I have to level with you; there are few things cooler than standing on top of a mountain and looking down over creation. A few weeks ago our campus ministry hiked to the top of a mountain overlooking the New River Gorge in West Virginia. It was absolutely breathtaking. We often describe spiritual encounters with God … [Read more...]
The Power of a Word
It was shortly after dinner that I received a panicked message from one of my students. “I think I might be fired from my job.” It seems that he had gotten into a bad situation with his employer over some things he had been posting on social media. In that moment the reality settled in that there wasn’t much he could do to take … [Read more...]
How Far Is Too Far?
One thing is clear throughout Scripture: God doesn’t want His people thinking and acting like the world around them. If there’s no difference between believers and nonbelievers, how will nonbelievers see God? Beginning in Exodus and continuing throughout the Bible, God said, “Be holy, for I am holy!” the book of 1 Thessalonians … [Read more...]
Power Over Your Thought Life
Experts say that the human mind can think 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day? That can wear you out just thinking about it! With so many thoughts running through our minds, we have many opportunities for those thoughts to take us places we shouldn’t go. Maybe that’s why the Bible speaks a lot about controlling our thoughts. Our … [Read more...]
Four Signs that You Haven’t Forgiven Yourself
Guilt, shame, and regret are pretty common among teens. It’s easy to know in our heads that God forgives, but in our hearts—in our guts—we don’t really believe we’ve been forgiven. At least, we don’t live our lives convinced that God has truly forgiven us. The Enemy, Satan, wants to use guilt and shame to hold us as … [Read more...]
Decision-Making with God in Mind
Decisions, decisions, decisions… it seems that high school years are jam packed with important decisions. Some are more trivial than others like “Should I take regular chem or AP chem?” or “Is eating the cafeteria’s sloppy joes a good idea before gym?” Other decisions we make have far more lasting ramifications like what to do … [Read more...]