Image: Unsplash & Erick Hodge

Last week I wrote a blog about getting the most out of life and maximizing our productivity for God’s specific calling on each of our lives. In the post, I shared my own understanding of what God is calling me to in this season including following him, loving my family ...

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In Biblical times a person showed sorrow and suffering by putting on sackcloth. In Psalm 30:10–12, David describes how God had removed his sackcloth and exchanged it for joy:

“’Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.’

You turned ...

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Pastors have a lot going on. We have to be present mentally, emotionally, and physically in many circumstances throughout each week. We often have families that are, or should be, a priority. We have responsibilities that pull us in many directions daily.

As the lead pastor ...

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Once you surrender your life to Christ, from that point on, when God looks at you, he sees Jesus—not your past failures or even your accomplishments. He sees Jesus in you. God’s grace is just that amazing.

It seems too incredible to believe, doesn’t it? ...

Image: Derwin L. Gray

In Romans 1:28–32, Paul describes most of human history outside of Jesus. From envy and pride to disobedience and evil, we all struggle with these issues in ways large and small. You might be surprised how much. Take a moment of truth and watch the clip above as we ...

Image: Erick Hodge

The purpose of a movie trailer is to give highlights of a forthcoming movie, creating “buzz” about it. And the ”buzz” compels people to see the movie. For example, the trailers for Avengers: Age of Ultron were incredible. They were so enticing that ...

Image: Erick Hodge

The last words of someone are important, especially if that someone is the eternal Son, the second person of the triune God. Before Jesus ascended to heaven so he could function as his people’s great high priest, he commissioned and commanded his twelve Jewish disciples ...

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Marriage is like a garden. It needs intentional care and cultivation. When weeds grow, they must be pulled up from the root immediately. If we don’t pull up weeds by the root they will continue to grow back, eventually overtaking and killing the garden.

So how do ...

Image: Erick Hodge

If you read the news or watch TV, you cannot escape the rise of extremism in the world. There are Islamic extremists, Hindu extremists, and even atheist extremists. Violence and hatred often mark the presence of extremism, but what if it was faced by something even stronger ...

Image: Brandon Robinson

Imagine a world where people are awakened to the beautiful reality of God’s grace, mercy, and love. Imagine that the grace of God has so transformed people like you and me that we love him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Through this love, we then care ...

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Sometimes life feels like being on a tiny, dilapidated boat in a big ocean in the midst of a giant storm. This feeling can be terrifying, as if impending doom surrounds us.

Unfortunately, sometimes life is like this.

Maybe your storm is being unemployed, and you’ve ...

Image: Death to Stock

As leaders, there are a lot of things we guard.

We guard our weaknesses.

We guard our pain.

We guard our reputation.

The more we guard our weaknesses, the weaker we become.

The more we guard our pain, the more hurt we become and the more we hurt others.

The more ...

Image: Erick Hodge

In recent months, I have been blessed with opportunities to speak to thousands of church leaders at venues as diverse as a Willow Creek conference in Erfurt, Germany, the Kainos conference in Memphis, Tennessee, and Exponential East in Tampa, Florida, from which I am writing ...

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In Romans 5:3-5, Paul says that we can rejoice in our sufferings because we are a people of hope: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does ...