I’ve been thinking a lot lately about prayer lately. Isaiah 58 has always been one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible.

Sometimes the word is so beautiful, it needs no embellishment. So, for your enjoyment today, Isaiah 58, True Fasting:

Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion…
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
“Why have we fasted,” they say, “and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?”
Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high. Continue reading…

Today’s food for thought is from a book I’m reading by Brant Hansen, Unoffendable. The book is based on a radical premise, that Christians shouldn’t get angry.

On being offended, and the love of God:

“The goodness of God is not dependent on my attentiveness to it. It does not come and go, wax and wane, or suddenly vanish like my misguided, untrustworthy emotions. We’re just not very attentive, honestly…

But there’s a bigger problem, and it’s based on years of interacting with thousands of self-described Christians: It’s not merely that we’re not attentive to the fact that God loves us. I suspect many of us just don’t actually believe it.

No wonder we get so angry. We’re displeased with others because we’re convinced God is displeased with us. We “believe God loves us, but we suspect it’s provisional, based on whether we ever get our act straightened out. That’s a lot to carry. Continue reading…

Today’s blog was originally posted in May 2014. When trying to think of advice for graduates (Congratulations Noah!), I keep coming back to a blog I wrote last year, so I thought it was worth a repost:

I graduated from high school…er, more than a decade ago, which means I can be part of the new generation mumbling about “what they’re teaching kids these days.” It seems the more complex our society becomes, the longer the list of basic things kids should – but aren’t – learning in school becomes.

The following is a list of 10 things no one should graduate from high school without knowing, ranging from the profound to the not-so profound.

We’ll call them “basic career skills” every high school graduate should know:

Continue reading…

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about World War II lately — such a unique, sorrowful and fascinating time. In honor of Memorial Day, here is a speech from Franklin D.  Roosevelt, a national prayer for the execution of D-Day in 1944 that rings just as true now as it did more than 70 years ago:

Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war. Continue reading…

After a lot of thought, I have decided there are 20 Types of People You Meet on Social Media.

Call this post “The People of Facebook” if you will…

I’m sure you may recognize some of the characters in people you know:

PhotoMom – The person who documents every.  minute. in the life of their kids or pets.

RudieFoodie – The person who posts something they’re eating at least once per day.

Mr. Hashtag – #toomanyhashtags #hashtagstonowhere #hashtagsthatareridiculouslylong #youstopreadingafteracertainpoint
Continue reading…

This week I was able to visit a friend in one of my favorite cities, Washington D.C.

Spring in D.C. is gorgeous!

Here are some photos from the trip:

Washington Monument

Continue reading…

Today’s thought for the day is an excerpt from Walking With God, my favorite John Eldredge book:

We are created to enjoy life. But we end up worshiping the gift instead of the Giver. We seek for life and look to God as our assistant in the endeavor. We are far more upset when things go wrong than we ever are when we’re not close to God….Our first reaction is usually to get angry with him, which only serves to make the point. Don’t you hear people say, “Why did God let this happen?” far more than you hear them say, “Why aren’t I more fully given over to God?”

We see God as a means to an end rather than the end itself. God as the assistant to our life versus God as our life. We don’t see the process of our life as coming to the place where we are fully his and he is our all. And so we are surprised by the course of events.  Continue reading…

Spring break is here — time for some spring reading! Having written a book about missions, I’m often asked for other book recommendations. For those of you interested in missions or the Christian culture around the world, here are my Top 10 picks:

1. End of the Spear by Steve Saint.  Non-fiction. One of my favorite books, this is the fantastic true story of  a boy whose missionary father was killed by a violent South American tribe. As an adult, Saint goes back to live with the tribe and brings his family.

2. The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. Non-fiction. One of the most sensational stories I’ve ever heard, this book chronicles the life of Brother Yun, a Chinese house church leader.

3. Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose. Non-fiction. Set during World War II, this book tells the story of a missionary wife separated from her husband in New Guinea. Taken prisoner by the Japanese, her story of survival is remarkable.

Continue reading…

Today’s article of the week is a fantastic post by Donald Miller: Why 20% of People Will Never Like You, or rather, “Why 20% of People Will Criticize Everything.”

Also called the Pareto Principle, Miller explains:

About 80% of your health problems are likely being caused by only 20% of what you eat. Or 80% of your companies profit is coming from 20% of its products. Or 80% of your relational frustrations are being caused by 20% of your relationships.

With regard to creativity or relationships, “Just know, if you hit it out of the park, there will still be 20% of the population noticing your flaws,” he says.

Rather than being depressing, Don’s post is an invitation to live boldly, without being a slave to everyone’s good opinion — something we all could use a little more of.

You can read the full article here.

Happy Friday!

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this perhaps so that men would seek him and perhaps find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”

Happy Easter
Acts 17: 24-26