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Faith, Family and Football; Written by a Tar Heel on Black Friday
Not my usual blog, but here we go! In America, Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving during which retailers make enough profits from Christmas shoppers to transition from the “red” to the “black” bottom line, accounting wise. However, if you are a Tar Heel fan in 2022, it is the day your football…
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Be Encouraged, Evil has an Expiration Date!
Satan and evil have an expiration date. This is not conjecture, wishful thinking, or a nice platitude. This, my friends, is part of the Good News! Yet, only God holds the time stamp. The One who ushered in the Kingdom through a holy conception and quiet incarnation in a sleepy town called Bethlehem. The One…
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What’s In Your Suitcase? – Unpacking Ephesians 5 for Wives and Husbands (Part 2)
If Ephesians 5:22-33 were to manifest themselves inside of a suitcase, it would be full of dancing clothes in preparation for the sacred tango of love and respect between husband and wife. A marriage relationship quickly becomes a perpetual dance between two willing partners. However, in marriage, we tend to choose one of two dances.…
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What’s In Your Suitcase? – Unpacking Ephesians 5 for Wives and Husbands (Part 1)
*Disclaimer, this blog is not meant to suggest nor encourage anyone to remain in an abusive or threatening relationship. Have you ever been held captive by a verse of Scripture? Like when you hear the silent voice in your head rehearse a verse that instantly locks you in, forces your eyes to circle back, and…
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Prepare the Soil of Your Life for The Good News
In a world plagued by bad news, bad ideas, and, let’s be honest, an abundance of bad attitudes, we find ourselves craving even the tiniest morsel of good news. By beckoning slivers of hope in the form of somewhat trivial pleas, we pray for something (or anything) to go our way. Please let my teenager…
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Letting God Off the Hook and Placing Him On the Throne
I was four years old when I threw the temper tantrum of a lifetime. The one that would trigger every emotional meltdown for decades to come. The fit in which every four year old fear would later ignite every teenage insecurity, every twenty something stupidity, every thirty something full-circle moment, and every forty something failure…
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Spiritual Doormats
Christianity is often misunderstood as a religion that requires you to function as a metaphorical doormat. Words like surrender, submission, and subjugation are grossly misinterpreted by society apart from the counsel of the Holy Spirit. In communities void of the Spirit, Christian meekness becomes synonymous with weakness and truth seekers appear to bear the muddy…
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Afraid to Cry
Crying is as natural and common as sneezing, yet we tend to avoid it, at least publicly, at all costs. Ever wonder why we instinctively try to hold back our tears? Why do we feel the need to apologize when tears overtake our ability to speak? Are we afraid of what tears might reveal about…
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Uprooted Hope Can Bloom Again — Even in the Soil of Grief
“And now there remain: faith . . . hope . . . love . . . these three [the choicest graces]” (1 Corinthians 13:13 AMP) I vividly remember the shell-shocked feeling of disbelief after receiving the phone call — the words that introduced me to the deepest grief I have ever known. My only brother…
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Fasting to Feasting—Lent as a Snapshot of the Christian Journey of Faith
If you’ve ever dabbled in photography (as it appears most of us have with our smartphones) or been the one with three cameras and a bag draped around your neck at a sporting event, you understand a photographer’s quest to capture the perfect snapshot. The shot that brings life into crystal clear focus while also…
Faith ~ Hope ~ Love 