The only way Christ can use us is by breaking us; it is the rule of our nature. Before the house can be built, the tree must be broken, or there is no...
My friend Don heard two men discussing Father Mychal Judge, the New York Fire Department chaplain who died in the World Trade Center collapse. One man said, “Wrong place, wrong time!” Don jumped...
When I was ten years old, I rested all my hopes on receiving a Spalding Super Anzac tennis racket for Christmas. It had a slit down the throat between head and handle, which...
In the early 1970s, real estate developer Trammell Crow was asked to speak at the Harvard Business School. Afterward, a student asked Mr. Crow to identify the most important single element in...
"The Gift of the Magi" is O’Henry’s beautiful story of a poor young couple who had only two things of value: Jim’s pocket watch, from his father; and Della’s long beautiful hair. On...
Some students were asked to list the world’s Seven Wonders. Amid general disagreement—and several votes—they settled on this list: The Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the...
Former First Lady Barbara Bush tells of eating in a restaurant when a woman interrupted her meal. The woman said, "Aren't you somebody? I know that I know you." While Mrs. Bush waited...
In the end, it is not the sails and the wind that matter most, but showing a son how to handle the world with dreams of grace and love.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"—so begins one of the world's best-loved hymns. The song-writer's story is also amazing. In the mid-1700s, John Newton was an embittered man and captain of a...
Dr. Paul Brand was a medical student in London during the devastating air blitz of World War II. Many young English pilots were badly injured as they bravely defended their homeland. ...
Peggy Wehmeyer was network television’s first religion correspondent. In seven years on ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Peggy covered presidents, prisoners, and news makers of every...
Sinners who haven’t plumbed their own darkness cannot comprehend the blinding luminosity of grace, says a basic Calvinist tenet. I rather like that equation, but then I live on the Great Plains, where...
You know the phrase “prodigal son." It comes from a parable about a young heir to a fortune, impatient for the good life. “Give me my cut now,” he said to his father...
In 1973, Neal Jeffrey was the Baylor quarterback. The epitome of that season came in the TCU game. Trailing 34 to 7, Jeffrey rallied his team to within six points. The Bears had one play...
First of all, God’s mission is to inspire people to work with the materials he provides to bring forth new and good...
People were created to act on others’ behalf, to be stewards or agents. Prime examples are that God mandates us to steward his creation and steward his grace (1 Peter 4:10). We also...
Although God’s judgment takes the fore in Book 3 of the Psalms, we also find God’s grace. “Be gracious to me, O...
The topics of status and grace return to the fore as Jesus faces his trial and crucifixion. “The Son of Man came...
In Romans 5:1–11 Paul offers more encouragement by reminding the Romans that through Christ we have already “gained access” to God’s “grace...
Week 9 discusses the work of redemption. Senior Pastor Steve Watson uses Boaz’s actions in the book of Ruth to discuss how...
Will Messenger of the TOW Project delivers the sermon for week 10. He offers his own perspective from the business world on...
This is the tenth sermon in the series: “Inspired: The Whole of Life with God in the Picture.” It was delivered by...
How might God want to use you to redeem others who are broken?
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