Tag Archives: life

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Your Future is Life Not Death

The future of a Christian is secure in life because of the death and resurrection of God’s Son. He died so that we don’t have to.

Even though every person eventually dies, death is not at all natural. Every human being will one day pass away, but death itself was not a part of God’s original plan. Death entered the world as a consequence of sin.

Photo: Unsplash, Umit Yildirim

There is a reason we instinctively abhor death and the fact that it eventually swallows everyone we know and love. We as human beings are made in the image of God, and God is the Author of life. It is written into our hearts that life is precious, valuable, and worth preserving. This is why death is so vile to us. It is why we cry when we hear the news about someone passing away. We are made to enjoy and radiate life, not death.

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Live in Community

If there’s anything the term “social distancing” has taught us, it’s that most people don’t like social distancing. Humans are hardwired to live in deep need of community, despite what all the introvert memes might joke about.

Photo: Unsplash, Helena Lopes

The Christian life is always meant to be experienced in the context of community and association with fellow believers. There is a great deal of relational health in godly community, and I’ve seen its benefits up close. People grow when they’re rubbing shoulders with like-minded followers of Christ who share their resources, keep one another accountable for godly living, put their phones down, and talk with each other. 

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Coming 9.9.22—Real Life Loading…

Real Life Loading… will be a new weekly podcast from FamilyLife for 18-28 year olds, hosted by me. I’m thrilled that it’s finally going to be released!

It’ll be a 30 minute podcast coming out every Friday, but also released on the radio each weekend for parents and grandparents to listen in on what the kids are talking about these days.

There will be interviews, fun segments, practical advice, and gospel-saturated content on topics like:

Identity, theology, sexuality, mental health, dating, church, suffering, addiction, prayer, anxiety…and so much more.

And as we’re getting rolling, these will be my first round of guests:

Sam Allberry

Jen Wilkin

Paul David Tripp

Rachel Gilson

Rebecca McLaughlin

Jennie Allen

Alisa Childers

Garrett Kell

Justin Brierley

Dr. Michael Kruger

Tim Muehlhoff

Rechab Gray

Matt Smethurst

Dr. Heather Holleman

…and many more to come.

It’s also produced by FamilyLife, so we’re recording on professional equipment, we hired a professional artist to write the music for it, and it’s being mixed and mastered at the FamilyLife sound studios where they record the daily FamilyLife Today radio show.

I’m really excited about it, and prayerful that it will impact many lives in the coming years. My heart is to become a trusted friend who helps young people walk closely with Jesus in the context of their ever-shifting culture. I don’t want to claim to have all the answers, but sincerely admit that I’m just as much in process as anyone who’s listening.

In fact the tagline of the show is, “Somewhat anxious. Always authentic.,” and those 3 dots at the end of the title intentionally imply that I haven’t arrived.

Keep an eye out for it arriving on September 9th!

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Power In The Christian Life

Since I have been involved with Cru as both a student and staff, I’ve read a number of applications for a variety of things, including small group leader applications, summer mission applications, staff/intern applications, and even applications to sing in our campus worship band. One question that is usually asked on these applications is, “What is your understanding of the Spirit-directed life?”

It’s always interesting to see what people write down to answer this question, and it usually ends up being a confusing paragraph on a divine leading from God or some sort of “burning in the bosom” on what the Lord is directing them to do. Now, I don’t know exactly how heartburn or pectoral muscles come into play when the Spirit of God is working in someone’s life, but the one thing that has become quite clear to me is that many students don’t know what it means to live the Spirit-filled life.

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The Main Reason I’m Alive

The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. (The Westminster Shorter Catechism)

Has anyone ever put you on the spot and inquired, “Why do Christians insist on trying to convert people?” Trust me, if it ever happens to you, you’ll remember it.

Questions like these, no matter if its tone is one of cheekiness or just plain curiosity, really make you reflect on the overall purpose of evangelism. Should we be motivated by results—seeing more people go to heaven? That’s important, right? Or maybe the reason for evangelism should simply be duty—being obedient to God’s command to go and make disciples (Matthew 28). After all, the Great Commission isn’t just a suggestion. What if our incentive is rewards—to one day hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” and receive jewels in our heavenly crown? Sounds selfish, but it’s biblical. Or, perhaps a better motive is that of love—love for God and love for people’s souls, compelling us to share the good news.

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“What’s God’s Will For My Life?” – The Wrong Question

As I’ve worked with college students for most of my adult ministry, I’ve often heard the question, What is God’s will for my life? Young people of an average university age are constantly trying to figure out what to major in, who to date, how to spend their time, and what job to shoot for after graduation.

Naturally, with huge life decisions comes speculation about what God wants for them, and how they should proceed. There’s a fairly abundant fear of the unknown amongst college students, but we all know that fear isn’t exclusive to them.

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Are You Dating A Life-Taker?

3 Examples of Service In Dating

When we look to culture to tell us how to have a relationship, we get beer commercials, tabloid postings, and reality TV that scream at us, “This is the right way to do it!” And most of the time, we buy it. We pick up a magazine at the grocery store checkout line and see the cover exclaim to us the way to get the most pleasure out of sex, so we purchase it. We religiously watch every episode of The Bachelor and see a man claim to be in love with the final woman contestant who made it to the end, when just yesterday he was making out in a hot tub with the other two finalists he didn’t pick. Celebrity couples marry, and they get divorced…and this feels like the norm. We think that relationships are all about us and what the other person can do for us, but Jesus taught something radically different.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:26b-28)

We are called not to be takers in a dating relationship, but givers. Servants who model ourselves after Christ Himself instead of the predominant opinion of modern culture, begging us to fulfill our own needs and desires. Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and this should be our primary goal as we look toward dating. Before sin entered the picture, humanity was designed to give, serve, and love. Jesus lived this out as the perfect example, and the cool thing is we can do that now…even in our modern American approach to dating.