Whether it’s at home, work, or at school, most of our environments have one foundational rule that is communicated more than any other. Don’t wear shoes in the house. Don’t touch the remote. No electronics after bedtime. That main rule communicates an important value. There is one command that God gives more than any other […]

What does it look like for followers of Jesus to win? Jesus told the disciples they would face opposition. If there are people opposing us, someone has to come out on top. What does it look like when we win? Does it look like owning our enemies, crushing their culture and values? Does it look […]

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most horrific in the Bible, and it has been used to illustrate God’s judgment of homosexuality. But is that what it’s really about? Is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah really about people in the LGBTQ community? Or could it be about a totally different […]

Religion has always been concerned with keeping people pure, causing us to avoid the things and people that could contaminate our spiritual purity. We even use Jesus’ own figure of speech, “shake the dust off your feet,” to describe cutting loose those who aren’t receptive to our religion and threaten our spiritual purity. But is […]

The first time a person ever drives a car is scary. The controls are confusing, it’s hard to stay in the lines, and even something as simple as turning seems so complicated. We face scary moments of uncertainty all the time in life. Moments when we are afraid of losing what’s important to us, or […]

The world we live in has never been more polarized. People self-select into ideological groups more quickly and intensely than ever before. The differences in values, politics and worldviews have made it feel like there are certain people who we just can’t have anything to do with anymore – who we have to oppose. Is […]

Understanding why a person does the things they do can change everything. It can change how we perceive their actions and even their character. It allows us to understand their motivations and desires. We know about all the miracles Jesus performed, but why did he do them? What was the point? We can learn a […]

It takes an average of seven seconds to make a first impression. Seven seconds to decide if someone is intelligent, trustworthy, and a good person. And once we make that first impression, it tends to stick. Even when we have evidence that shows we are wrong. When we are all making judgments about other people, […]

Have you ever felt unqualified for something? Like you didn’t measure up? Life is full of things that require qualifications – jobs, schools, sports, even government welfare programs. They are designed to let the right people in and keep the wrong people out. But what about the church? There must be some qualifications to let […]

There are shapes and patterns repeated all throughout nature. Spirals, for example, are found in the smallest seashells and in the largest galaxies. There are also patterns found in the Bible, where the smallest and most human stories contain echoes of God’s cosmic plan. Discover what the small stories from the life of Jesus can […]