When I was in middle school, I lacked wisdom. Not because I was young but because I had poor decision-making. My intuition on what would bring me life and happiness was a bit misguided. This resulted in unfortunate incidents, such as me and my friend destroying a sheetrock wall in the boy's bathroom. Thankfully, I wised up. I began finding life in things that were healthier for me. I am confident my parents were glad too. The truth is, each of us still has bad instincts. We try to find life in things that bring us death. What we are searching for is wisdom.

Last Friday, I attended our local homecoming game. It was fun and life-giving! The student section was full, the team played well, and it was a beautiful fall night. You could sense that the majority of people were enjoying it. It’s also true that beneath the surface, that same crowd was struggling with all kinds of things– anxiety, depression, health issues, broken relationships, and financial stress. This is a good picture of the world we live in; it is both beautiful and broken. It is also a picture of what Paul says to the Corinthians because the goodness and beauty we experience now is both a dim reflection of the restored world and a manifestation of the supremacy of love. We live in the now and not yet of God’s love being supreme (now) and waiting for God’s love to restore all things (not yet).

A quick scan of the headlines will remind you that there is plenty of suffering in the world– if you haven’t experienced it more personally this week. This reality rightly causes many to wrestle with their faith. Some conclude that suffering is evidence that God does not exist. The shortcoming of this conclusion is that one needs an eternal source of goodness to find God false to begin with. Others conclude that because God is all-powerful all that happens in the world is a direct result of God’s will. If this is true, the world reveals God as the perpetrator of evil. A third view is that God is loving but not all-powerful and thus doing the best God can to defeat evil and sin. Each of these views leaves us hopeless. Thankfully, none of these is who Christ reveals God to be. Instead, we see that God’s power and love will rescue creation, is unconquerable, and is even able to bring grace from evil (which God does not cause).

Being close to the brokenness of people’s lives–death, addiction, divorce, job loss, moral failure–on a daily basis was my most significant adjustment when I became a minister. It wasn’t occasional; it was all the time. And in those situations, people looked to me to offer hope

We tend to want to simplify things and often prefer either or rather than “both and.” But many things in life are better explained by “both and.”

As you head into your fall season, remember these three life-changing truths. You have all the time you need; love is the ultimate reality; living is required to find life.

The author of Hebrews is helping his readers embrace their relational story with God. When we do, it shapes our history, draws us to the future, and inspires us in the present.

Life has a lot of layers, doesn’t it? We experience joy, disappointment, challenge, and grace in any given week.

Prayer is not wishful thinking, deep reflection, ritual, or an illusion. Prayer is mysterious, but it is also grounded in reality, simple, and enables us to hear God’s voice. Prayer is conversing with the God who is revealed in the person of Jesus.

We shy away from commitment these days, placing a greater value on independence and the ability to choose.

Prayer is spiritual, not religious. Religious prayer is something we do to earn God’s favor or get God to meet our needs.

We love our independence. We believe Sinatra’s song, “My Way,” should apply to all of us.

Millions of pieces of information flow to us each day, but we can’t absorb it all; so much of it gets ignored.

Here are three thoughts from the final two chapters of Revelation to offer you some encouragement this week and remind you not to underestimate God’s Grace.

When we become obsessed with our judgments, sense of justice, or revenge we can quickly lose ourselves along the way. 

Just like the woman Bon Jovi imagines in “You give love a bad name,” humans give judgment a bad name.

Life requires us to live with loss. But how can we succeed at this?

We most often associate memory with the past. We have all kinds of good, bad, sad, and funny memories.

We are to be the people who live with the end in mind. Knowing that God will deal with evil and restore all things allows us to offer forgiveness, turn the other cheek, resist judgment, and serve the world, trusting that God will destroy evil and bring restoration.

Have you ever seen an Apocalyptic Cricket? They’re pretty scary. We had them for a bit in our storage unit behind our house.