When you see unrighteousness or sin being celebrated, what do you do? Do you get angry and feel the need to defend truth? Do you post something on social media to make your opinion known? Do you leave a comment to refute someone’s view? Do you tell someone they aren’t welcome in your home or life? Do you pretend to agree with them but secretly get mad? Do you keep quiet to them but then rile others up around you? Whatever the trigger, what is your response?

What is the responsible response for a Christian to have?

If nothing else proves God’s faithfulness to me, Jesus’s death and resurrection that brings me into a personal relationship with the Lord ought to. That alone is enough. We are an undeserving people; yet, God desires a relationship with us.

The kingship of God, of Jesus, is not something I can convince you of. Rather, it is something I want to declare to you. I want to pull back the lens for a moment and walk through a few stories from the Bible that reveal God’s sovereignty and challenge you to bow your life to his reign.

I visited Niagara Falls, Canada, when I was just 18 years old. I was excited to see the waterfalls but was not prepared for what I experienced. Standing on the edge of the cascade, close enough to almost reach over and touch the water, I remember thinking, “How could anyone deny a Creator after seeing this?” I stood, overwhelmed by the beauty of creation.

Imagine for a moment that you are building a home. You have told the builders exactly what you want. You gave it a lot of thought because you knew everything your family needs, and the house plans were perfect. You have designed it for family and for hospitality. What if you went to move in and found that the builders had abandoned your plans and done what they pleased?

Trying to define who God is feels like trying to describe the ocean to an ant or my feelings to a mountain. It just seems impossible. However, if we dig into Scripture and learn about many traits and facets of God, we can start to form a glimpse of who God is.

I was doing well. I strove to be the best Christian. I even led my best friend to Christ when we were in high school. Check. I tried to read my Bible. Check. I prayed. Check. I attended church and revival services and youth camp. Check, check, check. I served as a leader. Check. I was a good Christian. Right?

If we want to be people who represent Christ well to the rest of the world, we need to know what we’re talking about. We need our message to actually match the heart of God. Sadly, there are a lot of opinionated Christians who hold beliefs that are simply unbiblical, maybe even anti-biblical. Personally, I want to be someone who doesn’t muck up the name of Jesus and His church. I want to be someone that offers hope to the lost. I want to be a reason people are willing to attend church rather than the reason they leave and never return.

“Your health and safety are our top priorities” was proudly displayed on the doors leading into the church. Whoa. Those words really struck me and threw me for a proverbial loop. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were true.

Follow your heart. Those words have been uttered by well-meaning people for decades. I’ve heard this from people of every color, background, and creed. It seems like pretty good advice on the surface. Do what makes you happy. Pursue your dreams. Go after what you want. You do you. I’m here to tell you that it is terrible advice.

If someone asked you what your favorite character quality is in another person, do you know what you’d say? What is the most attractive trait any other person can possess in your opinion?

Imagine you are replacing the toilet paper roll in your bathroom. Do you have the toilet paper hide under the back of the roll or let it caress nicely over the top? Clearly, there is a right answer here.

Join me in exploring letting go of control and the benefits to not always being right.

This is my apology and plea to those who cringe at the term “Christian” or flat out do not want anything to do with us.

The news of his departing was heartbreaking because we knew that whoever replaced him would not be him. Many of us would have followed him if we could have found a way. We knew we were about to be faced with everything he protected us from. We were certain it would be hard and painful. Honestly, I was afraid of what battles were to come.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch. “

Most likely, on your first day of Economics 101, you will walk away with this quote in your brain. It is one of the fundamental principals of economics. And I’ve always loved this quote. Essentially, nothing is truly free. It may seem free to you, but someone somewhere is paying for it.

This principle is true both economically and spiritually.