There are only two ways to live life. Your way. Or God’s way. There is no third way. To put it another way, I can live my life the way I’m naturally inclined – in my own power, with my own resources, for my own agenda. The Bible says in Proverbs...
Sometimes God takes me back to kindergarten, spiritually speaking. I spend time reading theological treatises, but I sometimes forget the most basic and simple of truths. Here’s one of those basic truths I sometimes struggle with: We choose our attitudes. We...
Are you confident? God wants you to be. He doesn’t want you to be arrogant or self-reliant, but He does want you to wake up each morning and face the day with a sense of spiritual confidence, rooted in your relationship with Him. He even went to the trouble of...
I need to lose weight, work out, and rest consistently. I want to be a better husband and Dad. I need to read more books, save and give more money, and share my faith more. But if you want to know the single most important goal I have for the coming year, it is this:...
When your pursuits aren’t aligned with your purpose, you’ll get frustrated and exhausted. That doesn’t mean there aren’t seasons of preparation, of waiting, or of doing something else temporarily until you can find the freedom to pursue what...
When my wife and I were first married, we lived in Beebe, Arkansas where I served as pastor of a small church and we commuted several days per week to Conway, an hour away, for classes at Central Baptist College. The chariot that carried us back and forth was a 1991...
Have you heard about Nathan Patterson? Here’s the scoop… Nathan played baseball in high school, but upon graduation, moved on to more practical things like selling software for a living. After all, how many high school hopefuls actually make it to...
Sometimes we look for professionals to help us learn things. I was once on a flight that was diverted from John Wayne Airport to LAX, which prompted a wave of sighs from passengers as well as a conversation between me and the guy seated next to me on the plane named...
You ought to go to church. You ought to read your Bible, eat right, quit smoking, pay your tithes, and be a better mom… dad… husband… wife… yodeler, underwater basket-weaver, etc. The weight of “ought to” living can be crushing. In...
FOMO (the “fear of missing out”) is a real thing, and it’s more intense than ever. We’re afraid we’ll miss out on all the cool stuff. We’ll miss out on doing something significant with our lives. But God has a purpose for every one of us – a unique pathway to...
