Relationships break down. People leave. Hurt and brokenness are a part of our relational culture. How should we deal with the broken and shattered relationships of our lives? While the idea of peace sounds good, the reality seems impossible. But maybe we have been using the wrong template of peace, maybe there is a way to find peace with others.

There are lots of ways to define ourselves, lots of words to use to label ourselves. But how often do those labels match the ones God might use? Do we see ourselves the say way that God does? Often we believe our perceptions of us are the same as God. If we are going to be at peace with ourselves, we have to learn to see ourselves as God does.

Relationships are in every part of our lives. To be successful and enriched in life, we have to be involved with people. Relationships are complicated and tricky and the source of great pain and hurt. But if God made us to live in relationships, maybe they don't need to be as chaotic, maybe relationships can be simple. For that to happen, it all starts with peace. How do we find peace?

The story of Easter and an empty tomb is hard to comprehend. It doesn't make sense. But for the first followers of Jesus, it was THE message. The story of the empty tomb changed them forever. The movement of Jesus wasn't based simply on an idea or a teaching, it was based on an event. Because of that event - everything changes!

From our earliest faith experiences, we are taught to pray. Prayer matters. Prayer changes things. But what do we do when prayer doesn’t seem to work, when God seems uncooperative? We know that God could do something; we believe that he will, and then He does not. Is it possible that God will not answer every prayer the way we desire because he has a higher purpose?

There are many of us waiting on God to do something. We’re praying about it, we're believing that God's going to do something. We know that He can and yet He has not. And if we are like most people, sometimes, we start to ask the question, "Why doesn't God do something about it? Why doesn't God do something?”

Life doesn’t always go the way we expect, and we pray to God for help and guidance. But sometimes it seems like even though we pray with faith, God doesn’t do what we've asked. We seek Him, but don’t feel His presence. We go through pain, but our cries for relief seem to go unanswered. Sometimes, our lives just don't make sense.

The person you are has been shaped by those who have loved you and those who have hurt you. Others' behavior toward us has a lasting impact. And Jesus understood this so well that his most urgent command to his disciples was about how they should treat each other. For Jesus, his chief concern was how we behave towards others but over time, the debate has become focused on what we believe.

Religious people love loopholes. They tend to live in the gray areas and can be very theological. They have their lists of top 5 sins but none of it ever seems to apply to them. They use the Scriptures but never seem to obey them. Rather than look for the loopholes, disciples ask one question: What does love require of me?

The first followers of Jesus changed the world they lived in, not with might and strength of force, but by how they lived. From the very beginnings of the movement, Jesus inspires his followers to live in a way that will help people connect the dots back to God. If we settle for just being a Christian, we probably won't inspire much movement. But if we are salt and light, people will see God!