My first encounters with faith came about the time I was a Boy Scout, at about 14 or 15. I made the logical deduction that they operate the same way; I treated my faith like earning a merit badge, and everything about Christianity was about earning merit badges.

I've never really prided myself as being quick on my feet.

God never promises to remove us from our struggles. He does promise, however, to change the way we look at them.

Do you believe that God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know that He is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, He is present.

I do believe that leaders have to be held to a higher standard, especially Christian leaders. I put myself in that camp.

We have a place where we can take people when they come to us with questions so we're not just speaking out of our own opinion. We're really speaking to them out of an authoritative place, not because of what we discovered, but because of what God says.

Be kind to yourself. God thinks you're worth his kindness. And he's a good judge of character.