Saying So Long to People Pleasing Karen Ehman I found myself in a lawn chair at our fire pit on an early evening. The heaving of my chest slowly subsided as I began to calm down and finish up my spontaneous crying session. As I stared up at the...

Fear held me captive for over a decade after my encounter with an armed masked man hiding in my apartment. I couldn’t escape its horrific hold. Perhaps you’ve been there. The victim of gripping, paralyzing fear. The dictionary defines fear: “a...

Article by Phylicia Masonheimer I grew up at the height of purity culture. I Kissed Dating Goodbye had a coming-of-age at the same time I did. Books about purity, dating, courtship, and modesty were everywhere; I read them all. I was part of a...

Have you ever read the familiar verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and wondered: Well, how, then do I manage my chaotic life, my disobedient children, or that project at work that my boss expects me to complete if I want to...

If God is so good and powerful, why do bad things happen? As a person in ministry, I get asked some version of this question frequently. To be honest, I’ve pondered it as well. During this time of widespread crises, which has been characterized by...

YOU’RE INVITED TO THE TABLE | WATCH TASTE AND SEE SESSION ONE “You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13 To dig deeper into what Jesus means when he says in this passage, I decided to travel about 150 miles south of my home in Salt Lake City,...

When you think of the word “normal”, what comes to mind? Is it the ideal you aspired to in middle school, wearing the right brands and saying the right things, trying desperately to fit in with the cool kids? Is it the outcome you hope for from...

One of the great joys of leading and partaking in a Bible study is the Aha Moments. When you see eyes light up, a face beam with joy, a forehead nod in hearty agreement—it’s hard not to celebrate! Yet sometimes our Bible studies can become...

Do something with me, will you? Put your hand over your heart. Hold it there just a moment. Can you feel that? Can you hear it? It’s God saying to you with every single beat – “I love you. You’re still here. And I want to do a great work in and...

When I was eighteen years old, my dad died from cancer. My little brother, Elijah, was twelve. Elijah shut down emotionally and would not speak to my mom, our older sister, or me about what he was feeling. It seemed there was no way to connect with...

One Christmas, after a quick shopping trip to the mall with their dad, my kids came home with a few emoji pillows. Why is it that when kids go shopping with dads, they always end up bringing home a few extra non-essentials? My kids proudly showed...

I need to begin with words that may hurt initially. These diagnostic words are the opposite of everything Pinterest and Instagram are telling you. You may not like these words at first, but I think the truth in them will change everything. You are...

It’s a question we all ask at one time or another, isn’t it? Sometimes life and ministry happen faster than we can manage, and no matter how proficient we are in our leadership, it is impossible to control everything happening to us, around us,...

How will I do it all? How do I balance life and family and work? I don’t believe in balance. I don’t believe in balance because I cannot find it anywhere in Scripture. Achieving perfect balance is impossible. It’s a losing game. Instead, what I see...

If you’ve been around the Bible for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that you can read a passage and learn something one day and then—a day, or a week, or even years later—you can read it again and discover something entirely different....

The Book of Psalms is perhaps the most beloved book in our Christian Bibles. This anthology of prayers and praises is so familiar to us that quotations have found their way onto refrigerator magnets and cross stitch patterns, dedicatory plaques and...

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