by Chris Martin I lead the student ministry at our church, and a significant amount of my time and energy leading the student ministry is devoted to helping students learn why it is important to read the Bible and how they can do it when it feels so inaccessible to them. So I’ve talked a lot about this topic lately, and it’s important to me. We can’t be in a real … [Read more...]
Where Your Power and Purpose Come From
Purpose. Power. Since my teenage years, these two words have always resonated with me. I have wanted to live with a sense of resolve and then have the capability to fully execute my potential. Leadership and influence seem to have always come naturally. Through the years I found myself in noteworthy positions of purpose and power. God’s timeliness and faithfulness certainly … [Read more...]
1 Thing That Makes a Difference in Every Situation
In 2006, I went to Israel to participate in an archaeological dig at Tel Hazor National Park. It is located less than 2 miles from the Israeli-Syrian border and less than 10 miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border. On the next to last day of our dig, I heard a quick, successive “boom, boom, boom” coming from the north. Then I heard explosions behind me. I looked … [Read more...]
The Importance of Reading Scripture
By: Brandon D. Smith– Blockbuster superhero movies and the latest iteration of the Star Wars movie franchise show the power of a good story. Grown men and young children alike dress up in costumes, stand in line for hours, and spend $62 on a bucket of popcorn just to watch larger-than-life heroes do the unthinkable. People are riveted by a good story that seems otherworldly, … [Read more...]
The Bait Men Take
I was wading in a cold, mountain creek with a couple of my sons, fishing for rainbow trout. But if a fish fry was going to be in our future, we needed a few more on the stringer. Our extensively researched and tediously tied on bait was whole kernel corn! But it worked, and we all enjoyed a meal of fried fish. Corn isn’t a normal dietary item for trout, but it mimics some of … [Read more...]