The goal of playing like a team is bigger than just playing together. You’re playing to win. All the hard work of practicing the fundamentals positions you to experience victory in the game. Teamwork within the body of Christ is an awesome experience that is...
One of the basic fundamentals of a team sport is that you play like a team. The likelihood of victory increases when each team member works together to contribute the very best possible. Nowhere is teamwork more essential than in the body of Christ. Because we’re on...
A life without margin can squeeze the life out of you. Margin creates space to enjoy life in every area. That even includes finding financial breathing room. Financial margin is the space between what you spend and what you have. Margin with your money gives you...
Life without margin can be exhausting and even dangerous, especially when you live without moral boundaries. When you set moral boundaries you create space that discourages unwise or sinful decisions. A simple commitment to a self-imposed moral margin positions you to...
Take an informal survey and you’ll find that most people admit to being too busy. Seems like there’s barely enough room in our schedules to find time for the things that matter most. Without margin in our daily routine, we will at best become exhausted and at worse...
When it comes to Jesus, one thing was certain: He prayed a lot. As Jesus approaches His soon and certain death, He concludes His intimate conversation with His disciples by praying. As He talks to the Father, He prays for Himself, for the disciples and for all who...
We can have joy in our lives that is indestructible. Who wouldn’t want that? But how do we get it? We look to many different sources for joy; we make plans and develop expectations that we believe will give us happy lives. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not...
There are times in life when what appears to be worse actually winds up being better. We can often look back on our lives and see that if we had gotten what we thought was better at the time, we would be much worse off now. In the midst of the pain of the worse, we...
It is a popular notion today that if we believe in Jesus and do our best to follow Him that we will be happy, healthy, and wise. The problem with this view is that Jesus never said any such thing; quite the opposite. Jesus’ message to His followers was that, if we...
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
With departure can come anxiety on the part of those left behind. Jesus knew His disciples would experience a sense of loss and confusion after he left, so He helped them understand what they were supposed to do and how they would be able to accomplish it. These ideas...
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
It’s hard to imagine anything that is more painful than betrayal. Betrayal, by its very nature, can only be done by someone close to us; by someone we trust. The results are devastating and shake us to the very core. As Jesus was preparing for His departure, He was...
Just prior to His death, Jesus did the unthinkable. In the upper room with the disciples, Jesus turned greatness upside down. He modeled servanthood. He taught the disciples the remarkable principle of role reversal and launched an unstoppable movement through those...
Over and over again, the Bible tells us God is infinite. While it’s difficult to understand what this really means, we’ll do our best to try. And as our understanding of this truth grows deeper, it has the potential to change our lives for good.
God is holy, and in order for us be in relationship with Him, we also must be holy. When we accept the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we enter into a right relationship with God. From that moment on, God sees us as holy! But that’s only half of the equation....
We all live in a world full of demands. We can choose how many we subject ourselves to, but we can’t avoid them altogether. Have you ever considered what motivations drive you most and from where they come? What happens when we fail to meet the demands? More often...
God is present everywhere and at all times. That is one of the things the Bible says we can know about God. But many of us often feel like God is anything but present in our lives. It can sometimes feel like God is nowhere to be found, like we can’t connect with Him...
When someone is generous they give more of something (like time or money) than is necessary or expected. Sometimes we're generous because we’ve been blessed with an abundance. We can also be generous with scarce resources, as we’re motivated by love or compassion....
The fact that God is love is unmistakable. But God is also just. God’s justice reminds us that some things are right and some things are sinful. And sinful actions deserve punishment. When you get to know God better, your suspicions may be confirmed; you may discover...