You may have heard the phrase, “meet people where they are.” It’s an incredibly important part of evangelization - but why? Simple - Jesus himself never evangelized to someone until he’d fed them, healed them, or met some sort of need. Because it’s difficult to listen to any sort of message when you’re starving.

Time and time again in the Gospels, Jesus’ friends fell short. They weren’t loyal. They didn’t keep their promises. They let Jesus down. As frustrating as it is to read about, we do the same thing in our own lives. But in the same way that Jesus forgave the disciples, he forgives us too. Because he knows the desire we have for good friendship—to have good friends, and to be good friends ourselves.

The strength of our connection with God directly impacts the fruitfulness of our efforts in life. Maximum Connection = Maximum Fruitfulness. When we’re having a difficult time accomplishing a task at work, cultivating a relationship we really care about, or simply maintaining peace in our hearts—the best thing to always do is to check our connection with God.

What’s in the back of your closet? Dusty brooms, probably. Last year’s winter coat. Your old books from school, and the kitchen appliances that are out of date. There’s probably a pretty wide variety of miscellaneous objects, with only one thing in common: we don’t use them much anymore. Allen has one more in mind—and he thinks it’s time for it to make a comeback. What is it?

Disagreements abound, but there’s one thing we all agree on: The world needs peace. 

So how do we get it? If we’re going to have peace in the world, we first need peace in our hearts. We need to identify the people, places, and things that bring us peace—and the people, places, and things that do not bring us peace. And from there, we’re able to make decisions that will bring us closer to the tranquility we desire.

Bob, Julie, and Doubting Thomas show us that sometimes great doubt can be a precursor to great faith. Maybe you’ve always thought that greatness is just greatness - a gift given to some, but not to others. In reality, greatness is weakness transformed. Courage is fear transformed. And belief is unbelief - transformed. So, in what area of your life do you desire transformation?