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.

What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

Your serenity matters to heaven. God's presence encapsulates your life.

No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. There's no person God cannot reach. There's no limit to his love.

You are saved, not because of what you do, but because of what Christ did. And you are special, not because of what you do, but because of whose you are. And you are his. And because we are his, let's forget the shortcuts and stay on the main road. He knows the way. He drew the map. He knows the way home.

You can endure change by pondering His permanence.

I'm a preacher first and a writer second, although my role is changing a bit at the church. I'm going to bring on a co-teacher, but I'll still be a pastor and a writer.