Escape Rooms and Jesus Promising a Way Out
My daughter Evie loves escape rooms. She has designed escape rooms at our house for her friends. She has been to more than 20 of them. Whenever we are in a new place, she asks us to look one up and go to it. One time we went to an escape room in Sacramento and […]
3 Ways to Fight the Entitlement That Is Fighting Enjoyment
Research has shown that feeling entitled increases feelings of distress and disappointment—but you likely don’t need research to know that. You have experienced it. I have. There was a season when I was traveling for speaking/consulting engagements so frequently that I would be regularly upgraded to first class. Sadly, my heart came to expect the […]
Entitlement Is Fighting Against Enjoyment
Gratitude and entitlement cannot coexist. Parents know this. There are two opposing phrases we often hear when raising kids. We love to hear one and bristle at the other: “Thank you,” and “It’s not fair.” Parents love to hear “Thank you” from a child because it shows the child realizes a gift has been received […]
Research on Why Christians Should Be the Most Grateful People
Robert Emmons is a professor and psychologist at UC Davis who has led multiple research projects on gratitude. For example, he led one study in which people were placed in three groups and asked to write sentences based on their experiences each week. The first group wrote down what they were thankful for The second […]
God’s View of Gender Dysphoria and the Transgender Movement
Imagine being a teenager who doesn’t feel at home in your own body. You never felt you met the typical gender stereotypes of guys playing with trucks and rough sports and girls dressing up and play with dolls. You aren’t happy, and you so badly want to be happy. Like all teenagers through all generations, […]
3 Reasons We Must Be Alarmed by Boredom
The renowned pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “The life of sin is always in some sense a life of boredom.” This is a really strong statement about boredom—something we don’t typically associate as damaging or sinful. Augustine famously wrote that we are restless in this world until we rest in God. Thus seasons of boredom must […]
Leaving or Keeping in the Love of God
The times are crazy and chaotic. People who once worshipped Jesus are walking away from Him and even teachers of Jesus are departing from Him. God’s people are disoriented and discouraged as people they love are drifting from the faith they once shared. It was the mid 60s AD, as in only a few decades […]
What to Do With Christmas Trees, Halloween, Meat Offered to Idols, and New Year’s Celebrations
We recently held a Lunar New Year party after one of our worship services on a Saturday night. The Lunar New Year is a big deal in Asian cultures and our context is highly Asian — which I love. Someone sent a message that we should not celebrate Lunar New Year because the celebration’s origins […]
Deteriorating Mental Health, Elijah, and 7 Reminders for Us
I asked our church recently how many have struggled with anxiety or depression in the last year and hands shot up throughout our gathering space. No one was surprised, of course, because we have seen reports and news stories about mental health deteriorating in our society. The hands raised throughout the room reminded those of […]
5 Major Concerns About the State of the Bible in the U.S.
The American Bible Society released a very robust report on their findings from a large research project on the “state of the Bible.” There are some very encouraging trends related to Bible engagement among Americans and the major impact Bible engagement has upon us. According to research, reading the Bible increases our joy, our outlook […]