Three of my kids hid in their room, afraid to come out. While I sobbed on the floor, my oldest — ten years old at the time — tried comforting me, even prayed over my slackened body. Sadly, the weight of debt, insecurities and the fear of living in the middle of a cancer cluster pressed me further into the ground. I’d already battled cancer twice and couldn’t imagine any way out of our circumstances. I reached out to a few friends when my down days first washed over me nearly two years ago. It was an uncomfortable admission, especially […]

There once were two men who prayed to God. The first man prayed for wealth and happiness. He wanted to experience the Lord’s blessings. Over the years he worked diligently to obtain a comfortable life. But no matter how many riches he obtained, he was never content, and he never felt true joy. The second man prayed for God to make His presence known. He wanted to experience genuine closeness with the Lord. And over the years, despite circumstances–good or bad–he found himself overwhelmed with gratitude and peace. He knew eternal wealth and everlasting joy. One man sought after God’s […]

Is it really possible to have a stress-free Christmas? Remember when you were a child and Christmas was a glorious mixture of parties, Christmas tree decorations, beautiful lights, Christmas cookies, going to the mall and sitting on Santa’s lap, dreaming about the presents awaiting you? When did all of that change? For most of us, the transition to a stress-plagued holiday season came as we accumulated more responsibilities, such as putting on the church Christmas program, beginning our own Christmas card list, and budgeting our own income to somehow include gifts for not only our family, but a few friends […]

Jesus’ birth into the world was nothing short of an act of desperate, extravagant love by God, who had been pursuing humanity down through the ages. It was the culmination of a long and sordid tale of love gone bad. Humanity had spurned God, and now, He had come in person, “for God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). He was willing to leave all our mistakes and double-dealing in the past and never speak of them again. Jesus birth was hope personified for all of humanity. A […]