1.

Sprint

Available now on Netflix

The Olympics has us in our sports era, or so it seems. Sprint is a thrilling sports drama that delves into the world of competitive sprinting. Following a young and ambitious sprinter striving to make it to the Olympics, the film explores themes of dedication, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of greatness. Sports dramas have a unique way of capturing the raw emotion and intensity of athletic competition, and Sprint. It’s the perfect show to watch before it passes the baton to the official Olympic games.

2. Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot

In Theaters July 4

This film focuses on the true, inspiring tale of Possum Trot, a small community in Texas known for its extraordinary act of kindness. In an unprecedented effort, the dozens of residents from this town adopted 77 of the most hard-to-place foster children, transforming their lives and demonstrating the power of compassion and community. As executive producer Letitia Wright told RELEVANT, “It’s not just a movie — it’s a movement.” Angel Studios, the faith-based company behind the movie, believes this will be a catalyst to encourage families to step up and protect children in the foster care system.

3. Quad Gods

Available on Max July 10

Quad Gods is a high-octane reality series that follows the lives of elite quadriplegic athletes who push the boundaries of physical limitations. With gripping personal stories and intense competitive spirit, this show promises to be a rollercoaster of emotions and adrenaline. As the world is gearing up to watch the summer Olympics, this series serves as a reminder that all of us have our own inspiring stories to tell.

4.

Exploding Kittens

Available on Netflix July 12

Based on the wildly popular card game, Exploding Kittens is an animated series that brings the quirky, explosive fun of the game to life — with a theological twist. The adaptation will showcase the timeless battle between good and evil, personified by God (Tom Ellis) and Satan (Lucy Liu) who find themselves reincarnated as Earth-bound felines. But Exploding Kittens is more than a tale of two cats. It’s a commentary on the absurdity of cosmic conflicts played out in the most mundane of settings. Considering the series was developed by The Office co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels’ animation company Bandera Entertainment, we fully expect more laughs and less philosophical introspection.

5. Futurama (Season 12)

Available on Hulu July 29

After a far-too-long hiatus, the iconic animated series Futurama is finally making its return. Set in the 31st century, the show follows the adventures of Fry, Leela, Bender, and the rest of the Planet Express crew as they navigate the quirks and challenges of the future. Futurama has always been a brilliant mix of sharp wit, clever satire and heartfelt moments. And with many of the original cast and creators back on board, we can expect the same level of creativity and laughs that made it a cult favorite.

This principle is both global and personal. Jesus charged all His followers and those who were follower-leaders to be propelled out of Jerusalem (home territory), into Judea (regional influence) and Samaria (crossing into foreign soil) and to the uttermost parts of the world (the universe of humankind itself). And so Christian leadership in its healthiest and bravest form is an expansive mission at one level tracked by distances charted on a world map, but at another level counted one person at a time. We are called to deal with the dregs of human suffering, the whirlpools of intellectual dilemmas and the outer space of lostness. None of it is easy.

This mission is intensely personal. The trajectory toward the uttermost parts of the earth begins with the next simple step that we take, by meeting people we have never met before, going to places we have never been to before, creating ministry that we have not engaged in before. But true exploration, made possible by solid faith and courage, is how we find the leading edge of the kingdom of God.

Everyone wants to discover something new and fresh. Discovery is intriguing and invigorating. Discovery reminds us that our lives are not over yet, that there is more to life than what we can see right now, and that any of us may have yet-undiscovered potential.

Discovery-leading is telling people that you, the influencer, are driven by a conviction that something new is around the corner and that others can join in the quest. You don’t even fully know what it is yet, but you know the direction is right, light is spilling over the horizon ahead, and no one has yet arrived at the final destination. Leaders don’t motivate people by their knowledge of the future, but by their anticipation of what is possible. Discovery-leading could be in the form of a mission organization, a small group, a business venture or a church home.

Some leaders believe that they must always project a concrete vision of the future and define the vision in detail. But spiritual influence is often most effective when people are drawn into a vision not yet fully formed, so they get to be part of the discovery. People do not want to be herded like cattle. They want to be fellow explorers.

So, for example, one person has a burden for the profound needs of a refugee population in his city. He starts to talk with others about the need, and the burden gradually becomes a vision in his mind. Not a vision with details and how-to’s, but a mental picture of the grace of God flowing to the refugee group through many possible mercy initiatives. He shares that vision with a broader base of people, asking, “What do you think?”

Two things happen. Others begin to see the same need and sense the same burden; and they contribute specific ideas: What about education needs? job placement? housing? a church plant? They brainstorm about possible resources: funding, expertise, networks of similar work, key leaders, constituencies who would have an interest. Gradually a plan emerges. It is just a one-year plan, not a ten-year plan, because the leaders see this as an exploration with many unforeseen challenges and opportunities. In the first year a couple dozen people are involved, but in the second and third year a couple hundred people sign on and a nonprofit organization is founded to carry on the work.

Four years in and the organization has discovered three main ways to help the refugee group and has discarded five efforts that were dead end roads. They regularly interact with a network of similar enterprises around the country, and their experiences help shape other organizations. Though they have established best practices, they still keep an attitude of discovery about the work, knowing that God may have new horizons for them that they would never come up with on their own.

A drive to discover can be the engine of spiritual influence. Sometimes it takes the form of an expedition—the mobilizing of large numbers of people to go on a multiyear quest. But discovery can happen as an everyday experience as well. Discovery does not need a budget, and it does not need to wait for committee approval. In the next twenty-four hours, or at least in the next week or month, any of us can find some place of discovery that is nearby and does not take months of preparation:

Read Scripture daily and register one new or renewed insight each reading.

Meet another leader outside the circles you normally move in.

Go to a needy place you’ve never visited before—whether it is in the next neighborhood or another part of the world. But be prepared to give up preconceptions of the spiritual or physical poverty you think you will find there, and look for the grace of God. Be open to discovering your own spiritual poverty.

Visit a place of refuge and linger there—a hospital, nursing facility, rescue mission, storefront ministry, hospice.

Mentor a struggling coworker.

Volunteer to lead a risky project.

Do something you have never done before. Take a temporary chaplaincy role, spend a weekend with an urban ministry, lead a Bible study in a prison, offer counsel to a couple about to be married, offer to arbitrate a dispute, tutor at-risk kids, be a mentor to someone in a substance-abuse program.

We all must know our comfort zones so that we can stretch beyond them. However, do not seek discomfort for its own sake, and certainly do not try to be some kind of hero. Another way of saying “go beyond your comfort zone” is “discover the undiscovered.” Once we leave behind the familiar we will start to see the work God is already doing. And then, in the divine/human nexus, God will wonderfully co-opt us to work where we previously would not have imagined.

Adapted with permission from Spiritual Influence by Mel Lawrenz (Zondervan) Copyright 2012.

Child of God includes 20 songs with several features from Hulvey, Sam Rivera, Tori Kelly, Connor Price, Caleb Gordon, CAIN, JVKE and Jonathan Pokluda, the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.

Frank has previously released seven albums with his band Surfaces, including their latest album Good Morning which dropped earlier this year. Frank has been creating Christian music on his own, releasing several EPs since 2022 and collaborating with artists like Lecrae, nobigdyl. and Elevation Rhythm.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by forrest frank (@hiforrest)

It’s the simple things in life that bring us the most joy. You may not have a lot of resources, but if you have family, you’re blessed. If you have your health, you’re blessed. If you can look up at the stars at night, you’re blessed.

— Joel Osteen (@JoelOsteen) June 27, 2024

It’s not an uncommon sentiment to hear from a pastor, but many online users pointed out that Osteen might not be the best spokesperson for that message. After all, Osteen’s estimated net worth is at least $50 million, and his two homes in Texas have a combined value of $13.4 million.

X users were quick to start their unofficial Osteen Roast, letting the megachurch pastor know he might need to think before he tweets.

If you can look up at those stars from the balcony of your mansion, you’re Joel Osteen. https://t.co/QOjUVqHq39

— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) June 27, 2024

You donating your salary then ?

— Federico Chispas (@dfchispas) June 27, 2024

Yeah, Joel, your multimillion dollar mansions and $350,000 Maserati are the “simple things in life.”
Why don’t you try living like you preach as Jesus would have you do? Move into an average home, drive a Chevy, get your own clothes and groceries, cook, clean.
6 months. Deal?

— Farmers for Democracy (@FarmerinVA) June 27, 2024

Joel Osteen, worth $100 million, living in multiple mansions, and owning multiple yachts wants you to know that money won’t bring you joy — but he still wants you to send him all of the money you can. https://t.co/kPaf0uLlhV

— Melanie D’Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) June 27, 2024

Joel Osteen: “It’s the simple things in life”

Also Joel Osteen: pic.twitter.com/qBvAluTiyA

— ScottW (@jswtreeman) June 27, 2024

Saw Joel Osteen trending and thought he had locked his church doors during a hurricane again
pic.twitter.com/QI4arlm1zX

— P. Against The World (@chillin662) June 27, 2024

Joel Osteen coming in to tell you how much of a struggle life is on his $54,000,000 yearly salary. pic.twitter.com/8AVHXhda7V

— Meme Kingdom (@MemeKINGD0M) June 27, 2024

If I walk into a church service pretty much anywhere in America and ask people to raise their hand if they have been hurt by a church (specifically the leadership of a church), nearly everyone will raise their hand.

Now, this isn’t to say that friction or conflict in churches are a sign of a church totally blowing their mission. Jesus teaches us how to resolve conflict in a church community. Surely, he wouldn’t do that unless we were going to need it.

No church is going to be perfect, I get that. In fact, I love how Nadia Bolz-Weber, the founding pastor of The House For All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado puts it. She tells people who want to join the church: “We will let you down.”

In my opinion, that phrase should be on the marquee of every church in America.

But there’s a flip-side to the reality that the church is made up of imperfect people who are gonna miss the mark sometimes. Jesus also says this:

“But Jesus called [the 12 disciples] together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.” (Matthew 20:25-27)

We can be open about the fact that the Church isn’t perfect. But when we use that as an excuse to refuse to obey Jesus in the areas he wants to transform us (or our community of believers), that’s what noted theological experts call “a bad idea.”

Jesus doesn’t say, “it should be different” in church leadership, he says “it will be different.” This is non-negotiable.

If we in the Church don’t commit to being transformed into the likeness of Christ, why should anybody listen to us when we talk about the amazing power of the Holy Spirit in our lives or in our church gatherings?

While we cannot get caught up looking for a perfect church, what are habits of a church that is healthy?

Healthy churches have open and honest conversations.

If you bring concerns to church leadership and you are met with dismissal, prepared statements or excuses as to why information cannot be given, you should ask why.

There may be legitimate regulations and concerns for the privacy of others in some cases, and church leaders should be accountable for their actions. Those who are given power by the church should be happy to explain to the church community why authority is being used in the manner that it is.

I have a friend who was deciding on a church to attend when she moved into a new area. My wife and I had just started attending a church so we invited her to join us. Our friend set up a phone meeting with the lead pastor and asked questions about the vision and mission of the church. He refused to answer.

We didn’t last long at the church, mostly because of some moral failings that occurred within leadership staff. Secrecy is not a great habit for church leaders to overindulge in and avoiding transparency can be a huge warning flag for deeper seeded issues.

Healthy churches readily admit mistakes.

In The Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley says that people will forgive a leader for making a mistake, but will not forgive a leader for failing to communicate. I believe that a leader who refuses to admit mistakes puts him or herself in the difficult situation of always having to spin what happens into being something good.

Sometimes, we just blow it.

Instead of putting lipstick on a pig and telling everyone it’s a princess, we gain credibility and humility when we own up to our failure. A big buzz word in churches today is authenticity. We don’t arrive at authentic community without letting people see the warts.

It’s best to be up front from the start.

If you see a recurring defensiveness in the leadership of a church when asked about mistakes, it should certainly be on your radar. Likewise, if a church tries to hide mistakes or craft seasons of failure into a ready-made public relations campaign, it’s a big warning sign.

Healthy churches embrace encouragement.

If you encounter a church that uses shame to influence you, run for your life.

Seriously. Shame about giving more money, shame about missing a Sunday, shame about your actions—shaming in any area of your life is toxic. The Holy Spirit does not transform us using shame. In fact, Paul specifically writes that “there is no condemnation to those for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Since Jesus doesn’t come out of the tomb saying, “There. I did it since you jerks couldn’t,” no church should ever use the Gospel message to make people feel shamed. The Gospel is the most uplifting message in history.

Don’t let anyone—not even church members—say it’s something it’s not.

No church, no minister will sit in the place of judgement at the end of this age.

If someone acts as if they have the final say about you “getting to heaven,” remember first that “getting to heaven” isn’t even the point of Christian faith, and second, that anybody using a carrot on a stick to manipulate your behaviors doesn’t follow the God who gives grace with crazy generosity. They don’t follow the God who transforms though the love of Christ.

Healthy churches aren’t selective.

If you have to dress a certain way, have a certain color skin or adhere to a predetermined set of regulations to be welcome at a church, you may wanna watch out. Any time people draw superficial lines to keep others away, they separate themselves from the Messiah who welcomed lepers, kids, beggars, prostitutes and thieves.

I’m not saying discipleship is unimportant. I’m simply saying that if a church starts excluding certain groups of people, there’s no reason the leadership can’t find a reason to put you on the exclusion list any time they want.

I believe that belonging to a faith community and being the body of Christ is critically important. It’s why I strive to call out the places where we fall short so that we don’t add more scorn onto our family, but rather so that we can invite the Holy Spirit into those places in order to see transformation.

The best way to avoid manipulative churches is to have leaders who recognize they are in place to serve others, not the other way around. Because the only way we’re going to succeed in our mission is if we’re different. Which is exactly what Jesus was telling us.

There is no plan B.

Either we commit to being different from the rest of the world in the transformation that happens within us and through us, or we fail.

It’s the latest reboot to find some success on Netflix, following their reboot of classic shows from our youth like Full House and Gilmore Girls.

With all of the talks of sequels and reboots, we put together this list of series that Netflix should bring back next. We know you’re reading Netflix executives: You’re welcome, now get to work on these.

A Jesse Pinkman Breaking Bad Spinoff

When actor Aaron Paul pranked fans by hinting that a new Breaking Bad spin-off following Jesse Pinkman—who evidently escaped to Alaska—was in the works, some of his social media followers weren’t very happy.

But, considering how great the prequel series Better Call Saul is, another Vince Gilligan-produced spin-off could actually work, especially on Netflix, where show-runners get the creative control to do basically whatever they want. As complex and dark as Walt was and as funny and charming as Saul is, Jesse still remains arguably the universe’s most compelling character.

His conflicted morality, struggles with shame, addictions and search for a real family were the heart of the show. Walt was brilliant and unstoppable, but also unrelatable. Jesse was the opposite: insecure, good-hearted and hurting.

Following his journey and search for redemption—especially if Gilligan were involved—could give audiences the moral closure they never got when Walt brought the original series to its violent ending.

Freaks and Geeks

It’s been nearly 25 years since Freaks and Geeks was unceremoniously canceled after just one, brilliant 18-episode season. Obviously, the cast has all aged, so playing a group of early ‘80s high school students wouldn’t work as a reboot, but who wouldn’t want to see Hollywood megastars including James Franco, Seth Rogen, Busy Phillips, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini and the rest of the cast return as mid-‘90s thirtysomethings still trying to awkwardly find their place in the world? Or perhaps they could follow That 70s Show‘s formula and bring in their kids.

But, what made the original show so special, wasn’t just the cast—it was the creative minds behind the show. Creator Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids, Spy) has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s go-to comic filmmakers and executive producer Judd Apatow is basically his own brand these days. And, considering Netflix’s ability to pull together big ensemble projects (remember the Arrested Development reboot?), a comeback isn’t all that implausible. Even Apatow seemed (half-seriously, sorta-kinda) open to the idea. He told Variety:

I think we had a beautiful poetic ending, and it’s a miracle that it worked so well. You don’t want to see what happened in the diner after ‘The Sopranos’ ended. As much as at the time it threw you, as the years passed you think, that was a brilliant ending so I don’t think we would mess with it, but you never know—anything can happen.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Before Adult Swim regularly provided surrealist comedy to mainstream audiences, The Adventures of Pete & Pete brought its subversive brand of sitcom parody to the kids network Nickelodeon for three glorious seasons. For the most part, the series is just a footnote in the chronicles of millennial TV culture, but it’s weird humor, indie-rock sensibilities (remember how great the theme song was?) and surprising sentimentalism made it one of the era’s forgotten masterpieces.

The show made commentary about suburban life without ever making fun of it. It was weird, light-hearted, never mean-spirited, artful and funny. In other words, the perfect kind of show that would work again today.

Friday Night Lights

Few shows have so beautifully captured faith, community and the drama of small-town American life like the TV version of Friday Night Lights. Obviously, now that the original cast has grown up, they can no longer play Texas teenagers, but that doesn’t mean that revisiting Dillon is off the table.

As the original characters get older and start their own lives and families in Dillon, there’s opportunities to tell stories surrounding a community that still revolves around high school football—even if the football isn’t always at the center of the drama. After all, what made the show so great wasn’t sports—it was relationships. And sometimes, those only get more interesting as we get older.

Could it happen? Probably not, but maybe? As we all know, clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

McGee and Me!

When you think about it, the ‘90s Christian VHS franchise McGee and Me! has some similarities with the successfully rebooted Netflix series Full House: Both series were family-friendly comedies; both were comprised of episodes that relied on self-contained, light-hearted morality lessons; and, if we’re honest with ourselves, both were objectively not very good (seriously, watch an old Full House rerun in syndication; the cheesy jokes aren’t as charming as they once were.)

But, the same thing that makes Full House the perfect subject of a reboot would make McGee and Me! such a fun project: nostalgia.

Plus, can you imagine McGee having to navigate the complicated world of 2024 moral pitfalls? Forget the R-rated movies, random acts of vandalism and lessons about sportsmanship (seriously, being a good sport in various athletic competitions was the theme of like half of the episodes) that the original series tackled; now McGee and Nick would live in a world of texting and social media.

Truly, it’s the show we all need.

Paul wrote to his friends and told them to live a life worthy of the calling they had received. In other words, aim for your own target, not everyone else’s. If you want to do something honoring for God, stop trying to be someone else and go be you. Figure out your ambition. Own it. Take aim at it. Pull the trigger.

Confusing someone else’s dream for your own, or thinking your dream should be more like theirs, will cost you the prize. God made you gifted at some things and you stink at others. Run your own race. We can tie our hearts together without tying our shoelaces together.

We all have wonderfully different ambitions. Putting aside evil, morally wrong, harmful or unjust ambitions, our part isn’t to score or handicap the ambitions of others. Tend to your own fire. Don’t get on the same page; get on your page. If you want to restore a plane, climb a mountain, or create a new element on the periodic table, mazel tov. Don’t worry about building consensus; get busy building that rocket ship that was supposed to be your life. If you find someone who wants the same things, you don’t need to sync up with them and pursue agreement. Just delight in knowing you’ve found a kindred spirit. Sure, be likeminded. Be “one” the way Jesus said He wanted us to be, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that “oneness” means sameness. It doesn’t.

Whatever dreams are bubbling up in your heart, there are probably a few people who have done something similar. It’s easy to fall into the trap that you have to do things the way they did. It’s tempting to think that had an easier path than the one you’re facing. Chasing after your dreams requires clear-headedness and wide eyes that accept the specific path in front of you, not the path that was in front of them.

There was a guy named Aaron who worked at my law firm for years as a paralegal. I asked him about his ambitions, and he told me he really wanted to be a lawyer. Here was the problem. He didn’t have three years for law school; he had three kids and a wife. He also didn’t have two hundred grand to spend on tuition at a fancy law school. Here’s what we did. We went to the State Bar Association in Washington. I explained that I’d been teaching at Pepperdine Law School for a decade and was pretty good at it. We asked if we could have our own law school with one student — Aaron. It was like we had done a Jedi thing, because they said yes.

For the next four years, all of the lawyers at my law firm took turns teaching Aaron law school. We all got hoodies with the law school name on it so we knew we were official. Graduation day came and we made Aaron give the valedictorian speech. He was also last in the class. Get this. Aaron took the bar exam and passed it. He was as surprised as we were when it happened.

He got his finale. He didn’t take the traditional path but still ended up at his intended destination. The world is going to tell you there are only a few ways to achieve your ambitions, but that’s simply not true. Comparing your path to someone else’s or assuming you have to do it the way someone else demands will rob you of a pretty great adventure.

If you want to find more purpose in your life, if you’re looking to find your own ambitions, help others find the path forward with their ambitions without comparison. Stay in your lane with your ambitions too. It will be a little scary and your family won’t understand when you’re getting together at Thanksgiving. But you’ll know you’re on the right track.

People don’t often applaud the twisting journey, but they can’t deny when you’ve crossed the finish line. Grab a few friends, buy a unicycle or a pogo stick and get headed in the right direction. You never know, your untraditional approach may just inspire someone else to do it with a hot air balloon or a hover board. Plus, you’ll build a bigger community of people who care less about what the world thinks and more about what their dreams can actually accomplish in the world around them.

Used with permission from Thomas Nelson Publishers from Dream Big by Bob Goff.

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities have the authority to prohibit sleeping and camping in public spaces, and homeless individuals can be fined or arrested. The 6-3 decision, divided along ideological lines, overturned lower court decisions that had previously deemed such bans as “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment if no alternative shelter was available.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, acknowledged the complexity of homelessness and its varied causes but emphasized that federal judges are not best suited to dictate how cities should handle the issue.

“The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this Nation’s homelessness policy,” he stated.

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the ruling ignores the needs of the most vulnerable individuals. She highlighted the biological necessity of sleep, asserting that the decision forces homeless individuals to choose between staying awake or facing arrest.

“This decision leaves a homeless person with an impossible choice,” she wrote.

The ruling is seen as a victory for Grants Pass, Oregon, which brought the case, as well as for numerous Western cities that have sought greater enforcement powers amidst rising homelessness. Local governments argued that previous lower court rulings restricted their ability to manage public spaces effectively, compromising public health and safety. These cities argued that they were hindered from addressing homeless encampments without first providing adequate shelter, a challenging requirement given the shortage of shelter beds and the unwillingness of some individuals to accept available shelter due to various restrictions.

However, advocates for the homeless believe the decision exacerbates the problem rather than solves it.

Rosanne Haggerty, President and Chief Executive Officer at nonprofit Community Solutions, a leader in homelessness solutions, called the decision “deeply disappointing.”

“Arresting or fining people for experiencing homelessness is cruel — and it won’t solve the problem,” she said. “Countless studies show we can’t police homelessness out of existence. But there are proven solutions to homelessness. It takes a community-wide effort to make sure that every person experiencing homelessness is accounted for and cared for.”

Street homelessness in the United States has risen dramatically, experiencing a 25 percent increase since 2017, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Despite billions of federal dollars being spent on support services and shelter space, cities still struggle to keep up with the demand, especially in West Coast areas where homelessness is pervasive and encampments are sprawling. An estimated 400,000 individuals are currently experiencing homelessness, and with 59% of Americans living only one paycheck away from homelessness, that number is expected to grow over the next several years.

“Leaders have a choice,” Haggerty said. “The law now allows them to punish people for experiencing homelessness, but this won’t solve the problem. Cities can make a different choice. By choosing proven solutions to homelessness, together we can create communities where everyone has a home.”

The “Paper Planes” singer launched her new clothing brand OHMNI, last week, calling it “the armor of the modern knight in the age of technological warfare.” Over the last several months, M.I.A. has drawn criticism for aligning with online personalities who promote conspiracy theories, including Alex Jones.

TheThe brand is currently promoting “tin foil” bucket hats that are made with pure copper and nickel Faraday fabric, which M.I.A. guarantees will “provide 100% brain coverage.” It also will (allegedly) block 99.9% of WiFi, 4G and 5G from reaching the wearer’s brain.

For what it’s worth, a quick Google search will show that claims of damage from 5G and Wifi have been widely debunked by experts.

So why is M.I.A. promoting this? Let’s take a look at OHMNI’s mission, which is stated on its website, to find out: “In the time of smart cities, digital crypto, AI, NeuraLink, hackable humans, zero privacy, deepmind, internal body data harvesting, and indiscriminate tracking surveillance, mind data mining, social media overload, augmented reality, social credit system, virtual dystopian mindfield, we bring you the revolutionary future of fashion.”

Hmm, OK, let’s see where this goes next.

“Future backwards is R U TUF. If the conspiracy theorists are wrong, good for you, you own some beautiful clothes made with pure silver and precious metals. But, if they are right, you just might have saved the future of humanity. Welcome to OHMNI. I could be a genius, I could be a cheat.”

And there we have it!

In a post following the launch, M.I.A. shared a picture of a handbag with the OHMNI logo, hinting that it could be the next item dropping soon.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by OHMNI | O II II II (@ohmniofficial)

“So censored and real you’d think it’s conspiracy,” she wrote in the Instagram caption to the image. “But this is true Def of revolutionary clothing.”

In August he’ll open for Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake on the “Summer Worship Nights Tour.” Later in the fall, he’ll release his new album — his first project in three years. But he’s most excited about his new baby boy on the way. It’s a lot of change for the 25-year-old artist, but as he shared with RELEVANT, he’s figured out the key to staying grounded while his career continues to skyrocket.

Hulvey sat down with RELEVANT to talk about the secret to a healthy work/life balance, how his life is completely different from three years ago, and what fans can expect from his upcoming album.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

You’ve got a tour with Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake this summer, an album coming in the fall, and probably a few other fun surprises. What are you most looking forward to?

Goodness, I mean, for me, I think this new baby boy is what I’m most excited about. The other stuff is awesome, but me and my wife, we already have one son, and just the joy that we get from that. It’s just like, I can’t wait to have that multiple times too. So for me, I’m really looking forward to that. On the career side, I can’t wait to hit the road. Brandon and Phil, it’s going to be amazing. From the times I have got to connect with them, they’ve just been so genuine. I mean, I have an album coming out, and I think that’s also really something I just can’t wait to give people because I put so much into it.

As a young dad, how do you find the balance between your career and your family?

Recently, there’s been this concept my wife and I have been operating on: quality over quantity because of how much I’ve had going on career-wise. When I’m home, I gotta be home. I mean, sit down with my son and just throw the ball with him. If he wants to throw the ball or watch a show with him, whatever it’s gotta be, I wanna be there to do it. Even the other day I had a show and had to travel in a tight window, but he had dads and donuts that morning, so I chose to make it tight and still go to his dads and donuts because I want to be there for that. Fighting for the quality of my relationship with my son and my wife has been key for us because we are aware that the quantity is not as much there right now based on how busy things are. We’ve been really fighting for that.

Do you have any tips for how you remain focused on the things that really matter?

One thing you can do is really talk to your spouse about what’s going on in your world. My wife reminds me, “Hey, keep the main thing, the main thing.” Being willing to have that accountability with your spouse can keep you grounded because she’ll let me know if there’s pride or a lack of intentionality. That helps me level up as a husband and a dad. Mentorship is also important; my mentor was really heavy with me about how all this stuff is going to fade, but my family needs me. The world can get another artist, but my family can’t get another husband and dad. Having those voices in your life to remind you what’s important is crucial. Scheduling is something I’m still learning, but learning to say no is huge as well. Being willing to say, “I’m not going to do this because I need time with my family.” We’re still walking through that, but it’s been fun to learn.

Your new album, which drops this fall, is your first one since 2021. How has your life changed in the last three years?

I could go for years about this, but it’s been a lot of things. I can’t go in public without understanding that how I represent myself could be seen by a fan. That wasn’t the case three years ago, and now it is. If there’s a stressful day going on, the way I represent Christ could be seen by somebody. Just the everyday lifestyle of fighting for Him in the midst of stress is different from what I went through in 2021 because now people really are paying attention. If I go in the Chick-fil-A line, they’re going to see how I act. I wrote a song about it because I had a bad day one day, and they saw that. I had to be honest with myself and realize I need to represent my God and my family better.

The responsibility I have over more people in my world has also changed. There’s a far bigger team now, and I have to handle business relationships in a way that is honoring. I have a responsibility to the fans to provide music that they can connect with God on and that brings them hope. They may not always agree with everything I do, but I always want it to be pure-hearted. Since 2021, the responsibility has grown. Everything the team and I are doing is naturally bigger in the world’s eyes, and I strive to make it tailored to who God made me to be. When we do these big shows, I want people to see what God’s put in me, not a version of somebody else. So, everything is different right now, and that’s okay.

Speaking of things getting bigger, Christian hip-hop is huge now. Why do you think that’s happened?

It’s totally not where it was. What I attribute it to is the TikTok movement. A lot of Christian rappers put in a lot of work on TikTok, and many content creators started coming out as Christian. They started making music for God and putting it on TikTok, and that stuff started blowing up. It became a trend, and now people are making memes about it because of how big it is. You’ve never heard a Christian song like this before; that is literally a movement now. I really attribute it to the TikTok movement.

I also think the culture is really tired of the same message of murder and watching rappers constantly die. People are wanting a breath of fresh air. It’s not just hip hop; the whole music industry is looking for life. I’m noticing that brighter textures of music are starting to be what people love to listen to. In the 2010s, there was a balance of bright and darker tones, but now it seems like people really desire music full of hope. Christian hip hop started with guys like Caleb Gordon and Alex Jean, who started coming up and shocking people. People wanted music to be excellent and reflect God. It’s definitely taken a whole new turn.

What can fans expect from your new album?

Tons. I really get into it on this one. On one of the songs, I peel back layers regarding Christian culture and the so-called church, revealing some things I think we could fix. I talk about how Jesus invites everybody to the table. Jesus is not picking and choosing who’s invited. I think a lot of people love to invite people to the table but then get shocked when they actually show up. This album is like, “Hey, you really are invited for real.” I talk about what I went through as a teenager in church, how I felt, and how God gave me hope. He was like, “Nah, you’re invited, man. You have a seat here.”

The album is funny because it has a sad title, but it’s actually a new play on a word. It’s about re-imagining what it looks like to cry and being thankful for God and what He’s done. Not always dwelling in our pain, but dwelling on how He’s taken our pain. He literally lives in us. This album is a reflection on what He’s done for me and the thankfulness. It’s very bright but also really reflective. Everyone I’ve gotten to play it for early has been really blown away by the response. I was a little scared I couldn’t pull it off because all the singles had me on a heavy momentum, and I was scared I couldn’t continue that momentum. It felt like God was giving me something fresh. He put on my heart, “I’m going to tell the story.” As I listen back, I realize God really did tell the story.

I just addressed the things going on. You’re going to hear moments where I’m being pretty bold in what I’m saying. It’s going to challenge people for sure, but the point is to remind people who Jesus really is. It’s a reminder that we’re all human, but with God in the story, we can have thankfulness and live in that place. The music really communicates that. I’m really looking forward to it. For real.

“I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now,” Smith says at the beginning while standing in a ring of fire, “but whatever’s going on in your life, you can make it.”

Smith starts the song by rapping about struggling with hopelessness in the middle of pain and suffering, feeling “broken and tired, and all your hope is expired.”

But then Moore hops in, with Sunday Service Choir’s harmonies backing him up, to deliver a powerful and hope-filled message.

“Don’t give up on me, I need you to hold on/ Know you’re deep up in the storm/ But I know you can face it/ It can get dark on the road and you’re feeling all along/ Don’t lost sight of where you’re going/ ‘Cause I know you can make it, oh woah,” Moore sang before a storm came and rained down on Smith.

And before the performance wraps up, Kirk Franklin walks on stage to deliver a moving message about persevering through tough times with God’s grace.

Watch the full performance here:

The earthquake devastated 23 churches in the Compassion network and caused more than $2 million in damages.

That evening, as we began our prayers, I explained to my son what an earthquake is, and that our sponsored child possibly lost his church. Given that churches are how aid and support are often distributed to the community, Josue may have lost many layers of provision in his life.

After thinking about the situation, my son said, “Well, they can ask God for a new church. Will God build him a new one?”

I paused, unsure exactly how to answer, and then it hit me.

“Yes, son, God will build them a new church. Do you know how?”

“No, how will God do that?”

“Well, God has given us money, along with many other families in America. God’s plan to help Josue is you and me.”

You Are God’s Plan for the Needy

God’s plan to help the hurting people of the world is to equip other people—us—to help them. As St. Teresa of Avila wrote centuries ago, “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.”

My son’s excited response brought me back from my musing:

“Daddy, I have my [pretend] cash register. It has lots of dollar bills. I can open it up, get them all out, and we can send them all to Josue.”

My son’s excited response perfectly captures the mindset God desires for us. But often, we end up on the other end of the spectrum.

Have you ever given out of guilt, or because you feel like you have to “tithe” to be a good Christian? Have you ever given because you heard an emotional appeal and felt awkwardly obligated to chip in?

We’ve all heard that God’s desire is for a “cheerful giver,” but growing up I was often stumped by how actually to become one. As an un-cheerful giver, I just didn’t give that much.

But over the past two years, I’ve met many radically generous families, and observed their joy. It doesn’t come by accident—it comes through a proper view of God, man and redemption.

What the Bible Says About Giving

Nearly every generous family I met pointed to the Bible’s teaching. I was surprised to learn that the Bible says more about money than it does about heaven and hell combined. Nearly half of Jesus’ parables related to money, and there are over 2,300 verses pertaining to money. Clearly, it’s an important topic. So, what does the Bible say?

In short, three things:

1. All of our wealth originates from and belongs to God (Deuteronomy 8:18, 1 Chronicles 29:11-14, Colossians 1:16).

2. In light of this, our wealth should be used for God’s purposes (Luke 12: 42-43, Matthew 25: 31-46).

3. God’s purpose is to restore the world to wholeness. This occurs spiritually through salvation in Jesus Christ, and physically through our service and giving to serve the poor, needy, and weak (Luke 4:18-19, 2 Corinthians 5:18, Matthew 28: 19-20, Jeremiah 22: 13-16, Proverbs 19:17).

Implicit in these three statements is the idea that our wealth is not our own. As my son learned, God has given it to us to accomplish something on earth.

Giving With the Gospel, not Guilt

It was a turning point in my financial life when I realized that my generosity should spring from the Gospel, not from guilt. I don’t give because I’m supposed to tithe, or because I want to avoid feeling bad, or because it’s kind of a thing Christians are supposed to do.

I give because God gave first. Since He enables us to get wealth in the first place, and because we are the recipients of His great grace in our lives, our natural and joyful response is to engage in radical generosity on behalf of the Christian church and the poor.

Pastor Tim Keller puts it this way:

To the degree you understand the Gospel of grace, you will live a radically generous life! If you truly have a spiritual inheritance, you are going to be promiscuously generous with your earthly inheritance.

The next morning, I sent a check for Josue and the people of Ecuador. And, for one of the first times in my giving life, I smiled with joy after sending the funds. My dollars, in some mysterious way, experienced redemption for a higher purpose. There they were, sitting in a bank account in the United States, accomplishing nothing. And now, they have become bricks, bread and the hope of Christ made known in a desperate situation.

Praise God for allowing us to be a part of accomplishing His purposes in the Earth.

Here are 20 things to accomplish before your 40th birthday:

Read the Entire Bible Cover-to-Cover

Reading the Bible from front to back may sound like a daunting task, but with read the Bible in year resources like the YouVersion app, it’s a manageable goal. Even though you may have already read most of scripture throughout the course of your life, reading it as a linear narrative, one book at a time, gives you a new perspective on the story of the Gospel.

See Your Favorite Band Live at Least Once

One day, you’ll want to tell your kids, friends or family about that time you drove all night to see U2 play a stadium in Chicago, found tickets to a sold-out Sufjan Stevens show at a small venue in your hometown or saw Sigur Ros under the stars at an amphitheater. Concert tickets can be expensive, but it’s worth it to see a great band live.

Run a Marathon (or Some Kind of Endurance Race)

No matter what your current fitness level is, there are lots of options for you to take part in an endurance race. Whether it’s a 5K, Tough Mudder or a full-length marathon, choose a distance you’ll actually have to train for a few months to complete. Part of the joy of the accomplishment is looking back at all of the hard work you put in.

Watch Every Film on the AFI Top 100

Back in 1998, the American Film Institute polled 1,500 leaders in the film community and asked them to help assemble the top 100 American movies ever made. The list (which was updated in 2007) contains some movies that you’ve probably already seen (like Rocky, Forest Gump, Star Wars and Jaws) but its the deeper cuts (like Rear Window, Stagecoach, Duck Soup and All Quiet on the Western Front) showcasing the evolution of filmmaking and American pop culture, that make the task of watching each film such a rich experience.

Pick a Country and Go Visit

Before you turn 40, pick at least one country that you’ve always wanted to visit, and make it happen. Create a plan to save a little money and store up some vacation time to go to the one place you’ve always wanted to see.

Speak a Second Language

If you are picking a country to go visit, why not try to also learn the language spoken there?

Write Letters to the Five People Who Have Most Impacted Your Life

Don’t make the mistake of not telling the important people in your life how much they’ve impacted you. Even if the letters are short, sometime before you turn 40, think of the five people who have helped shape you as an adult, and let them know what they’ve meant to you.

Watch Every Season of a Few Great TV Shows

We are living in a golden age of television, in which critically acclaimed shows are the new Great American Novels. Pick out a few of the shows that will be remembered for making serialized TV important again, and watch them in their entirety. Marathon through a series like Arrested Development, The Walking Dead, The Wire or Breaking Bad, and see how the medium of television was reinvented in your generation.

Give Away Something Really Expensive

Before you turn 40, you should know the feeling of giving something away that costs a lot of money. Maybe you pool money with a couple of friends to buy a car for a single mom in need. Maybe it’s plane tickets for friend to go on a mission trip. Maybe it’s a bunch of really nice Christmas presents for kids who wouldn’t get any otherwise. At some point in your twenties or thirties, make it your personal goal to save enough money to give someone else something amazing.

Make Amends With Any ‘Enemies’

Once you hit your late twenties, you are officially too old to still harbor bitterness toward anyone else. Before you hit 40, make an effort to make amends with anyone in your life that you have any ill feeling toward. As Christians, there’s no excuse to carry unforgiveness—especially through adulthood.

Apply for Your Dream Job

Don’t look back later in life with regret, wondering what could have been. Even if you don’t think you’re qualified for the job you’ve always dreamed of, at some point in your twenties or thirties, apply for the job you’ve always wanted. It may not lead to any dramatic career choice, but unless you give it a shot, you will never know.

Take the Stage. Alone

Preach a sermon. Try stand-up comedy. Deliver a TED-like lecture. Find an opportunity to be alone on a stage in front of a crowd with nothing to move them but a microphone and your own thoughts. Public speaking can be terrifying—but it can also be exhilarating .

Go on a Road Trip of at Least a Thousand Miles

There’s something philosophical that happens when you’re on the road for more than 15 hours, exploring America through highways and interstates. Just consult the work of Jack Kerouac and you’ll see that the journey isn’t about the destination—it’s about the road trip.

Write a Short Story

Everyone has a good story in them. Take the time to craft at least one good short story at some point in your twenties or thirties. You don’t ever have to publish it or even share it with anyone else, but it’s an exercise of self-analysis that everyone should go through at least once.

Go On a Mission/Humanitarian Aid Trip

Sure, sometimes “short-term mission trips” have been criticized for offering short-term solutions to long-term needs, but if you find the right destination and the right cause, it can be a life-changing experience. But remember, the point of a trip isn’t to teach others about what you know—it’s also about allowing them to teach you from what they have been through.

Learn to Play an Instrument

Grab that old guitar sitting in the attic, pick up a harmonic or go ahead and purchase that drum set you’ve always wanted. Who knows? Maybe you even a have a hidden talent that’s just waiting to be discovered.

Find a Mentor and a Mentee

You’re never too old to learn from someone older than you—and to teach someone younger.

Memorize the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, the Great Commission and the Beatitudes

By memorizing these relatively short items, you’ll be able to recite four key principles of Christian faith—how to pray (the Lord’s Prayer), your calling (the Great Commission), the teachings of the Gospel (the Apostle’s Creed) and how to live (the Beatitudes).

Face Your Fear

Whether it’s public speaking, an aversion to water, the fear of rejection or a dislike of flying, you don’t have to totally conquer your fears in your twenties or thirties, but you should face them. Sign up for swimming lessons, go to Toast Masters or even seek counseling. Taking steps to control your fear as an adult will make sure it doesn’t have to control you.

Sponsor a Child

There are a ton of organizations (World Vision, Compassion International, ChildFund International), that will let you sponsor a child in need for less than your cell phone bill. Sometime between before your 40th birthday, commit to a year—the letters you’ll receive alone make the whole experience worth it.

I don’t think these kinds of conversations happen enough. Often, we avoid opening up uncomfortable topics because they just seems like one big can of worms.

And it’s true. There are a lot of worm cans in life that we’re afraid to open.

Sometimes we leave conversations like this feeling terrible and wound up. But we need to talk about the hard stuff. We need our opinions and thoughts to be challenged by opposing viewpoints.

Yet discussing difficult topics like politics or theology or social issues can quickly turn sour. So how do we engage a quality conversation without it ending in a shouting match? It’s all about managing ourselves and taking a particular posture of communication.

Here are 6 things that I’ve learned from talking about the hard stuff:

Ask Good Questions

One of the most practical pieces of advice my mother has ever given me. By asking meaningful questions and pointed follow up questions, you’re allowing the other person to express their point of view in an elaborative manner. Not only are you gaining a better understanding of their opinion, but you’re also giving them an opportunity to feel heard and to possibly convey their thoughts in ways they’ve never been asked to. Asking questions diffuses tension and allows for depth of conversation to occur.

Listen

There’s nothing worse than having a discussion with someone of an opposing view who would rather talk over you than listen. Don’t be that person. Rather, be the listener you hope others would be. Know when to stay silent and let the other person finish their thoughts before you chime in with your counter point.

Don’t Take it Personally

While someone’s opinion might infuriate you, people are entitled to feel differently than you. You should never take it as a personal affront if you don’t see eye to eye.

Everyone comes from differing places of understanding that are bound to be different from ours. This is good. We need people in our lives that think and see differently than we do in order to challenge us and get us thinking.

If you take this posture of understanding, you’re less likely to walk away feeling burned and your friendships will be thankful for that.

Don’t Expect a Resolution or Change of Heart

Drop the expectation that the discussion is going to end in a neat little bow, or that you’ll change the other person’s mind, or that your opinion is superior. You probably aren’t going to change your opinion, so why should they? Conclusions might not occur—and that’s OK.

Remain respectful of the other person’s right to think for themselves. If you’re arguing for the sake of changing another person’s mind, it’s going to put you on the offensive and will most likely close doors rather than opening them.

Be Open to Change

While you can’t account for another person and shouldn’t expect them to change, you can take charge of yourself. Be open to the possibility that your own opinions can change. Or at the very least, be open to thoughtfully weighing the other person’s point of view.

You never know what God might have in store for you. These discussions are meant to enlighten us and give us a view we might not necessarily have thought of. Be open to what others have to say and they’ll more likely be open to what you have to say.

Know When to Quit

There will come a point in your discussion where it’s gone from fruitful to futile. Know when to fold and walk away. When things start to escalate and get heated, it’s probably time to wrap up the conversation. If you find yourself checking out, no longer listening, or just plotting your next move, politely end the conversation. Getting into a shouting match is going to be more harmful than helpful.

While there are more nuggets of knowledge I’ve mined from my deep discussion successes and failures, these are the ones that have helped set the tone. It’s easy to get wound up and heated, but by accounting for ourselves and keeping these things in mind, you can experience enriching and challenging conversations without losing friends.

So don’t fear the can of worms. Have at it with a sharp can opener. God is bigger than it all anyway.

Therefore, we encounter a problem when small groups aren’t fulfilling their purpose. Last week in my Bible study, our leader laid out four biblical principles for a healthy church, and she challenged us to consider which ones were not being met within our church family. Overwhelmingly, the response was that our community is lacking. As my friends argued about reasons our church “fails” in this area, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’re looking at it all wrong.

Community isn’t about you.

When I became a Christian in high school, I honestly did it to make friends. My teenage logic concluded that if no one else wanted to hang out with me, the Christians would probably still take me since they were pretty dorky anyway. I started attending Young Life meetings, but I gave up after a few months when I hadn’t risen to the top of the social ladder. I then mocked the Christians for being both dorky and mean, and I avoided having a Savior based on disappointments caused by some high school kids. As evidenced by the fact that I’m currently writing an article for a Christian magazine, God eventually humbled me and brought me back around to Him, but it’s taken me years to shake my initial approach to community.

Community in the church doesn’t exist to make my life easier. In fact, I fully believe that true community makes your life infinitely more difficult. Thanks to our fallen nature, we’re programmed to focus nearly all of our thoughts and actions on ourselves, and it’s genuinely hard to shift that focus. When I’m drowning in sin, my community holds my head above water, but their dedication to me calls me to be utterly devoted to their lives as well. A burden shared is significantly lighter, but that doesn’t change the fact that I now help carry the load of many rather than one. If you’re looking to unload your issues and walk away feeling lighter, you should find a therapist, not a community. In a community, you’ll relieve a little of your own burden while picking up a handful more. It’s beautiful, but it’s messy.

Actually, it’s not so much about them either.

Living in community will always be difficult. I don’t have a single friend that hasn’t annoyed me at some point in our relationship, and I know I’ve pulled enough crazy stunts to isolate myself permanently from any of my social circles. Luckily for me, developing solid community isn’t only about building a Christian safety net. In John 13, Jesus ordered His disciples to love one another. Verse 34 has been heavily quoted in faith-centered circles as our mandate to imitate Christ in our relationships: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Unfortunately, not enough weight is given to the verse that follows: “By this, everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We don’t live in community because we like to pat each other on the back; we live in community because loving each other brings glory to God. Our relationships are called to look different from those in the world because the world is watching. Brennan Manning said, “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle.” When we spend our time gossiping and judging, the world sees relationships that don’t look much different than what they already have. Christ warned us that the rest of the world will identify our allegiances based on how well we love those around us.

If you don’t have friends, it’s (probably) not the church’s fault.

I doubt I’ve made any enemies up to this point. It’s hard to argue that community was designed as a way to encourage and love our brothers and sisters while giving all the glory back to God. The problem arises when we look to the church to create an oasis of relational bliss.

Community isn’t the church’s job. I’m not talking big-C, all-the-believers-everywhere church; I mean the building you go to on Sunday is not responsible for your social life. If your church is anything like mine, the pastor probably suggests you greet the people around you at some point during your Sunday gathering, and in my opinion, that’s where his job ends. Many of my friends have floated in and out of biblically sound bodies of believers because “there just wasn’t any community,” but they never took the time to dig roots and build one. The church provides a safe place for people to meet presumably like-minded believers, but if the elder board is spending more time planning ice skating outings than feeding the hungry, then it’s probably not a church you should be investing in anyway.

It’s our job to build community, but unfortunately, most of us are lazy. There’s no doubt it’s far easier to say, “My church doesn’t have a strong community” than it is to say, “I haven’t really tried to make friends.” I have a friend whose parents were in the military, and she grew up in a dozen different hometowns. Every time she’d move to a new city, her mom would remind her that “it takes a call to get a call.” For some reason, we convince ourselves that everyone else is too busy to spend time with us, when in reality, everyone else is probably just as lonely. If we just stop waiting for the church to make the first move and pick up the phone, we can start moving toward the community God intended for us.

I felt like I was in that scene from the movie Swingers with Vince Vaughn. Vaughn’s character, Trent, goes up to a group of ladies and says, “How are you ladies doing?” One of the ladies, instead of answering the question, asks him, “What kind of car do you drive?” Trent is confused, so she asks again and Trent answers, “A Cavalier.” She rolled her eyes and starts talking to her friends. Trent, trying to justify his answer says, “It’s red.”

Needless to say, that was the first and only date I had with this girl.

Dating is such an interesting phenomenon. What if we could simplify it and focus on communication, rather than trying to impress our date with money we want them to think we have?

Below is a list of six date ideas you can use this weekend that will organically open fruitful conversation about life, culture and faith—and they’re all free!

The Beach or Park

Since I live in Southern California, the beach is usually my first choice. My first date with my wife was at the beach. After we started talking I checked out her social media and found out what she liked, so I prepared a picnic for her before I “taught” her how to surf. I think she was impressed that I put thought into the first date as opposed to being weirded-out by me checking her out online. Regardless, it worked.

The beach is nice because you can park on a side street, walk around in the sand and have great conversation all in the midst of God’s creation.

The park is another similar idea to the beach. It’s another opportunity to get to know one another in a refreshing environment and a place where you can usually feed the ducks.

Serve Together

A great way to discover more about the character of a person is to see if they are willing to serve. When we serve, we are making ourselves less and elevating others. If serving others is important to you (like it was and is to Jesus), this will show what your date’s perspective is.

You can serve at a soup kitchen, participate in a citywide clean-up day or even volunteer at a rescue mission.

Farmers Market

Farmers markets are a great place to peruse a selection of fresh produce or handcrafted products, hear live music from local musicians or even run into some friends.

The last time I was at a farmers market I was amazed at the multitude of styles of wallets and what they were made out of. And even the street entertainers are amazing! Part of the appeal is seeing creativity like never before. You don’t even have to buy anything, just wandering through the markets is interesting and fun.

Concert in the Park

I remember growing up going to concerts in the park. There would be well over a thousand people in attendance—and it was free! They had big band, jazz, classical, etc. For the most part I would not normally listen to this type of music but it was a great cultural experience in a peaceful environment.

Often times, cities—in addition to having concerts in the park—will also have musicals in the park. These musicals are usually performed by local professionals, and seeing one is a great way to support the arts. Some cities will also show movies in the park.

The great part about these concerts is they can open the conversation up to talk about the arts and are a great chance to get outdoors and enjoy the scenery.

Go on a Hike

Going on a hike is another way to be in God’s creation and enjoy it with your date. Maybe you know of a waterfall, an open pasture where wild animals roam or a peaceful creek. The more thought put into the location, the more appreciation your date will have for your thoughtfulness.

God’s beauty is experienced as you walk, which is a great opportunity for conversations about faith.

Movie Night—But Not “Netflix and Chill”

It’s important to set boundaries in dating. Boundaries develop trust and communicate respect. So for this type of date, it is best to invite friends over. Maybe you decide to watch a movie your group usually wouldn’t like a foreign film, a B-rated movie or a movie from the year you were born.

Chances are you will mock the movie, but you are creating fun memories and probably a lot of inside jokes to be overused over the years!

The wonderful part about this date is you’re surrounded with friends, creating memories instead of dealing with sexual temptation.

No BMW Needed

In order to go on these dates, you do not need a BMW. All you need is someone you are interested in and want to get to know a little better. Since these dates are free, the focus will be on developing the relationship and having great conversation.

Political discourse is the Las Vegas of Christianity—the environment in which our sin is excused. Hate is winked at, fear is perpetuated and strife is applauded. Go wild, Christ-follower. Your words have no consequences here. Jesus doesn’t live in Vegas.

Not only are believers excused for their political indiscretions, but they are often applauded for committing them. Slander is explained away as righteous anger; winning arguments are esteemed higher than truthful ones (whether or not the “facts” align); and those who stir up dissension are given the pulpit. So I balk when pastors tell me the Church should engage in the political process. Why would we do that? The political process is dirty and broken and far from Jesus. Paranoia and vitriol are hardly attractive accessories for the bride of Christ.

Rather than engage in the political process, Christians have a duty to elevate it. Like any other sin, we are called to stand above the partisan dissension and demonstrate a better way. Should we have an opinion? Yes. Should we care about our country? Yes. Should we vote? Yes. But it’s time we talk politics in a way that models the teachings of Jesus rather than mocks them.

Here are seven things to remember about politics:

1. Both political parties go to church

There’s a Christian Left and, perhaps even less well-known, there’s a secular Right. Despite your point of view of who is on the other side, party lines are drawn in chalk, and they’re not hard to cross. The Church must be engaged in politics, but it must not be defined by the arbitrary lines in politics.

2. Political talk radio and cable “news” only want ratings

When media personalities tell you they are on a moral crusade, they are lying to you. These personalities get rich by instilling fear and paranoia in their listeners. If we give our favorite political ideologues more time than we give Jesus, we are following the wrong master. There are unbiased, logical and accurate news sources out there. But it’s up to you to be a good steward of information—to fact-check for yourself, take ideology with a grain of salt and make decisions based on facts rather than gossip.

3. Those who argue over politics don’t love their country more than others

They just love to argue more than others. Strife and quarreling are symptoms of weak faith (Proverbs 10:12; 2 Timothy 2:23-25; James 4:1) and are among the things the Lord “detests.” We need to rise above the vitriol and learn to love our neighbors the way God commanded us. We need to love our atheist neighbor who wants to keep creationism out of schools; our Democrat neighbor who wants to keep gay marriage and abortion legal; our Republican neighbor who celebrates death penalty statistics and gun ownership; and yes, even the presidential candidate from the other side.

4. Thinking your party’s platform is unflawed is a mistake

The social policies of your party were constructed by imperfect politicians fueled by ambition. It’s nearsighted to canonize them—and it will make you obsolete in a few years. Every four years, the parties adopt a current, updated platform at their respective conventions. And while they stay on general tracks, every four years the platform evolves to meet the needs of a growing, modernized and changing party. The Republican party of today doesn’t look like it did 10 or 20 years ago. We need to know when to change our views to meet a changing culture—and when to stand by them.

5. Scripture tells us to pray for our governing leaders (2 Timothy 2:1-4) and to respect those in authority (Romans 13:1-7)

Translation: if you’re mocking your governing leaders on social media, the Holy Spirit is grieved. We should spend more time honoring our leaders and less time vilifying them. This doesn’t mean praying the President will be impeached; it doesn’t mean praying your candidate will win. God commands us to pray for our leaders—for their wisdom, for their hearts and for them to be led by Him.

6. Don’t be paranoid

The country is not going to be destroyed if your candidate loses. As 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Stand up and demonstrate what God has given you. America has functioned—albeit, at varying levels of success—for years under the direction of alternating Democrat and Republican control, and at every flip, the other side thought it was the end of the world. It’s not. And if we’re a Church that believes God is in control, we have to believe that He is the one in control of the end times—not whoever’s in office now, and not whoever succeeds them.

7. Stop saying, “This is the most important election in the history of our nation”

It’s not. The most important election in the history of our nation was when Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Before that, we thought it was OK to own people. Every generation thinks it’s living in the most important moment in history. We’re not, our parents were not and our children probably won’t be. And that’s OK.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from an original version posted in September 2020.

At least, that’s what Brittney Moses thinks. This LA native has dedicated her life to transforming the way her generation thinks about mental health. She’s working on her thesis at UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and in the meantime, hosting a terrific podcast on the subject in addition to her website, which has all kinds of great resources. We’ve talked to her before here at RELEVANT, but wanted to get her thoughts on how people in the middle of their quarterlife should be thinking about mental health, and how to be more intentional about it.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What are some of the big misconceptions are about getting a counselor or a therapist in your 20s? Where do people tend to go awry in their thinking there?

Thankfully, I do think that this generation is a lot more open about therapy than previous generations and I think that social media has a lot to do with that. I think people now brag about having a therapist, which is actually pretty cool.

But there still can be some stigma out there. I know for me, personally, at that time, I was a newly single mom and trying to navigate going back to school and working. I had just gotten so used to figuring things out on my own that when you’re struggling with your mental health, when you’re dealing with depression or anxiety, you’re just kind of barely surviving. You feel like, “This is my problem. I don’t want to burden anyone else with my issue. I’m going to try to figure this out on my own.” And so if there was one thing I could tell myself in my early twenties, it would be that it’s never too early to get help, if you can.

Something that has been difficult, at least for me, is getting sort of paralyzed by options out there. There are so many people offering mental health services and you don’t necessarily have a metric for knowing when someone is a good fit for you or not. It can make it tough to know where to begin or if you’re really getting the best possible experience with counseling.

I relate looking for a therapist or to dating. You’re looking around, you know what fits, right?

One thing I want to tell people is to at first: Give it a little bit of time. In the beginning of having therapy services or a health care provider, you’re building a relationship. There’s a lot of intake where the therapist is just trying to get to know what is fully going on with you and do an assessment. So I would give it that time. Sometimes in therapy, it can feel worse before it gets better. You’re unearthing things that you haven’t really talked about before. It’s getting a little uncomfortable. That’s completely normal.

But there are some checkboxes for when you’re going into therapy. They should definitely be doing an assessment, asking what your symptoms over the past few years have been? What are your goals? That’s the thing that makes the difference between going to therapy and say, talking to your friend.

I know we like to say that our friends are our therapy and, sure, they’re probably supportive, but they’re likely not trained. And the difference is that a therapist is going to do an assessment with you. They’re going to help try to come up with goals with you that you want to work towards and provide evidence-based treatments — like cognitive behavioral therapy or some type of trauma-informed therapy — to help work on where you should start seeing some solutions. You should start feeling some relief in your life.

I also think that there’s still this idea out there that therapy is for when you have a problem. It’s like taking a car into the shop. You don’t call a mechanic when the car’s working fine. I think most younger generations understand that therapy is an option, but it’s not one they pursue until they’re actively struggling to the point where it’s creating real problems in their life.

This does apply for a lot of people who might consider themselves high functioning. It’s like, “We’re doing pretty decent. We might not have super low lows or be deep into the spectrum of different mental health challenges.” However, as long as you’re having a human experience, you’re going through things in life that are shaping you. You’re being faced with obstacles, with fears, even with messages that we internalize. Whether it’s on social media, about ourselves, about the world around us. And having someone to walk through that with you is a really beautiful thing.

I see a therapist biweekly. And sometimes I have really great weeks and I still check in with my therapist. It’s so great to have someone there who celebrates the small victories with you that you overlook. A lot of times, we think about mental health if it falls a lot into bad things like depression or anxiety. But another part of intuitive wisdom is saying, “Okay, what’s working in my life and why are those things working? How can I improve on those things? Or maybe I should keep doing those things because they’re working.” That’s another positive aspect. Therapy doesn’t have to be all negative. You don’t have to be in a crisis to have someone in your corner.

Two more quick questions and the first one is about resources. A lot of us don’t have a lot of them and mental health can be expensive. What are the options for someone who values mental health but doesn’t know if they can afford it?

There are definitely some like community grassroots options. For example, NAMI — the National Alliance of Mental Illness. I’m a Certified Recovery Support Group Facilitator there. They usually are planted in different cities throughout the country and they have support groups that are free. There’s also the National Crisis Text Line where you can text “home” to 741741. That was circulating a lot during the pandemic because a lot of people were struggling. I’ve been a trained crisis counselor on that line. And the people are wonderful, nonjudgmental. You don’t have to be suicidal. Any type of crisis that you’re going through, you can text in to check in with them.

As far as getting started seeing a therapist, if you don’t have insurance, I encourage checking out healthcare.gov to see if you can apply for some type of state or government insurance that should also cover mental health care. You can also go to your primary physician and be referred to a behavioral health specialist or therapist within that network. Those are some places to start. And especially, if you’re in college or you’re part of a program, they usually have some type of counseling services on campus that are included in your student services. So definitely check that out. They usually give you a certain amount of sessions per quarter or semester. And then if you need more help, they will refer you out word. So these are all different places to start.

Last question. Should Christians be seeking out Christian counselors? Is there a benefit to that?

There definitely are some benefits. I just had a conversation with Dr. Holly Oxhandler. She is a part of the Baylor social work program and she’s done some research in that area. They did find that when people’s faith was included in their therapeutic services, they tend to get better, faster.

So it definitely is  important for therapists to be asking about what your belief system is and what you believe and try to integrate that in some way. Or what helps you, what are positive coping faith statements that help you or practices and encouraging that? I think it’s really important for sure, if you can have it.

However, any competent therapist should be able to help you regardless of their faith background. They are not there to push their beliefs on you. That would be unethical at a therapy session. And they can still provide you with evidence-based therapies for anxiety, depression, bipolar or schizophrenia, or whatever it is to help you feel better.

I always advocate mental health as a system of support. It’s a toolkit, right? Sometimes we want to find everything in one person, kind of like dating. We want that one person to be everything.

But the truth is that even when it comes to mental health, you have your faith community. That’s really important for that social support and building your faith in that spiritual development. And then you have your therapist. And if you’re lucky enough and you found someone who can integrate both, that’s beautiful. But at the same time, they can still have the resources and tools to help alleviate those mental health challenges. And then maybe it’s getting outside and having movement. Trying to have a nutritious diet. All of these things are working together. So I encourage people to look at mental health care more as part of a toolkit and a system of support instead of trying to find all things in one person.

Thankfully, that vision for my life only lasted a year or two.

Then there was a time I wanted to be a stuntman. I killed many brain cells rolling down large hills and jumping out of moving vehicles.

That dream lasted until my mom put an end to it.

I wanted to be a comedian. A rock star. A circus lion tamer.

Yes, those ambitions were childish. No, I don’t think God placed those dreams in my heart. But I do believe there was a thin line connecting each of those silly professions that spoke to the real dream God had for me. He had put certain drives and dispositions inside me that would ultimately lead to the plans He had for me.

So the obvious question is, “How do I know my dream for my life is from God?”

It’s an important question. If your dream isn’t from God, it isn’t worth pursuing. It would be a waste of time and energy. It would ultimately lead to frustration and discouragement.

It’s not always easy to disentangle our selfish ambitions from our God-given dreams and desires, but there are a few filters you can run your idea through to begin to figure out if it’s really from God:

1. It Will Ultimately Bring Glory to God.

God made everything for His glory. So a God-given dream will bring Him glory in the end.

That doesn’t mean your dream has to be labeled with the Christian fish or cluttered with crucifixes. But it also means your dream won’t reflect poorly on God.

For instance, a dream that skirts legal lines and flirts with something unethical isn’t from God. God will never ask you to do something contrary to His Word. But a dream that demonstrates hope, love, peace—God gets glory in that.

“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36).

2. It Will Benefit Others.

God’s heartbeat is people, and He’s more concerned with how we treat others than with material success.

Any dream that involves taking advantage of people or capitalizing on someone else’s misfortune isn’t from God. Stay away from any business endeavor or plan like that.

Instead, God will ask you to do something that meets people’s needs. That might mean writing a book that offers hope. It might mean creating a truly decaffeinated cup of coffee. It might mean becoming a foster parent.

Look for ways others can benefit from your dream, and you’re one step closer to reaching the dreams and plans God has for you.

“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows” (Isaiah 1:17).

3. It Will Seem Bigger Than What You Can Handle On Your Own.

God doesn’t give little dreams. God loves doing significant things through seemingly insignificant people.

For some, an audacious dream would be to raise godly children. For others, it might be to love their spouse in a way they never saw their parents love. Still for another, it could be to write a book. To make a movie. To start an orphanage. God loves giving us big dreams so that when we see them come to pass, we know it was because of God’s hand and not our own.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

Take a moment to evaluate the dream that’s in your heart right now. Does your dream fulfill these qualities? I’m willing to bet it does if you think about it. And I’m willing to bet that scares you a little bit. Doesn’t it? Knowing God has given you a dream increases your level of responsibility in the matter.

A dream from God is not trivial. It’s vital. It’s not childish. It’s powerful.

If God gave you a dream, you should pursue it. You should fight for it. Don’t ignore a dream God has given you. Your dream matters.

“I’m angry & disgusted to hear of Robert Morris’ sexual abuse of a child & heartbroken for Cindy Clemishire,” Warren on X. “To sexually use a 12 yr old child, then continue it for yrs, is not merely an ‘inappropriate relationship.’ It’s a crime. Sexual child abuse is an evil punishable by law. One can’t just confess when caught & move on with no consequences.

“For the integrity of Christ’s Body, God insists ‘expel the wicked person out of your church!’” Warren continued. “Perpetrators are to be publicly fired, not allowed to resign. Child abuse STILL enrages Jesus… Until the Church realizes the soul-destroying trauma of sexual abuse, the pattern will continue.”

I’m angry & disgusted to hear of Robert Morris’ sexual abuse of a child & heartbroken for Cindy Clemishire. To sexually use a 12 yr old child, then continue it for yrs, is not merely an “inappropriate relationship.” It’s a crime. Sexual child abuse is an evil punishable by law.… pic.twitter.com/1WetIdYyRy

— Rick Warren (@RickWarren) June 21, 2024

Warren’s response comes after the Gateway Board of Elders announced they had accepted Morris’ resignation last week. In their statement, the board expressed regret over the newly revealed details, claiming they were previously unaware of the victim’s age and the extent of the multi-year abuse.

“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not the abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement read. “Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have.”

The board also announced they were working with a third-party firm to conduct a thorough investigation into the entirety of the abuse.

1. Psalty the Singing Songbook

Most people understood from the get-go that a talking hymnal was an unusual character. But Psalty ultimately charmed all of us with his encyclopedic knowledge of hymnody that he used to soothe the fears of his youthful choir, whose parents had no problem shipping their children off on global concert tours under the care of an anthropomorphic hymnbook. According to Psalty’s throughly detailed website, he and his family (his wife, Psaltina; daughters, Melody and Harmony; and son, Rhythm — also, often accompanied by a churchmouse named Charity and a superhero salamander named Solomon) all live in Happyville, but Psalty embarks on an annual pilgrimage to a “Winter Worship Workshop in the mountains.” Because, though he’s a dedicated family man, Psalty cultivates a spirit of adventure? No wonder he was our hero.

2. John Avery Whittaker

Focus on the Family’s Adventures In Odyssey radio program largely centered around John Avery Whittaker, and his lore goes deep. He was primarily known as the kindly old owner of a local ice cream parlor, but his resume makes Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World seem about as fascinating as a styrofoam cup. Whit has been an international spy, an archeologist, an encyclopedia publisher, an inventor, a World War II signalman, a pilot, an ancient languages translator and a rogue agent. He even invented a sort of time machine in “The Imagination Station,” which at one point was even shown to be capable of whisking people into the afterlife. But did we question his background or exhilarating plans? No! Because we were too busy focused on the important life lessons he was sharing (and the ‘stache, if we’re being honest).

3. Colby the Computer

Before there were smartphones or AI, there was Colby. Colby called himself a computer back when computers were a novelty. They were large and, if you watched Colby, were talking, singing Bible trivia whizzes who wore roller skates. Yes, Colby was more of a robot than a computer, but Colby’s legions of young fans were probably more comfortable telling their parents they were hanging out with a computer than with a giant robot. Unlike Psalty, Colby’s backstory remains shrouded in mystery. Who is he? Where did he come from? What inventor gave him life, or is Colby part of the moment of singularity, in which machines become self-aware on their own accord? And, if so, did the children around him have any idea what they were dealing with?

4. Dr. Jake Cooper

Dr. Jake Cooper was the patriarch of the titular family in Frank Peretti’s Cooper Kids Adventure Series, and he was the world’s coolest dad and every helicopter parent’s mortal enemy. Picture Indiana Jones with two kids, whom he would throw into harm’s way at any opportunity. This family of archeologists globe-hopped from unspeakable terror to unspeakable terror, dealing with some truly horrifying, life-altering and childhood-scarring characters. They thwarted the apocalypse. They killed off the last of Goliath’s ancestors. They were trapped in a sunken submarine, hypnotized by poisonous slugs and offered as a sacrifice to giant snakes. A normal man might have left his children in care of a babysitter for such horrors, but Dr. Cooper figured there was no sense in babying his children through life. He brought them into the heat of every adventure he had and, in his defense, they never seemed any worse for it.

5. McGee

Like many of your childhood heroes, McGee’s true nature remains a subject of debate. The focus of the McGee and Me video series was Nick, a relatively normal boy whose adventures generally had some biblically sound moral. He and his friends braved tornadoes, snuck into horror movies and, memorably, ransacked the house of a frightening-but-friendly old Native American. The only difference between you and Nick was that you didn’t have an animated pal who would pop up, Jiminy Cricket style, to offer advice and comedic relief. However, McGee’s origin is where things get trick. Was McGee simply a product of Nick’s imagination or Nick had harnessed the power of breathing life into his drawings? Or was there something even more bizarre happening? The show never made it clear, and we’re haunted by it to this day.

6. Bibleman

Superhero comics have long held a place in the cultural zeitgeist, so it’s not surprising Christians wanted to capitalize on their own Christian superhero. Larry Boy was doing decent work in the Veggietales Cinematic Universe, but apparently that wasn’t enough for the 90s. Enter: Bibleman. Bibleman is the Christian costumed hero whose yellow laser sword appears to be at least somewhat powered by his *checks notes* Scripture memorization abilities. We’re pretty sure he’s supposed to remind us that with the Spirit and Bible on our side, we too can fight villains. But in a world of elite groups like Marvel and DC superheroes, Christians could use a bit more cool points and less on-the-nose lessons.

Three simple words begin one of the most influential and controversial books in history. The mere mention of these words will cause some to become excited, some to be defensive and others to shut down. Wars have been fought over the implication of the words in this book; families and friends have been divided by their understanding of this book; churches throughout history have been torn apart over the debates this book raises.

The Bible has been at the center of many conflicts. History has been shaped—and often disrupted—by what different people interpret the Bible to be saying. However, somewhere in the midst of all the arguing, much of the Church community has neglected to start the conversation where it should: In the beginning.

The first two chapters of Genesis speak of how creation began. These two chapters serve as the opening to our understanding of God, our planet, each other and ourselves. Both chapters are loaded with deep implications for what it means to live the life God intends.

Neglecting the importance of Genesis 1 and 2 creates many misconceptions. Where you believe a story begins shapes the story you are telling—and oftentimes, the Church begins its understanding of the Christian message by starting in Genesis 3.

Chapter three of Genesis speaks of mankind’s rebellion against God, the Fall and the introduction of sin. When we begin the story here, our message centers on the removal of sin. Salvation becomes reduced to nothing more than an answer to how to avoid hell.

But salvation is about more than just a ticket to heaven. It is the answer to everything and is the introduction of a new creation that is bursting forth, here and now, and reconciling the world with God’s peace. Christianity is God working through us, by the same power that brought the world into existence and raised Jesus from the grave (Romans 8:11) to bring about His plan to reconcile us with Him, His creation and humanity as a whole.

To begin to grasp this, we must start with an understanding of how God intended things to be. We must start in the beginning.

Though recently there has been a slight shift in focus, environmental issues have typically been ignored by the Church. Conversations about environmental issues are often passed off as either myth, scientific folly or of no importance. The focus placed on evangelistic efforts has made the argument that anything outside of one’s eternal security is not worth the attention of Church efforts. However, in a view of Christianity that begins in Genesis 1 and 2, there is a drastically different understanding of our world that needs to be discovered.

In the beginning, man was created in a garden.

In the second chapter of Genesis, we’re given an account of man’s creation, in which verse 15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”(NIV). One of God’s plans for mankind is that we should care for the world we have been placed in. There is a vital need for the Church to reclaim an understanding of God’s way as one that includes the proper care and ordering of our world. The use of and care for our planet is a deeply spiritual issue, which is rooted all the way back to our very creation. There are drastic implications for our ignoring the issues that continue to weigh upon creation itself.

This is not the proper care for God’s garden. Some people have taken God’s command to “rule the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28) and twisted it to attempt to reign over creation as dictators, rather than using our God-given authority to order creation in such a way that cultivates growth, responsibility and respect.

It’s time that the Church reclaims its God-instilled responsibility to care for the creation it has been blessed with. It’s time the environmental issues plaguing our world be understood as a result of the selfish nature which drives us, and our planet, from being what we were created to be. Our world must no longer be seen as a temporary holding place, but as a blessing that is the responsibility of all mankind to share. It’s time to reconcile with the planet itself, care for it, and properly partake in a way that is better for everyone and everything. It’s time to see creation care not as elevation of creation above the Creator, but as a way of worshiping the Creator and caring for His creation.

It’s time that we see a more environmentally-conscious Christianity as an aspect of taking part in the Kingdom of God today.

Not everybody is called to share their faith in the way that I am. I mean, when I get in an Uber ride, I’m automatically looking around to see if my driver has anything hanging from his rearview mirror that might indicate he belongs to another religion so I can ask him about it. That’s just my personality. I’m outgoing, and I like to start conversations with people.

But when my wife, Jackie, gets into an Uber, she’ll put her earbuds in and go straight to sleep. She’s more of an introvert, and that’s okay—that’s her personality. But make no mistake: she’s also great at sharing her faith. She just does it differently. Jackie’s thing might not be walking up to someone on the street and starting a conversation, but when she gets comfortable with someone, I’m telling you, God uses that woman in amazing ways. She challenges people in their faith. She builds people up, and she disciples young women and moms. She might not be comfortable in as many situations as I am, but she prays for God to use her. And God does use her—often. He just uses us differently because he created us different.

A few years ago, we were flying from Virginia to Atlanta, and as we were walking through the airport, I saw some Jehovah’s Witnesses passing out tracts. So, naturally, I was like “Babe, we have forty-five minutes until our flight leaves, and our gate is right there, so I’m going to talk to these guys.”

And she was like “Okay. I’ll go get us some food. Peace out.”

Jackie went her way, and I went mine. After I finished talking to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I headed over to the restaurant area by our gate. I was surprised to see Jackie with her head bowed, praying with the waitress.

After they finished praying, I introduced myself to the waitress and asked if I was interrupting anything. Jackie said, “Nah, you’re good. I just came over here to get some food for us, and when I ordered for two, she asked me who else I was getting food for. I told her it was for my husband. She asked me where you were, so I said, ‘He’s over there talking to some Jehovah’s Witnesses.’”

It turned out the waitress was raised by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and her family really messed with her head and drove her away from faith, so Jackie started talking with her, and the next thing you know, she was praying with her. Later Jackie told me, “I just felt like God was telling me to share the gospel with her, so I did.”

Jackie might not be as comfortable around strangers as I am or actively seek to engage people the way that I do, but she does ask God to provide opportunities for her to speak on his behalf, and when those opportunities come her way, she’s ready. She doesn’t shy away from them. And you know what? That readiness? That openness to doing God’s will? That willingness to step out of her comfort zone and speak truth and life into a fellow image bearer? That, more than anything, is what it takes to be successful in sharing our faith.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Yo, Preston, that’s easy for you to say. You basically talk to people for a living and, man, you live and breathe for these conversations. That’s not me. I hear you. But believe me, as extroverted as I am, there have been plenty of times when I’ve been on my way home from a conference after talking with people for two days straight, and I just collapsed into the back of the Uber. Sometimes, the conversation has looked like this:

“So, where you coming from?”

“I was working.”

“So, what do you do?”

“I’m a speaker.”

“What kind of stuff do you talk about?”

I mean, the driver will literally throw the door wide open for me to share my faith, and sometimes I just don’t feel like walking through it. Or I’ll be at a party or out to dinner with a group of people, and I’ll see an opening but think, Man, I’m at a party . . . do I really want to get into this right now?

But as tempted as I may be to just let the moment pass, I try not to let it because this is what God has called me to do.

All believers have a responsibility to share their faith. The great commission wasn’t just for the apostles; it’s for all of us. Even if we don’t always feel like sharing our faith, this isn’t an excuse for disobedience. Because in many respects, sharing our faith is an act of obedience. It’s about intentionally engaging with the world around us.

If you’re driving in a carpool while listening to Christian music and your passenger asks you, “Why are you listening to that?”—that’s an opportunity to share your faith.

If a friend or coworker starts telling you about a difficult season they’re going through—that’s an opportunity to share your faith.

If you’re wearing a cross around your neck and someone admires it—that’s an opportunity to talk about your faith. That’s why I created Bold Apparel. I wanted to create organic opportunities for people to start conversations about their faith. When people see a hoodie or a T-shirt with “Jesus & Therapy” written on it, they get curious. And if the Holy Spirit is working on them, they might just ask, “What’s your shirt mean?”

God provides us with opportunities to share or talk about our faith with others all the time. What we do with them is up to us.

Adapted from How to Tell the Truth: The Story of How God Saved Me to Win Hearts—Not Just Arguments by Preston Perry, available now.

I wanted to impress people with this dream. We all want to be known for something, right? I wanted people in my hometown to think of me when they thought of the big shiny city of New York.

Well, after choosing to really submit to Jesus and follow Him wholeheartedly in the early stages of college, I realized I couldn’t keep consuming myself with this dream. It would never fulfill me.

Fast-forward to today, I’m living in Manhattan and I am full-on pursuing that “dream job.” I never thought it would really happen. However, I realized I could take this interest of mine and use it as a gateway to Him. I could be a light in this dark industry and show people that it doesn’t have to consume or control you. Well, that’s much easier said than done.

Right before Christmas break, an acquaintance texted me asking how New York is. We briefly talked about what was going on in our lives and in the midst of it, he said something along the lines of, “I don’t really care what I do for money. I’ll figure that out when I get there but all that matters is loving people and that’s my priority.” That is something simple, I know. Of course we’re supposed to love God and our neighbors. But for some reason that night, what he said hit me hard.

I began to realize how easy it was going to be for me to seek my identity in a job title. It sounds so “cool” for people to know me as the writer or the New Yorker or the fashion girl—or whatever. It’s hard in the city especially. You meet new people and their first question is about what you “do.” There’s a lot of pressure there to say something that will impress them.

There is a quote from Brennan Manning that reads, “Define yourself as one radically loved by God. This is your true self, every other identity is an illusion.” My identity is not in my job title. It is not found in the city I’m living in. And it certainly is not found in others’ perspective of me. I am a child of the King. That’s my main title. All the rest is just details of where we live out our calling, to love God and to love His people. Paul refers to himself in scripture as “One beloved by God.”

Why would it be so crazy to respond to questions about what I do by saying, “I am one beloved by God.”

One evening back when I was doing ministry in Ohio, prior to moving to the city, I was at a high school football game with a girl I had grown fairly close to. She turned to me and said, “Megan, my mom always asks me what you do. I kind of laughed and was like, ‘I don’t even know. She’s just a girl who lives life. A cool girl who lives a cool life.’”

This may sound funny, but I have not forgotten those words she said to me that night. That high school girl saw me hang around her school and with girls her age, fairly younger than me, and she knew I was doing it all because of one thing, Jesus. I had never received such satisfaction from how someone described me as she had that night. And there was nothing attached to that description. No fancy job, no big city and no impressive title. I could be making a paycheck literally anywhere for all they knew.

We all want to impress others with what our resumes say, where we went to school or what profession we have. But I have been so humbly reminded that if that’s how we define ourselves, that’s making it about us. Are we compelled by the fact that He loves us? That is the most important thing. Not what we do, but that He loves us! What’s so true is that we so often have to be reminded of lessons we’ve already learned. Just like the other night, it was like learning this truth all over again. This is not my story, it is His. My friends, let’s not forget who we are or whose we are. That is our identity. The rest is just the details.

According to the pastor of Entoms, who claims to have received “permission from God,” the church is offering heavenly real estate for the simple price of $100 per square meter.

Pictures of the offer have been circulating on social media, showing a brochure with an elaborate depiction of a holy house in the clouds. The illustration features a family ascending a golden staircase to their new celestial home. The brochure also clarifies that the church accepts various payment options, including PayPal, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard and American Express, as well as available payment plans.

A Christian Church is trending online after they announced that they’re selling plots of land in heaven for $100 per square meter.

The pastor says he spoke to God and he was granted permission to do this. They have already collected thousands of dollars pic.twitter.com/jS4rEKSkik

— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) June 23, 2024

One real estate influencer on TikTok asserted that millions of dollars worth of these heavenly plots have already been sold in what is being called the “biggest real estate deal on the planet.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of someone attempting to sell real estate in heaven. In 2018, a Zimbabwean pastor was arrested after selling “tickets to heaven” to his congregation for $533 per person. Similarly, last year, an Ugandan pastor persuaded many of his followers to liquidate their assets, including land and livestock, to fund their eternal purchases.

Maybe one day these scammers will realize access to Heaven is, quite famously, free to everyone.

But just because finding movies that will suit everyone’s taste is tough doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Assuming you’ve already made it through the ranks of the Pixar classics and Disney’s better options, you might be looking for a solid option to watch with the parents. Of course, nothing with any spicy content will do — there’s nothing worse than white-knuckling it through a sex scene with your mom and dad right there. You also don’t want too much swearing or grisly violence. But you do want the movie to be good, right? Just not too good in a way that some relatives might consider “pretentious” or “artsy-fartsy.” You want it to be wholesome but not stupid.

What’s a movie-lover to do?

Never fear. We at RELEVANT have combed through the ranks of movies to find some broadly appealing options that should win over anyone on your list.

For Families With Kids

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson’s first foray into claymation is both his most family friendly and one of his better efforts, uniting his unique aesthetic with a rollicking good adventure and a fully realized world with an ace cast. Those who might normally find Anderson’s whole thing just a little too such-and-such for their tastes will probably still find Roald Dahl’s classic tale irresistible.

Spirited Away 

A lot of Hayao Miyazaki’s output would fit into this list, as the Japanese master filmmaker’s wonderful ouvre rarely missed with kid or adult alike, from My Neighbor Totoro to Ponyo. Spirited Away is a wonderful adventure, a series of folklore-inspired vignettes about a young girl who gets lost in a magical dreamworld and sets about trying to rescue her parents from an evil spell with the help of some of the most fantastical characters ever committed to animation. The moments of peril might make this unsuitable for very young children, but the spectacular visuals and cunning journey will enrapture most.

Paddington and Paddington 2

There was, on paper, no reason an adaptation of Paddington Bear had to be anything more than passably amusing for kids, so why did writer/director Paul King make both of these movies legitimate contenders for any Best Of list for their respective years? Beautifully directed with warmth, wisdom and wit, if your heart is too cold to be won over by Paddington, there is simply no space for you at our table.

For Family With Older Members

First Cow

Available on Hulu, Kelly Reichardt’s lovely ode to early America is a history lesson wrapped up in a charming lesson in confident pacing. By being unhurried, it ends up being more immersive, plunging you into a tale set in the 1800s Northwest that unfurls so organically it inspires awe.

Little Women (2019)

Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the beloved children’s book is everything we could have asked for. The scenic views of New England, the witty and sharp dialogue, the bond of love between the girls, and, of course, the impressive acting from Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern— we could go on forever. Watching it with family will remind you of your love for them and your love for creating memories that will last a lifetime.

The Farewell

Awkwafina churns in a performance for the ages in this beautifully bittersweet exploration of family and what saying goodbye to a loved one can look like. The dour subject matter is undercut with a thread of humor that makes the whole thing a remarkably nuanced package that will have your family laughing through the tears.

Jojo Rabbit

Not writer/director Taikia Waititi’s first or best work, but maybe the one that stretches his emotional palette the furthest. This World War II yarn made waves for its uncomfortable premise — a young German boy named Jojo and his imaginary friend Adolph Hitler try to decide what to do when they discover Jojo’s mom (Scarlett Johansson, never better) has been hiding a Jewish girl in the attic — but ultimately becomes more than its premise by virtue of its unflinching view of both the era and the human heart.

For Sports Fans

Fighting With My Family

Florence Pugh stars in this inspired-by-true-events tale of a woman who wanted to make it in pro wrestling and the family who helped her achieve her dream. You may or may not care for pro wrestling (this writer does not) but it’s hard to imagine anyone not getting up and cheering before the credits roll on this born crowd pleaser that features a turn from no less a pro wrestling legend than Dwayne Johnson himself.

42

The movie that put Chadwick Boseman on the map didn’t get enough attention upon its release but watching it now, it’s not hard to see why anyone who walked away from it didn’t know that Boseman was destined for greatness. The story of Jackie Robinson has been told before, but never with so much nuance and grace in the lead performance.

Creed

Anyone skeptical about Rocky re-entering the cultural milieu had their fears immediately put to rest by Ryan Coogler’s stunning re-working of the Rocky Balboa mythos, mining terrific performances from his central cast (Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and, of course, Sly Stallone) and shooting the boxing matches with verve and daring so intense and immediate you might forget how to breathe while watching them.

For Music Buffs

Blinded By the Light

What cold-hearted villain doesn’t love Bruce Springsteen? Gurinder Chadha spins this irresistibly likable tale of a Pakistani teenager in London who feels adrift in life until a cassette tape of the Boss’ music captures his imagination and turns his life around. It’s not just a tale of a what makes a classic rock icon so great, it’s a poignant look at immigration.

Sing Street

A handful of Dublin teenagers in the 80s decide to channel their adolescent angst into doing what any self-respecting teenager would do: starting a band. Sing Street is almost a musical in its own right (you’re probably familiar with director John Carney’s biggest hit Once) and the music is as terrific as the story itself, which finds real pathos in the most familiar of human feelings: wanting to get away from it all.

20 Feet From Stardom

Morgan Neville’s exquisite documentary features a lot of familiar faces like Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crowe and David Bowier, but for once, the spotlight is on their backup singers — those who take the stage “20 feet from stardom.” You’ve heard most of these women’s voices, but their stories — inspiring, heartbreaking, challenging and uplifting — add a new layer of love to countless classics.

Movies With a Message

Just Mercy

Bryan Stevenson’s well-known book about the criminal justice system doesn’t immediately scream “movie material,” but thanks to terrific direction and an a-plus cast, Just Mercy is a winner. While the book focuses on broad systemic issues in mass incarceration, the movie wisely focuses on just one story of one man who was condemned to die and the team that refused to take “no” for an answer.

Knives Out

How does director Rian Johnson follow his love-or-hate-it foray into the Star Wars universe? With one of the juiciest capers in years, a gobsmackingly fun Agatha Christie-style throwback featuring cast of delicious characters starring a wide-eyed Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig’s just ridiculously good Detective Benoit Blanc. There is not a scene in this movie that doesn’t deliver but beneath the twists and turns is a profound class parable about how we treat the least of these.

Hamilton

Hey, on the off chance you’re one of the six people in the world who didn’t catch Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Disney Plus bonanza, now’s as good a time as any to get caught up. Skepticism may abound but the American history spectacular absolutely lives up to the hype with rip-roaring numbers that’ll make citizens of all stripes proud to be an American, whatever their quibbles about the historical accuracy.

Many thanks to Judson Collier for assisting with this article.

I quit my job, sold my stuff and set out on a journey across the world. It’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen some of my loved ones, driven on the right side of the road, or tasted the sweet chocolaty goodness of a Wendy’s Frosty.

I did what everyone in our generation at least thinks about doing, in hopes that clarity, passion, dreams and transformation would shake my hand and smile at me.

And travel has been romantic, idealistic, freeing—and the most difficult year and a half of my life so far.

I left home in search of a better, more fulfilling life and a richer faith, but found out that it’s tricky to run from yourself. Travel hasn’t answered all of my questions. Satisfaction hasn’t landed in my lap because I went chasing after my dreams. Still, I was certain that somehow, somewhere in this seeming lostness we would find ourselves.

In some ways we have. But not in any of the ways I expected.

Traveling can be wonderful, but there are four unexpected lessons I’ve learned along the way:

Traveling Doesn’t Solve Your Problems

The struggles and insecurities and imperfections I championed back home are the same ones I carted on my back these past 5,000 miles. In dreaming of a better, more fulfilling, more exciting life somewhere else, I forgot that most worthwhile change is a process.

God plants us in season, not as fully formed and blossoming fruit trees, but as seeds (Matthew 13). Travel, it turns out, does not mean an automatic tree transplant. I don’t immediately become someone else with fewer problems and an increased amount of awesomeness. I don’t suddenly discover the meaning and purpose of life. I don’t automatically have the answers I was looking for back home. Because God is patient, even when I’m not.

Travel is not the solution to our dissatisfaction. Only God satisfies. But perhaps travel can be the right soil for the right time.

Traveling Can Make You Feel Superior

I wouldn’t have said that a year and a half ago. Pick out any quote on the subject and it may seem like those who choose to follow priorities and commitments other than travel are narrow-minded, self-absorbed and obsessed with material possessions. But I’ve come to realize that my choice to travel is not superior to anyone else’s choice otherwise. I’m not better than anyone just because I’ve visited more countries than they have.

There is great value in creating a God-honoring life through the building of a family, career and home. Those accomplishments don’t come easy on the road, and it has taken my own lostness in order to recognize the beauty of a grounded foundness. I assure you, I have reason to envy your stable, routine life just as much as you may envy my vagabond one.

Travel Comes With Its Own Frustrations

At some point, the novelties wear off, all the ooh’s and ahh’s fade, and all the frustrations of living out of a backpack finally catch up to you.

I still wake up. Still go to work. Still make mistakes. Still have bad days when nothing goes my way. Still choose my kindness or lack thereof. I still commit each day to following God’s way, or don’t make the time. And it’s important for me to realize that where I am, as great as it can be, pales compared to Who I am following. The same will be true when the now turns to a not-so-adrenaline-fueled later.

Traveling Often Comes at the Cost of Community

As the song goes, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name,” and a life on the road doesn’t tend to lend itself to such an investment. You certainly can experience community while traveling, but hopping from one place to the next doesn’t really allow you to fully plug in.

Our desires to bring good into the world often piggyback on the influence of our presence. In the consistent showing up of everyday life, we get to know one another. Somewhere in that sharing of our lives, God transforms us into his image—as individuals, but maybe more importantly, as communities.

As I travel, I try to build community around me. I’m not interested in making this journey all about me. I want to serve and I’m trying my best to do just that. I hope I can be a breath of fresh air for the people I come across, but there is no doubt that the nourishing rains come from those who have settled into a community with a commitment to grow, flourish and produce lasting fruit through all seasons. That takes time. And some permanence.

While I cannot imagine my life without the global network of friends I now have, I look forward to finding a community where everybody knows more about me than just my name.

Traveling has taught me so much. It has opened my eyes to more of what God is up to, who He is, and who He is creating me to be. However, one of the big lessons I’ve learned is how important it is to be open to God’s leading on my life no matter where it takes me—whether that means traveling the globe or settling into a more predictable stable routine in one place.

Honestly, much of me is ready to find myself back home where I can incorporate all we’ve experienced on the road into an intentional caring for the world around us. But we’re not there yet. We’re here. And if I’ve learned anything at all over the last year and a half, it’s to be mindful of God in the present moment.

Otherwise, we forever run the risk of missing Him here with us now. And travel or not, that is the real tragedy.

When my lips cried these words in a public prayer service, it felt like I was exposing a wound. I had just been diagnosed with a lethal, incurable cancer. My expected lifespan had been chopped by decades. The cancer had already burned through the inside of my bones—like a furnace.

Praying this Psalm of lament felt a bit like speaking a foreign language. As a young Christian, I had been taught that prayer consisted of ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. I found that structure helpful, and I still do. But there’s something missing: lament. Lament is not confession, and it can’t be reduced to bringing our petitions and supplications before God. Lament is bringing our grief and our protest before the Almighty when life doesn’t make sense.

After my cancer diagnosis, I experienced a flood of emotions. Within a week, not just my emotional life but my body also was forced to adjust to changes through intensive chemotherapy treatment. People would ask, “how are you?” At any given moment, I was not sure. I was not the expert on how I was doing. Moreover, I didn’t always have the time to grieve, or the energy to bring anger before God.

But as I spent time praying through the Psalms, I noticed how many Psalms I had skipped over before: Psalms about enemies, about blaming God, about lamenting to God.

Though an army encamp against me,
 my heart shall not fear; 
though war rise up against me,
 yet I will be confident (Psalm 27:3).

He has broken my strength in midcourse;
 he has shortened my days.
 ‘O my God,’ I say, ‘do not take me away
 at the midpoint of my life,
 you whose years endure
 throughout all generations’ (Psalm 102:8, 23-24).

I felt trapped by an enemy, something I never experienced so viscerally before my “war” on cancer. And deep down, I felt alienated and abandoned; the Psalmist dares to bring these before the Lord. The Psalmist trusts God’s sovereignty enough to even blame Him when His promises don’t seem to be coming true. “He has broken my strength midcourse.”

As I learned this new language of lament, I realized that I should have learned it much earlier in my Christian life. Whether our burden is an illness, the loss of a relationship, the loss of a dream, or fear about the future, laments in Scripture give us a path for bringing our anxiety and confusion before the Almighty.

Over a third of the Psalms are laments. Paul speaks of the whole creation groaning and lamenting, and the Spirit intercedes in “wordless groans.” Jesus laments in protest—turning over the tables at the Temple—and in grief—sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane, praying for the cup of the cross to be taken away. Jesus even utters a cry that simultaneously expresses our feelings of abandonment, and heals them, in trust of the Father: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Lament is deeply personal, but not private. In the midst of crisis, I did not always have the emotional and physical energy to weep, to cry out in grief and protest. In those moments, I was grateful for my brothers and sisters in Christ who bore my burden, not just by praying for me to be healed, but by lamenting with me.

After I had started chemotherapy, I talked with a friend on the phone: giving an update, how my wife Rachel was coping, how it affected my children, ages 1 and 3. After the conversation, she sent me a note, bringing her own emotions before the presence of God. This is how it ended:

I hate this for you more than anything. I hate this for your family. I want you to beat the heck out of it. Forgive us all for the stupid things we say and don’t say. I am praying tonight for you and Rachel.

When I received this note, the treatment had left me too exhausted to even be angry. But I was grateful for my friend’s words. I was grateful that she trusted God enough to bring her anger before the Lord in prayer. I was grateful that she was helping to carry my anger. I was grateful that she wasn’t just expecting a “quick fix” with her prayers.

In moving beyond the ACTS approach to prayer, I also realized how self-centered my own prayer life had been. When I prayed for others in need, I tended to pray that they be “fixed”—for those who had lost a loved one, for the poor in my midst, for the persecuted Christians around the world, and so on. I was right to offer “supplications” on their behalf. I still do so. But these are bigger problems—and losses—than a “quick fix” can amend. We need to unite our supplications to lament, joining the cry of the suffering: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)

As I learned the biblical language of lament, I also came to see how I had been praying as a person of privilege, as a white, middle-class American: I assumed that God owed me a long life with a career, retirement and a chance to see my kids grow to adults. But in praying with the Psalmists, I came to see how God does not owe us these things. God has promised us His steadfast, covenant love. But He can display His love in lifespans that are shorter as well as longer, in life-stories that seem to have senseless endings, as well as those that fit with our common expectations.

Precisely because we trust that God is the sovereign Lord, we can wrestle with Him in lament. This good world is in the hands of God—but the world is also not the way it is supposed to be. Its wounds are too deep for Band-Aids and quick fixes.

In addition to adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication, we need to join the Spirit in lament—joining our suffering brothers and sisters in lament, until the Kingdom of Christ has fully come. With the martyrs in Revelation we cry out to the “Sovereign Lord” and ask “how long?” And expectantly, we petition, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

One of the things our brains are capable of is overthinking. Think of it as the ability to have persistent, repetitive thoughts. Overthinking is essentially when your brain spins on a thought or an idea for longer than you anticipated. Unfortunately, overthinking tends to lean toward the negative. Left to its own devices, it will naturally gravitate toward things you don’t want to dwell on. I’ll give you a few examples.

Have you ever had to work hard to remind yourself of something dumb you said a long time ago? Did you need a to-do list to overthink an embarrassing situation from the eighth grade, even though you’re now in your thirties? Did you need a note on your calendar to make sure you’d spend the whole weekend thinking about why your boss called a meeting with you on Monday morning?

“I’ve got a wave of dread scheduled for this Saturday at 2 p.m.!” Is that what you did, or did those thoughts just show up unexpectedly, not at all connected to anything else you were doing at the time?

Those are called broken soundtracks, negative stories you tell yourself about yourself and your world. They play automatically without any invitation or effort from you. Fear does not take work. Doubt does not take work. Insecurity does not take work.

I know all about broken soundtracks like that because they cost me seven years of opportunity. 

I started my first blog in 2001. I was sharing ridiculous, personal content online three years before Facebook existed, four years before YouTube, five years before Twitter, and sixteen years before TikTok. I wasn’t a tech pioneer, because I didn’t own enough hoodies, but I was way ahead of the curve. Record labels were reaching out, readers were finding the content organically, and the faintest hints of momentum were sprouting. Things were moving along, but then I started overthinking everything.

“What if someone finds out I don’t really know what I’m doing?” 

“Where is this even going?”

“What’s the point if I don’t have a perfect plan to grow it?”

Those three soundtracks and a thousand more knocked me off the internet for seven straight years. I didn’t start another blog until 2008. Who knows how much further I’d be if I’d spent those seven years growing my audience and content? 

The most frustrating thing is that all those broken soundtracks showed up in my life completely uninvited. 

Your brain builds on overthinking’s habit of negativity by doing three additional things:

1. Lying about your memories

2. Confusing fake trauma with real trauma

3. Believing what it already believes

Now that you know your brain can be a real jerk, do you want to leave your thoughts to chance? Where would successful people be if they hadn’t made a decision to choose new soundtracks to listen to? Think of all the opportunities and adventures you’ll miss out on if broken soundtracks are in charge of your actions.

Broken soundtracks are one of the most persuasive forms of fear because every time you listen to one it gets easier to believe it the next time. Have you ever judged an idea as too dumb to even write down? That’s a broken soundtrack. Have you ever told yourself the same story I do about why someone didn’t text back? That’s a broken soundtrack. Has it ever felt like you have a pocket jury with you, cross-examining each new opportunity until you dare not chase it? That’s a broken soundtrack.

The good news is that you’re bigger than your brain. It’s just one part of you, and it’s under your control in the same way an arm or leg is. We know this because you and I have the great fortune of living in the age of neuroplasticity. Your parents’ generation didn’t know they could change the shape and function of their brains. Their parents’ generation thought cigarettes were good for cyclists in the Tour de France because the nicotine opened the capillaries in their lungs. Maybe my kids’ generation will be the ones who figure out how to make vegan queso not taste like organic sand. Every generation learns something new. 

Neuroplasticity, which is the power to physically change our brains by changing our thoughts, means that the solution to overthinking isn’t to stop thinking. Why would we ever get rid of such a powerful, efficient tool? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just run our brains with different soundtracks instead of the broken ones? A plane can drop a bomb or food. A syringe can deliver poison or medicine. A stallion can start a stampede or win a race. The same is true of our thoughts.

If you can worry, you can wonder. If you can doubt, you can dominate. If you can spin, you can soar.

The same brain that told you for years that you couldn’t write a book can be taught to tell you just the opposite. “You can write a book! You must write a book! It’s time to do it!”  I should know. I published zero books the first thirty-three years of my life. I published seven over the next eleven years. How? I started listening to a new soundtrack.

I didn’t just give myself a boost of encouragement in 2008 when I chose to believe I could become a professional public speaker. I started changing my soundtracks in ways that changed the shape of my brain. Not just one day but every day, which was all the easier because of neurogenesis. With neurogenesis, “every morning when you wake up, new baby nerve cells have been born while you were sleeping that are there at your disposal to be used in tearing down toxic thoughts and rebuilding healthy thoughts.”9

Your brain is waiting for you each day. It’s waiting to be told what to think. It’s waiting to see what kind of soundtracks you’ll choose.

It’s waiting to see if you really want to build a different life.

Tapping Into the Power of Overthinking in Three Steps

My entire world started to change when I decided to choose what soundtracks I listen to.

The best part is that the process is a lot simpler than you’d expect. When I first started transforming my overthinking, I figured it would take approximately ninety-two different steps, fourteen techniques, and at least a few dozen acronyms. I was wrong. 

There are three actions to change your thoughts from a super problem into a superpower:

1. Retire your broken soundtracks.

2. Replace them with new ones.

3. Repeat them until they’re as automatic as the old ones.

Retire. Replace. Repeat.

That’s it.

I don’t know what your dream is; it’s probably different from mine. But I do know one thing: overthinking is getting in the way.

It’s time to do something about that.

The series follows the 2023-24 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad from the audition process to the NFL season, giving viewers an inside look at the personal lives of the performers. In the fourth episode, several cheerleaders are shown attending a Social Dallas service and speaking with Madu and his wife, Taylor, backstage. The cheerleaders share why they came to Social Dallas and how their faith has impacted their mission and career.

Then, throughout the episode, a portion of Madu’s Vision Sunday sermon is played. The church’s vision statement for the year was “God loves Dallas,” which became a recurring theme throughout the episode.

“Maybe you need a vision for your life, a vision that is bigger than you,” Madu preached on the show. “A vision lets you know what to say yes to and what to say no to. There are some of you who have so many decisions in front of you and the reason you’re struggling to make a decision is because you have not brought clarity to the vision for your life. And I’m trying to tell you the moment you get clarity on vision, you’ll know what decision to make.”

America’s Sweethearts is now streaming on Netflix.

But it doesn’t have to be.

This isn’t about shaming anyone or holding up a measuring stick to see where the shortcomings are. Instead, it’s a reminder that life is simply too short to weigh it down with unnecessary clutter. And while some of these habits are easier to break than others, all of them get in the way of the wild, radical lives we were created to live out.

1. Comparing Yourself to Others

Social media has made this an easy habit to cultivate, but sitting around wishing you were traveling Europe with your old college roommate or that your job was as cool as that guy’s from church is a recipe for misery. Kick the habit of wishing your life was more exciting and go out and live it instead.

2. Putting Off That Project You Keep Meaning to Start

Whether it’s a novel, a painting, a new porch or even meeting the neighbors, you’ll feel much better once you just get going on it. Schedule it in if you have to. Set aside a day, an afternoon, even half an hour, and just start.

3. Wasting Food

About 40 percent of all food in the U.S. gets thrown out instead of eaten. A lot of us are contributing to that waste just out of habit of buying more food than we need or simply not using everything that’s sitting in our fridges.

4. Waiting for the ‘Next Big Thing’

Life won’t begin when you get married, get your dream job, move to a new city, finally take that trip around the world or anything else. Life is made in the big events and the small moments.

5. Being Critical Without Being Productive

There’s nothing wrong with pointing out things that need change, but it can become a bad habit if you don’t also work to help make the changes happen.

6. Getting Into Un-Winnable Arguments on Social Media

Let’s face it: No matter how many great points are made, arguing in the comments section doesn’t change anyone’s mind.

7. Saying You’ll ‘Read More’ When You Have Time

Unfortunately, you’re never going to magically have more time. You’ll have to make a habit of making more.

8. Saying You’ll ‘Pray More’ When You Have Time

This is another one where discipline is the real trick. Making time in your schedule is difficult, but the results will change your life.

9. Sleeping Till Noon on Saturday

Weekends are precious, and they’re best enjoyed when you’re well-rested, not oversleeping.

10. Living Paycheck to Paycheck

The reality is, you won’t always be able to put money away. But whenever possible, saving money—even just a little, here and there—is a habit your future self will thank you for.

11. Talking Down to Yourself

You’re not a failure, you’re not dumb and you’re good at what you do. Don’t just kick the habit of thinking badly about yourself, work to replace the negatives with positives.

12. Watching More Than an Hour of TV Per Day

In the age of Netflix, with a lot of great television out there, it’s easy (and fun) to binge once in a while. But if this becomes a regular activity, it’s time to find a new hobby.

13. Making Your Phone the Last Thing You See Before You Go to Sleep …

Studies have found that people who sleep with their phone close by take longer to fall asleep and spend less time in the deep stages of sleep.

14. …Or When You Wake Up

Siri doesn’t have to set the tone for your day.

15. Worrying About Things That Are Outside of Your Control

Worry can easily consume your life, but it can be controlled. Start by surrendering the things that no amount of worry can change.

16. Checking Social Media at Every Available Moment

There’s a better use for those little pauses (in line at the grocery store, at a red light, etc.) than checking status updates. Pray, think of ways to help make someone else’s day or maybe even just be still for a second.

17. Skipping Breakfast

It’s the most important meal of the day, and it also provides you with a little time to take stock of your emotional and spiritual life before the day gets away from you.

18. Impulse Shopping

Add a little patience to your spending habits and make sure you’re buying things that add actual value to your life.

19. Keeping Tabs on Exes via Instagram

Past relationships should generally be just that: in the past. Keeping tabs on former flames can be invite a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

20. Beating Yourself Up If You Don’t Get Over Every Single Habit

These are all things worth working on, but none of them are worth kicking yourself over. God isn’t going to run out of grace for you, and you don’t have to run out of grace for yourself.

Next to it, I wrote, “Is anyone happy?“

At the time, I thought my way was blameless. I was a student leader in Cru’s ministry. I read my Bible and prayed regularly. I evangelized, I served.

I was also terribly, terribly unhappy. My faith was a heavy yoke. At night, alone in my dorm room, I had panic attacks, and thinking of my future put a knot in my stomach.

But I didn’t think unhappiness was a big deal for Christians. Wasn’t I supposed to be content with any situation? My feelings were beside the point.

Christians I admired seemed to agree. “Do not depend upon feelings,” Bill Bright, the founder of my parachurch ministry, asserted. “We, as Christians, do not depend upon … emotions, but we place our faith (trust) in the trustworthiness of God and the promises of His Word.”

I decided if my life was Jesus-approved, my heart would get with the program eventually.

Thankfully, when Cru staff members learned about my struggles, they insisted I get counseling. When I faced my deep unhappiness for the first time, I collapsed; but acknowledging my feelings led me back to wholeness.

I wish I had taken my unhappiness seriously. I wish I had believed that joy really is a hallmark of Christian flourishing. And I wish I had believed better of the Almighty—that God was concerned about more than my perfect attendance.

Here are reasons why paying attention to your happiness—and unhappiness—is essential to having a mature Christian faith.

Honesty About Unhappiness Is the Gateway to Joy

I’m moved by an interview with Bruce Kramer about living with ALS, considered one of the worst terminal illnesses. He radiated deep peace and joy. He offered no platitudes about his condition. Instead, he shared about his struggles with anger, humiliation and grief.

Often times, we American Christians wave away our discomfort, our grief, our rage and pretend everything’s better because of Jesus.

But Kramer offered a deeper, more painful and more joy-filled approach: He felt and acknowledged his unhappiness, while asking, “How do [I] grow into the demands of what is beyond [me]?”

Only through honesty about his feelings could he choose and experience joy.

Minimizing our unhappiness robs us of wholeness. As Brené Brown puts it in her book The Gifts of Imperfection, “We cannot selectively numb emotions. When we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.”

Unhappiness Is an Important Call to Action

Kramer felt his unhappiness, but he did not dwell there. Both he and his wife fought hard to avoid falling into depression. It’s eye-opening that even while dealing with ALS, they considered persistent unhappiness to be a real battle.

Long-term unhappiness should bother us. As I’ve discovered, it can signal depression, poor boundaries or abuse. God doesn’t call us to be content with dysfunction but tells us to “seek peace and pursue it.”

Rather than viewing our unhappiness as a failure or a pesky annoyance, it’s actually a gift from God. If we are deeply unhappy and don’t know what to do, it’s a clear sign we need help. Seeing our unhappiness as a call to action can steer us toward new life.

Like Bright noted, our emotions can’t be our only source of wisdom—they’re great warnings but lousy maps. I found a good therapist to be an invaluable resource for making wise choices.

We Serve a God of Joy

Finding happiness in a world of suffering is only possible because we serve a God of fierce love.

Theologian Howard Thurman, whose teaching instructed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders, was the grandson of a former slave. Thurman wrote candidly about the suffering of the African-American community.

Yet God’s goodness undergirded his hope. Thurman said of Jesus, “‘In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.’ Wherever His spirit appears, the oppressed gather fresh courage; for He announced the Good News that fear, hypocrisy and hatred, the three hounds of hell that track the trail of the disinherited, need have no dominion over them.” Thurman knew that God’s goodness and wholeness was the source of his community’s freedom. He believed that a holy God did not play handmaiden to the system that oppressed them.

Knowing God is good matters. Believing that God desires our wholeness helps us take action. If we are not whole, if our unhappiness seems neverending and without purpose, then we know something’s wrong. A good God calls us to take radical, courageous steps to face a broken world.

Happiness is a Serious Matter

I wish more Christians thought of deep unhappiness as an emergency. Too often, I hear faithful people waving away their problems, affirming that “God works out everything for good” without asking hard questions about how. Jesus is not a magical eraser. He calls us to be loving, not better hype men.

Happiness isn’t the only metric for wholeness, but it should be one of our concerns. At the very least, if we feel unhappy, we should ask why. We should be willing to seek counsel, examine our theology and rush desperately after new life.  We should assume that God cares about our emotional health, that He provides a pathway to wholeness.

In a developing marriage, it’s as if you’re watching a magician, but you’ve demystified his tricks. The magic has become normal. It’s no longer thrilling or mesmerizing.

The question marriage blogs, podcasts and seminars have trained us to ask is, ‘How do we put the magic back into our marriage?’ That’s the wrong question. We should be asking: ‘Is there something better than magic?’

On an episode of This American Life, host Ira Glass shared this quote by magician Ricky Jay:

“There are many effects in magic where what’s going on behind the scenes is actually much more interesting than what the audience sees. And as a magician, you sort of want to say, if only you could know what’s really happening here…”

That last line, “If only you could know what’s really happening here…” is the perspective of someone who is still amazed even after the magic is exposed as an illusion. The same is true of marriage. From the outside, marriage can seem like a cocoon that works in reverse, transforming your beautiful, spontaneous butterfly of love into a bill-paying, baby-making caterpillar. Within a marriage, however, the opposite is true. A boring marriage can become better than the goosebumps it replaced.

In The Meaning Of Marriage, pastor and author Tim Keller wrote:

“While marriage is many things, it is anything but sentimental. Marriage is glorious but hard. It’s a burning joy and strength, and yet it is also blood, sweat, and tears; humbling defeats and exhausting victories.”

If you’re looking for a magical relationship in which you complete one another, your husband exceeds your expectations and your wife helps you find your true self, you’re going to be disappointed. That’s not what marriage is for. Marriage is designed to make us more like Christ.

In other words, marriage is like a foundry, designed to melt our pride and mold us into something glorious. And like metalwork, marriage is a slow process that requires heat and pressure. “Till death do us part” isn’t sexy, nor is it magical. In fact, the traditional wedding vows are specifically about the wonder and beauty that remains in marriage after the magic has disappeared: “…For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…”

Your spouse won’t complete you, your marriage won’t perfectly satisfy you and your life together will never be enough if the goal of your marriage is to fulfill your happiness. Because marriage isn’t meant to make you happy. It’s meant to bring you lasting joy. And the frustrating reality about life is that while temporary happiness and lasting joy sometimes look alike on the surface, they are often in complete opposition to each other.

In a New York Times article called, “A Roomful of Yearning and Regret,” Wendy Plump describes the difference between happiness and joy when she writes about an affair she had during her first marriage:

“When you have an affair you already know you will have passionate sex — the urgency, newness and illicit nature of the affair practically guarantee that… What you don’t allow yourself to think about, is that your life will become an unbearable mix of yearning and regret because of it.”

At the end of the article, Plump contrasts her affair with her parents’ beautiful and ‘boring’ marriage.

“I look at my parents and at how much simpler their lives are at the ages of 75, mostly because they haven’t marred the landscape with grand-scale deceit. They have this marriage of 50-some years behind them, and it is a monument to success. A few weeks or months of illicit passion could not hold a candle to it.

If you imagine yourself in such a situation, where would you fit an affair in neatly? If you were 75, which would you rather have: years of steady if occasionally strained devotion, or something that looks a little bit like the Iraqi city of Fallujah, cratered with spent artillery?”

Marriage is a lifelong relationship between two people who, on their best days, love one another and feel it, and on their worst days, choose to love one another even when they don’t feel it. Marriage doesn’t guarantee happiness, but it promises lasting joy.

Marriage sometimes brings laughter, googly-eyes and fun date nights. Other times it brings sleepless babies, budgeting and scheduled sex. That may not sound romantic from the outside, but when reality punches you in the gut, there’s nothing more comforting than knowing no matter what— for better or worse — tomorrow morning your spouse will be there ready to take on the world with you.

Disillusionment with marriage is not a red flag. It’s not a reason to panic and it’s not an indicator that you’re falling out of love. Actually, it might be the beginning of understanding the truth of love that’s unconditional.

GOD: Go to Pharaoh so you can bring my people out of Egypt.

MOSES: What? Who, me?

GOD: I will be with you.

MOSES: What if they ask who sent me? GOD: I Am has sent you.

MOSES: What if they don’t believe me?

GOD: I’ll give you the power to perform signs and wonders in my name.

MOSES: But I’m not good with words.

This is where I can imagine God saying slowly and firmly, “Moses, who made your mouth? Go! I’ll help you speak, and I’ll tell you what to say.”

It’s easy to read about Moses’ doubt and think, This is God speaking to you! Don’t you trust him? Then I think of all the times I’ve determined God must have confused his plans for me with his plans for someone else. I’ve offered up plenty of I can’t do this! Just look at my mess! I wonder what God thinks as he listens to my fears of never-enough-ness.

God does the choosing and assigning, not us. Whew! He calls us, and he equips us. There’s no need to run from his calling, to deny it, or to wish it away because “the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,” will also “equip [us] with everything good for doing his will.”2

God demonstrates his power through our frailty. In fact, this is the only thing we can boast in: His power is made perfect and on full display in our never-enough-ness. When we are weak, we are actually made strong in Christ Jesus.

Whoa. The secret to strength is weakness.

Grasping this has been a game changer for me. I used to think being ill-equipped disqualified me from serving God, but I’ve learned that when I admit my inadequacy, I invite his power in to strengthen me. This is fertile soil for surrender. Surrender says, The calling you’ve laid before me is too great. I cannot fathom it. Still, I will obey. I will trust that you go before me.

I believe God chose Moses because he was weak. God wanted Moses to know he was able to lead the people only because God was with him, giving him everything he needed to do the job.

When you feel weak—or anxious or fearful—the very admission of your weakness could be the moment you realize true strength. And in that moment, you’ll see that you are the one God wants to use. You’re it. God’s glory rests in you.

The first time I ever spoke in public was at a writing work- shop, six months before my first book was released. When I stepped up to the microphone, I said, verbatim, “This is the first and last time I’ll be speaking in public, so here goes.” (In hindsight, I don’t recommend this.) 

I proceeded to cry through my story, sniffling into tissues, ending my time with a rousing offer to pray. To my surprise, at the end of my session, about fifteen women formed a line to talk. My story had touched them, had offered them something they needed. I’d given language to anxiety and depression, something not often talked about in church. I left hoping to get the chance to speak again. 

The speaking invitations crept in. But speaking brought fear, so I’d write out my talks word for word, only to find myself speaking with my head down, following the script too closely. If I looked up to reference a slide, I’d lose my place in my notes. 

A few months into this new vocation, I found myself on an airplane headed to give three forty-five-minute talks at a conference. This time, due to weather, my flight was running behind. I had only thirty minutes to make my connection in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport—one of the busiest in the world. I ran from concourse to train to concourse and was the last to board for the final leg of the trip. As we reached ten thousand feet, I leaned down to get my laptop and put a few finishing touches on my upcoming talks. 

My laptop was still in the seat pocket of my last flight. 

I arrived at my hotel in a puddle of exhaustion, fear, and frustration. Now what? No notes, no computer. Falling to my knees, I confessed right then: 

Never have I wanted my teaching to be about what I bring. I don’t want my words to be my own, my talks to be controlled or predictable. But I’m afraid not to plan every word. 

Will you please help me? Speak through me? Surprise us all with what you have? 

God gently responded: “Do you trust me? Do you trust I will give you my words?” 

God was looking for this little girl to simply be brave. I taught three sessions without notes that weekend. It was the most free I’d ever felt standing in front of a group of women. As it turns out, I love telling stories on the fly. 

It’s difficult to muster bravery in our everyday lives, isn’t it? So often, fear creeps in. What if I fail? What if others ridicule me? Our emotions are very real, and I do not wish to minimize them. But our bravest moments come from trusting, from falling into the plan of God. When we do, bravery becomes less about courage and more about faith. We trust God will never leave us or forsake us. We trust everything is possible for those who believe. We trust we can do all things through Christ, who gives us strength. He is faithful to accomplish what- ever he begins and will carry it to completion.

What joy to come before the throne, humbled and low. What freedom to be used, shortcomings and all. This is when we realize that we, the weak ones, have been a part of God’s plan all along. 

Reflect:

Have you found yourself believing that past mistakes or even current situations disqualify you from being used by God? How might those same things be part of the very reason God chooses to use you in His kingdom?

Taken from A Surrendered Yes by Rebekah Lyons. Copyright © 2021 by Rebekah Lyons. Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com. 

They may even put up protest when their spiritual lives are our topic of conversation, fervently arguing that all the benefits of Christ are theirs. Instead they live in fear, desperation and often sin.

The question is, why are so many of us stuck in our development toward Christ-likeness? Why are we more known for our fear and hate than our peace and love?

Our struggle starts like this: All Christian disciplines are beautiful and beneficial in the life of a believer. For example, I have a personal burden and desire to read the Bible every day and to perpetuate a heart of worship, praise and thanksgiving both continually and, at times, intentionally when no one is watching.

I also practice constant contact with the Spirit throughout my day with times of focused engagement and intercession. But even in my own very disciplined life I can easily practice these spiritual exercises and not actively engage with God on a personal and intimate level.

For far too long, we have practiced our faith assuming that these valuable disciplines are the meeting place or the “point of communion” arranged for us to meet with Jesus every time we use them.

A point of communion is the practice, discipline or place in which the Spirit has created special access to the spiritual nourishment and manna needed for each season. It is a place of fulfillment and refreshing we need to remain sustained in Christ. In it, the Spirit provides the grace we need to overcome and remain united to Christ.

I believe reading the Bible every day is extremely valuable. But no one is able to eat upon His flesh and experience their daily bread while in the Word every time he or she opens it up. Yes, you can always learn more about His character, nature and ways when studying Scripture, but that doesn’t mean the words on the page will be the place you will meet Him face to face today.

If you have been a believer for long you have had these experiences: First, a day or season of reading the Bible where the verses jumped off the page and nourished your soul. (I absolutely love these times when the Bible comes to life.) Secondly, you’ve been told, and shamed into believing that if you are struggling with sin or stuck, not growing in the Lord, “What you need do is read the Bible more.”

The mistake we all make is trying to recreate any experience with the Lord without checking in to find out where supper will be served. We experienced communion or nourishment during worship or in Bible study one time and assumed we were benefitting from the practice rather than the presence. What could happen if we were to exchange our value for form with a love for encounter?

We have to remember that ours is a romance story, not a formula.

The spiritual disciplines are about tuning in to God’s heart and refining our focus so that our hearts match His already established will and nature. They were not designed to be used as a power play.

How often have we read the Bible because we thought laying our eyes on the pages would please God and make us more likely to earn His favor and provision? Or, do we read the Bible because we believe somehow this behavior or discipline makes us more worthy of His attention?

Of course, reading the Bible is a great idea, but it’s our heart and our intent in the practice that is vital. Read the Bible. Do it every day. But don’t do it as if you’re paying spiritual dues and building credibility in the eyes of God.

Similarly, how many of us have attempted to use fasting to impress God? I am convinced He is not impressed. How can He be any more impressed with us? He is already consumed with love and affection for every one of His children. Fasting is very important—exponentially so in any first-world culture. The issue is the heart and whether we are trying to force God’s hand out of our own determination.

Fasting, is mostly, if not entirely, for our benefit. Fasting is separating ourselves from different forms of distraction and replacing them with acute focus on our spirit man. Fasting helps us tune into God, not God into us. For example, from a place of fasting we might discover a clearer means of intercession.

Often, we pray like we fast, trying to manipulate God into action. If this formula—where religious abstinence yields spiritual progress—worked without fail, we would all be fasting a lot more often. Our perspective will dictate our interpretation of the events. We often misinterpret any positive result found in our practices as a byproduct of the “discipline” performed instead of the intimacy achieved through acute focus. God always longs for that level of intimacy and connectedness.

We learn in the Word that He desires and is moved by intimacy rather than our sacrifice. I have found that the Father will move on our behalf even when we have no idea why. His bountiful love is not held captive by our understanding. Yet our limited understanding can hold us back and keep us captive. Our perspectives keep us stuck, effectively dining alone at an empty table.

Lastly, let’s consider the practice of worship and thanksgiving. Whether through the vehicle of music or simply through the intentional act of giving God the attention, affection and acclaim He deserves, regular worship is appropriate and beneficial.

Yet, there are times when the Spirit invites us specifically into worship as the place to meet and encounter Jesus. In those times, worship has a new depth or a new excitement. In those times, we eat upon and nourish ourselves on His goodness through worship and thanksgiving. The Spirit-led invitation, made personally, often helps to increase our appreciation for His presence.

If we are going to move from sprinters to marathon runners, we must learn how to maintain nourishment and stamina at the table of Jesus. The purpose of our training is to follow the Spirit’s lead and direction to where He has made a meeting place for us and Jesus. Sometimes it’s worship, sometimes it’s studying the Bible and sometimes it’s as unspiritual as taking a moment to enjoy a great cup of coffee.

Following the Spirit in the disciplines is about learning to discern where your peace and romance with Christ is most full and nourishing in every season.

Learning to discern our Point of Communion is the life source of endurance. If you are not careful you will miss out on this fuel because you forgot to show up emotionally and relationally or because you were too busy doing the “right” Christian practices.

Christian disciplines are beneficial to practice regularly or every day, but understand two things: disciplines do not buy you value or credibility with God and, secondly, spiritual disciplines, no matter how often or intensely practiced, will not cause you to live a life overflowing with love. Only intimacy with God will. The Pharisees made this obvious. (see John 7:14-19, 8:1-11)

Practicing spiritual disciplines without intentional openness and intimacy with God is as successful at making a connection as taking your wife to dinner and being on a business call or watching to a football game the entire time. You might have made the disciplined effort of taking her out, but I promise you, she is not feeling the love. Grace and mercy and her bounty will not overflow.

And likewise, a wife can submit her body as a matter of sacrifice and honor to her husband, but if she doesn’t show up in genuine affection and intimacy beyond the physical, then whether he knows it or not, he will not be satisfied. He needs her fully present in spirit, soul, and body. He needs her invested. Authentic intimacy and connection cannot be fake. It is the same with our spouses and our God.

Seasons in the Lord can come and go as often as daily and can last for years. Knowing and providing what we need to remain in Christ is the work of the Great Counselor, the Holy Spirit. Learn to discern your Point of Communion, and learn to be sustained in the ever-abundant, ever-present goodness of God.

Start by first asking God for help. This is my most common encouragement to people. Then ask for an increased discernment and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and begin to practice. If you believe you can hear a specific leading, then try it out and see what happens. If you are not sure, then put one or two of the disciplines into practice and see if you are encouraged, filled or sustained.

The only way to grow spiritually is through trial and error. This is why grace has been afforded to you. You get to practice. In the art of seeking, genuinely and honestly, you cannot go wrong. And today’s a great day to start.

While some praise cynicism, I’m not convinced. I can’t argue that cynicism is good.

But I think the question we need to be asking isn’t, “Is cynicism more bad than good?” (I think it’s more bad than good). Nor is it, “Are we living in an age of cynicism?” (Please pull your head out of the sand if you disagree).

The more important question is, “Why are we so cynical?”

I’ve always felt a resonance with the words of comedian, George Carlin, in this area. Carlin famously quipped, “Scratch any cynic and you’ll find a disappointed idealist.”

Our cynicism is often just a cover for our disappointment and wounds. We’re weary and wary. We’re cynics who were idealistic and are now massively disappointed.

The resurgence of cynicism makes sense. My generation entered adulthood amidst a diminished job market, with suffocating student loans and numerous reasons to distrust institutions like government and the Church. In the midst of these circumstances, it has become more acceptable to reject certain perspectives, even faith.

It is far more fashionable and practical, it seems, to trust in ourselves when we feel like others, including God, have let us down.

So, we live in age of distrust because we’ve been taken advantage of. In other words, cynicism is our way of protecting ourselves from once again being that idealist who gets torn to pieces.

I’m not writing this in praise of cynicism, but I do think this discussion of cynicism needs context. There’s a reason we reach for it.

“The age of anxiety has given way to the age of cynicism. Among my generation, cynicism is no longer a bad word: it’s being celebrated, and it is often mistaken for intelligence. … The age of cynicism is where it is better to be wry and distrustful than to be open and trusting.”

-Mohammed Fairouz, The Age of Cynicism

When I think of cynicism, I think of a scab. I can remember getting scabs when I was a boy playing baseball. I’d slide into second base on rough gravel and tear up the skin on my knee pretty badly. The wounds would transform into scabs in a few days. Underneath those scabs, the skin would begin healing. Once the skin was healed (if had the discipline to not pick at it and if I protected it), the scab would fall off and I could again slide to my heart’s content.

Ideally, cynicism is a self-protection mechanism that helps us to heal and not be hurt again. It works for a short period, while the healing process takes place.

To borrow another metaphor, it’s OK to lease space in Cynic-ville; just don’t sign a mortgage because that’s where things get dangerous.

Cynicism works as a temporary bandage. And it offers a few benefits. If you’re in a room full of idealists, you need a cynic to bring everyone back to reality. Cynics who point out what’s broken and needs to change offer the rest of us a gift. But before we start praising cynicism, we need to pause and remember that there’s more to worry about here than rejoice over.

I say that as a recovering cynic. Planning to become a pastor, I graduated college, entered seminary and began an internship with a local church, carrying a healthy dose of idealism.

That idealism, though, had a very short shelf life. I was exposed to judgmental pastors who harped on other people’s sins, while failing to repent over their own. I saw those with the most power use their position to defend tradition and the status quo, causing people to stumble over them on their way to Jesus. Those who were held up as “heroes” in the congregation penned the nastiest of emails to our staff and disparaged my family when they were out for Sunday brunch.

My shattered idealism drove me to cynicism. I became the resident expert on what was wrong, pointing out all that was broken in our church and the Church. Each week, in the “meeting after the meeting,” me and my cynical friends verbally tore others down.

I was hurt and wounded, but I didn’t know it. My anger, bitterness and cynicism were actually symptoms of the deeper problems — disappointment, grief and unforgiveness. Until a friend pulled me aside to ask me, “Scott, where’s the hope?” I didn’t realize my wounds were actually impacting others. A few years ago, when I stumbled on this interview with Matthew McConaughey in Men’s Health, I began to realize how far I’d fallen and how dangerous I’d become.

Cynicism is damaging. But want to know what’s even more damaging? The sources of disappointment which are making people cynical today. We need to address the symptom (cynicism), while also going after the root of the problem too.

I’ve been fighting to overcome my cynicism for several years now and here’s what I’ve learned:

Choosing to fight cynicism is the more difficult route.

Jason Duesing, the author of Mere Hope: Life in an Age of Cynicism reflects, “Often, the pull toward cynicism is easier to follow than the struggle to resist.” It is easier to remain cynical than it is to resist and struggle toward hope.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean we declare what’s broken good; it means we choose to become free from the pain.

Our cynicism recoils at the idea of forgiveness because we believe we’re letting the other person off the hook or declaring what’s bad to be good. This is one of the many lies I’ve been told and I now try to deconstruct through my writing. Nadia Bolz-Weber puts it well when she describes forgiveness as the bolt-cutters that sever the chain linking us to those who wounded us. Remaining cynical and bitter perpetuates the wounds others have incurred in our lives.

Our cynicism doesn’t just affect us.

We all have someone who looks up to us. I realized that blogging with a critical voice made it harder for my readers to find hope. When friends ask me how I’m doing, my mood and attitude impacts the environment of our relationship. Your victory with cynicism could transform the lives of other people too.

We should critique, but we need to be aware of a critical spirit.

Once faced with reality, idealism can only be sustained through denial. We don’t honor the Church when we remain silent about its flaws. But we ought to check our motives and intent when we speak. Critiquing in pursuit of change, transformation, and improvement stands in stark contrast to a critical spirit which prefers to focus only on what’s broken. 

Cynicism is conquered through a series of small victories.

As I learned on my journey from cynicism to hope, the road from cynicism to hope is broken and uneven. It lacks an HOV lane and all traffic moves slowly. However, with each passing landmark, we can leave behind the pain and destruction of our woundedness and discover healing.

A Word About Hope

If you struggle with cynicism, you might bristle at the idea of hope.

Hope is not idealism. Hope is very different from an unrealistic view of reality.

Hope stares reality in the face and chooses to believe something is happening (or can happen) which is different than what is visible today. This kind of hope doesn’t deny reality; this hope defies reality. Hope, in the biblical sense, marries the honesty of cynicism with the positivity of idealism.

Many of us live between the death of our idealism and the resurrection of something new in its place. Cynicism is super-attractive when we’re in that kind of limbo, but it will keep us stuck. Only hope moves us forward.

Ernest Hemingway once said, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.” Every day, idealists become cynics. Yet, cynics can become hopeful people, whose scars reveal the places where, once wounded, they now offer robust hope to the world.

Lentz answers that question head-on in the latest episode of The RELEVANT Podcast.

“I did ministry most of my adult life,” Lentz said. “I don’t miss doing church. I can’t imagine us doing a church at all.”

Lentz was fired from his position at Hillsong NYC in November 2020, citing “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures” as reasons for his termination.

“I ran a church and it went bad at the last chapter,” Lentz admitted. “The whole picture of Hillsong, New York City [was] amazing. I’m proud of it. But I’m also really aware that there’s a part in there that’s painful that had to do with my leadership. I don’t take that lightly.

“I’m not going to rush some of the repair jobs that I need to take,” he continued. “I didn’t get there overnight, so it’s not going to get healed overnight. But I’m not starting any church.

“If God shows up and an angel drops on my doorstep and knocks with blueprints, I’m still going to say, bring another angel.”

Over the last four years, Lentz has stayed away from the pulpit — working regular desk jobs and consulting public speakers — jobs he said he’s really enjoyed.

“I don’t miss the ministry headaches at all,” he said. “My real answer to that question [if he’s eventually starting a church] is it’s not even in the conversation. And I know people are skeptical of that — cool. I don’t expect you to come back around. But I can tell you right now, if people are waiting for me to come back and do a church, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”

You can hear our full, hour-long conversation with Lentz — which covers everything from what led to his downfall, to his approach to healing over the last four years, to his family and more — on the latest episode of The RELEVANT Podcast.

Episode 1174: Carl Lentz

I felt stuck and lost and like I was floating in the middle of the ocean with no sign of dry land. And while that feeling is absolutely terrifying, it forced me to stop and take inventory of myself and my goals. Here are four things I learned from that year—my year of not having it all together:

Live Up to the Right Expectations

We all have an idea of what we want to be in our heads. And we’re constantly trying to live up to those expectations. In high school, I had a very clear picture of where I would be by the time I was 25. I would be wildly successful at whatever line of work I had very logically picked out based on median pay and market growth.

Then, as I grew closer and closer to that quarterlife landmark, I started to panic. There’s no way I could achieve my “plans” by 25.

But why was I trying to achieve goals I don’t even want anymore?

I didn’t want to be a tight-rope walker in the circus with Chris O’Donnell’s character from Batman and Robin anymore (just kidding, I’ll always want to be that). Who made 17-year-old me the arbiter of my own success?

Goals are always changing, because we are always changing. And if you hold yourself to an outdated standard, based on old desires—or worse, the desires of people around you—you’re limiting your ability to hear God’s calling on your life.

And let’s be honest, His is the only standard that matters. (And trust me, He wants you to be a tight-rope walking circus performer.)

Social Media Can Lie to You

Social media should come with a warning label. “WARNING: I used 15 filters to make this look white-washed and beautiful, and I also spilled that artful latte all down my shirt 15 seconds after I posted this.”

Social media can be a source of inspiration and an invaluable tool to stay connected with people. But it can be incredibly difficult not to compare yourself to those glamour shots and perfectly gridded minimalist pictures in your perfectly curated stream of Instagram images.

That’s not real life. It’s not as put together as the streams of beautiful photos make it all seem.

Life isn’t a minimalist living room with perfect lighting and antlers hanging above a whitewashed brick fireplace. Nobody leaves their belongings around their house placed in perfect grids. Behind every selfie there’s about 50 almost identical pictures that didn’t make the cut because there were traces of double chin.
People don’t ride off into the #nofilter sunset.

Real life has hardships, awkward conversations, horrifyingly embarrassing moments, rejection, loss and uncertainty. Except those aren’t the things that make it onto Instagram. Nobody is as perfect at they seem on the internet. You don’t have to be either.

Sometimes Quitting Is the Right Answer

Andrew and Peter had stable jobs. They were fishermen when Jesus called them into ministry. They literally dropped their nets and left. That doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should quit their jobs and go work in ministry. But it does go against every instinct we have to stick it out and persevere.

Working hard obviously isn’t a bad thing. But sticking something out just for the sake of sticking it out can be a dangerous thing. Because, if you’re honest with yourself, you’re choosing between God’s calling, your pride or your security. God’s calling should always win that contest. Sometimes quitting is the answer.

Failure Can Be Your Friend

Since the beginning of my time on earth, I have been more afraid of failure than anything. I feared failure more than I feared injury, bankruptcy, or even Guy Fieri’s hair.

Fear of failure keeps you on the sidelines. It makes you a spectator. It keeps you from trying out for teams, joining clubs, getting on stage and generally doing anything fulfilling.

But what’s so bad about failing?

Say you do fail. You try something new, you apply for a job, you audition for a play, you put your art out there for the very first time and then you absolutely fail. And you’re right back where you started. But if you hadn’t tried in the first place, you’d still be in that exact same spot. The ball is going to that catcher’s mitt whether you swing or not; the least you could do is try. (Sports reference. Nailed it.)

Jesus, too, warns against fear of failure in the parable of the three servants. Jesus tells the story of a man who calls his servants together and entrusts them each with a sum of money while he is away.

The first servant invests the money, and doubles his share. The second servant goes to work, and also doubles his share. The third servant, the complete ding-dong of the story, digs a hole in the ground and hides the money, afraid that he will lose it. The master comes home and praises the first two servants and to the ding-dong he says, “You wicked, lazy servant!…Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

That’s what the God of the universe thinks about wasting the valuable currency He’s given you. And if you think your talents and abilities aren’t currency, you’re dreaming. (You can’t see me but I’m dropping the mic.)

(Now I’m awkwardly walking back on the stage to pick the mic back up, because I just have one more thing to say)

Anybody who is successful didn’t get there by accident. They got there through a series of failures. Every time you fail, you learn something that teaches you how to be better.

You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb. And when asked about it, he said “I didn’t fail; I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb,” but he only needed one way to make it work. And that is something I totally made up and I definitely didn’t just quote National Treasure (which is not, as the name implies, a very good movie). So, fail. Fail, fail, then fail again, then get it right and fail at something else.

Like Thomas Edison and National Treasure, fail hard.

“We are deeply grieved and saddened by the recent and very serious allegations against Pastor Robert Morris involving the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old minor,” the network wrote on X. “In light of these events and a recently released statement by Gateway’s Elders, Daystar’s leadership has made the decision to remove all of Pastor Robert Morris’ programming from our broadcasting schedule. Daystar unequivocally condemns the actions described in these allegations and remains committed to upholding biblical values as outlined in the Word of God. As we navigate through this challenging situation, we extend our heartfelt support and prayers to all those impacted.”

The decision comes less than a week after Cindy Clemishire, now 54, publicly accused Morris of sexually abusing her over a span of four years, starting when she was a child. On the Wartburg Watch blog, Clemishire detailed the abuse she endured starting on December 25, 1982, when she was just 12 years old and Morris was 21. She said the abuse continued for four-and-a-half years while Morris lived with her family.

On Friday, Gateway’s elders sent a statement to staff, stating Morris admitted that “in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying.”

“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,” Morris, 62, said in a statement to local Dallas news station WFAA-TV on Sunday. “This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years … Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area.”

Clemishire, however, told The Roys Report that Morris’ version of events was not the full story.

“He says there was no sexual intercourse, but he did touch every part of my body and inserted his fingers into me, which I understand now is considered a form of rape by instrumentation,” she said. “I was an innocent 12-year-old little girl who knew nothing about sexual behavior.”

On Tuesday, Gateway’s Board of Elders announced that Morris was resigning from his position at the 100,000-member church. The board expressed regret over the newly revealed details, claiming they were previously unaware of the victim’s age and the extent of the abuse.

“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not the abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement read. “Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have.”

However, Clemishire shared that in 2005, she had confronted Morris about the abuse via email, with former Gateway elder Tom Lane responding and acknowledging the incidents.

“The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris’ Gateway email address,” Clemishire said in a statement released Tuesday night by her attorney Boz Tchividjian. “Former Gateway elder, Tom Lane, received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old.

“Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse,” she continued. “His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse. At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted to believe.”

Contentment is all about a shift in your perspective—a daily decision to trust God in all circumstances and to see Him at work in every chapter of your life. Here are a few keys to contentment during a season of singleness:

Cultivate a Heart of Gratitude

Your praise and thanksgiving is a powerful weapon. Instead of focusing on what you lack, remember and acknowledge all that you have. By doing so, you can fight those feelings of discouragement and give God the opportunity to remind you of His favor and many blessings.

Singleness is not God’s way of depriving you or punishing you. Don’t get so caught up in hoping and searching for a significant other that you forget about all the blessings God has given you—in other important relationships in your life, in the talents He’s given you, even in whatever freedoms you are able to enjoy as a single person. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it says that we should “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Invest in Your Family/Friend Relationships

Cherish every moment, conversation and experience with the people you love. Although family and friends will always be a part of your life, relationship dynamics change when that “special someone” enters the scene. As a single, you have the ability to dedicate your time and primary focus to nurturing these family and friend relationships. By looking beyond our own personal gratification, our vision is cleared and our awareness of others’ needs increases.

Pursue Your God-Given Dreams

Regardless of your relationship status, go after your goals, dreams and God-given aspirations. Do not wait! One of the biggest mistakes singles often make is waiting to chase their dreams until they have someone to do so with them. In doing so, they miss out on the wonderful things this season has to offer.

Don’t put your ambitions and passions on hold until you find someone. Rather, as you dedicate your time and energy to fulfilling God’s call on your life, He will bless you with a teammate along the way—someone who will support your endeavors and challenge you to become all that you can be.

Maintain High Standards

The longer you’re single, the more tempting it can be to just date whoever expresses interest, even if you know you’re not compatible. Don’t settle for second best or get caught up in the wrong relationships out of desperation. Obviously, there’s no perfect person who will meet every one of your expectations, but you shouldn’t compromise your core standards.

Keep Up Spiritual Practices

Regardless of your relationship status, things like prayer, time in the Word and journaling are important for keeping your spiritual life healthy. Prayer not only brings you peace, but it reminds you of who is in control. We often take this responsibility upon ourselves as though we have the capability to orchestrate every tiny detail of our lives. However, the truth of the matter is God has asked us to surrender our plans to Him—trusting that He knows best.

Instead of spending your time worrying, dive into Scripture and allow God’s Word to replenish your soul. I like to think of God and His words as the ultimate power source. When we plug into this power source, we receive His joy, strength and wisdom.

Surrender Control

In a season of singleness, it is easy to doubt God, especially when we can’t see the big picture. It can be tempting to think that it’s your responsibility to go out and find someone. But as you practice patience, be encouraged and know that as you wait and seek God, He is working behind the scenes and orchestrating your larger story. He is shaping you and maturing you into the man or woman He has called you to be. If God knit you together in your mother’s womb, then He must understand you better than anyone else. Do you trust Him with your future? Do you believe He knows not only what is best for you, but the timing in which it will all pan out?

Encourage and Serve Others

During this season, God has given you tasks and responsibilities to serve and provide lasting hope to those in need. Whether serving on the mission field, on your school and church campus or in your local community, you have a unique purpose and contribution to society. Every act of kindness, loving embrace or word of encouragement makes a difference in the global community. Changing the world begins with you.

God’s plan for your life is beyond anything you could ever dream up on your own, and His plan for you doesn’t begin or end with you finding a spouse. Let Him turn your worries and anxieties into contentment for the present and great excitement and anticipation for what lays ahead. Give God the pen and let Him write your story. It is going to be amazing.

1. I thought I was a Christian, but….

2. God did [blank] in my life…

3. …And now I’m at this amazing place and I’m not struggling anymore at all!

Evangelical Christians have developed a rather confusing habit when it comes to sharing testimonies. We have a tendency to prefer telling dramatic stories about dark, reckless pasts turned around at a sudden moment to grab the attention of the crowd and stir their emotions rather than describe the ebb and flow of real-life faith stories. The more dramatic the conversion story, the better.

There seems to be an obsession with sensational testimonies and tangible moments of catharsis—you know, those brilliant “this-changes-everything” moments that make every story better.

But the problem is, often, the walk into faith is gradual. And the reality is that struggles are constantly coming and going. How does that work its way into our stories?

The Ups And The Downs

Many Christians discredit their actual earliest memories of conversion, highlighting later turning points as the moment when they truly “got it.” Especially in the case of prodigals, any falling out with God gets relabeled as a pre-conversion experience. This practice can seemingly justify delinquent behavior that occurs after the conversion experience, and eliminates the Christian sin factor.

Obviously, that’s problematic.

Christians are forever working to regain acceptance in a secular society after acquiring unfortunate labels like “hypocritical” and “close-minded.” Bending the truth about faith journeys only makes that worse.

The reality is that many normal Christians walk away from their faith for periods of time, for whatever reason. Challenges and temptation spin people around and bring them to their knees. Especially where hurt, shame, doubt, or lack of support is involved, it’s easy to walk or run away from the faith-based life.

When people come back, though, how should they treat those seasons? There are endless complicated theological arguments over whether once-saved-always-saved is a reality, but individuals know deep down if they were living in faith or not before their falling away periods.

The same goes for Christians who struggle with some kind of ongoing sin. While Hebrews 10:26 explains the tough truth about habitual sin and the lack of grace for it (“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins”), habitual sin is a part of tons of Christians’ lives.

That’s the problem with the sensationalized, past tense testimony. There is no room for everything that isn’t OK now. There isn’t room for real failures. It’s hard to talk about our past brokenness. It’s nearly impossible to talk about current brokenness, especially because of the undeniable pressure to fit the mold in contemporary churches.

It’s Time to Get Real

The way we do testimonies needs to change. If we are still trying to make church, faith, and Christian living real, testimonies need to get real, too. We can’t act like our struggles magically disappeared when we accepted Christ.

Anything but the truth does a disservice to ourselves, to truth, and to each other.

How many times have you heard people question whether or not they are saved? One of the biggest reasons people question that is because they feel like they’re not allowed to struggle.

Struggle is a reality. Temptation is a reality. Failure is a reality. Yes, even for those who are actively walking with Christ.

We can and should work to change Christian culture so that struggle doesn’t have to be so embarrassing. The reality of Christ is that shame isn’t ours to bear (Isaiah 61:7). The reality of living in faith is that Christians need to support each other (Ephesians 4, 5).

Telling real testimonies is key for that.

Spurts and lulls are normal.

Maybe this obsession with dramatic testimonies full of drastic changes has gotten out of hand. They’re exciting and all, but, by acting as if early faith lives were not faith lives at all, an unrealistic precedent is being set for new Christians, especially.

That, and we are doing a harming to our representation of Christianity if we discount struggles, sins and lulls as non-faith periods—because we present the idea that real faith is without temptation, failure or dry spells.

It can be scary to get vulnerable, but when everyone gets vulnerable together, there are so many more opportunities to receive help and healing.

Real faith lives aren’t just rainbows and sunshine. Let’s stop acting as if they are.

While this list could have been a mile long, we kept it holy and found seven times The Simpsons referenced Christianity in the most hilarious way possible.

Ned Flanders’ Oral Roberts University Degree

Flander’s ORU education comes up in two episodes: In Season Six’s “I Love Lisa” and “Dead Putting Society.”

The Crystal Cathedral

The famous Crystal Cathedral can be seen in season nine’s “Natural Born Kissers,” which even features a pastor that resembles a young version of Robert Schuller, the church’s founder. You can see the clip (which features some cartoon nudity) here.

Praiseland (a Heritage USA Spoof)

In the episode “I’m Goin’ to Praiseland” (season 12), Flanders opens a Christian amusement park, “Praiseland,” in honor of his late wife that was inspired by the now defunct Heritage USA theme park started by televangelist Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in the late ’70s.

Homer’s Obsession with the End Times after Seeing ‘Left Below’

Season 19’s “Thank God, It’s Doomsday” is a send-up of evangelicalism ends times culture. Homer, after seeing Left Below, tries to calculate the exact date of the rapture and warn the people of Springfield. Irreverent satire ensues.

The Creationism Debate

In the episode “The Monkey Suit” (season 17), Springfield gets embroiled in a debate over the teaching of creationism (vs. evolution) in public schools. The case Lisa Simpson v. God is eventually decided in favor of Lisa after Homer’s ape-like antics are put forth as evidence by an ACLU lawyer.

Christian Rock Band Kovenant

Fronted by Rachel Jordan (voiced by singer Shawn Colvin), Christian rock outfit Kovenant has appeared in two episodes: “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” and “I’m Goin’ to Praiseland.” Fun fact: Their bass player was from yet another fictional CCM band: Saintanica

Sunday School Stories

In the episode “Simpsons Bible Stories,” the entire family dozes off during a Rev. Lovejoy sermon, only to each have their own Bible-inspired dream. The episode examines the story of Adam & Eve, the exodus, the wisdom of King Solomon, David and Goliath and even the apocalypse.

That’s a question many of us have asked ourselves at some point. I’m talking about how we’re going to affect the situation, change the world, get our hands dirty, watch people go from despair to joy and actually see life-change occurring in front of you. We’re talking about palpable, measurable help. What can one person do to help like that?

I’ve struggled with (and sometimes still do) the enormity of the need and the smallness of me. Sometimes it seems like giving 25 bucks, signing some petition, or even praying just feels like throwing a cup of water into the ocean. And while I feel good doing those things, I often wondered, “Was this more for them—or for me?”

Then one day, a pastor took the stage at my church and shared a story I’d heard zillions of times, but was about to hear again as if for the first time. Maybe you’ve heard this story, it’s about Jesus feeding the 5,000, and it’s found in all four of the Gospels. By way of recap:

A bunch of folks — at least 5,000, but probably more like 15,000, because the original count didn’t include women and children —were clamoring to hear Jesus speak, heal and generally just be Jesus-y. It was an epic, big-tent-revival, emotionally and physically exhausting, amazing kind of day.

So, these thousands of people are at this impromptu Woodstock when they begin to run out of an oh-so-precious commodity: food. And as the original greek states, “The 5,000 started to get cranky because their little bellies were empty.”

Enter, The Apostles.

What did the ever-practical apostles do? They approached Jesus and said (again, in the Greek), “JC, your people are hangry (hungry+angry), what would you think about giving a quick benediction, sending them home for supper, and starting again tomorrow?”

Now the apostles must have known better, because there’s just no way they thought that Jesus, being as wonderfully contrary as He tended to be, would say, “Yep, solid point homies, send my people away from me.”

What then did He say?

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16).

The apostles proceeded to go back a forth a few more times, reminding Jesus that it would take half a year’s salary to feed everyone, and even if they did have that kind of money, it’s not like there was a Costco down the street.

Finally, Andrew, maybe out of desperation, or possibly out of deep faith (or both?), says to Jesus, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:9).

Now what I love about this is that:

1. Andrew offered this up this small bit of food as a legitimate solution. And while he probably thought it was unlikely to make a dent in the problem, he tried. He didn’t cower behind the problem, he did something!

2. There was a little boy who, when everyone got hungry, didn’t run away with his food and hide, but somehow made it available as a humble solution to the gigantic problem. Would I have hid? Would anyone blame me if I did? I mean, it’s my lunch, why be hungry if I know this tiny bit of food won’t really help.

Of course, Jesus does what only He and David Blaine can do: magic. And with the little bit that was offered, He miraculously fed everyone. Abracadabra: dinner!

So, what can we take from this story?

First, like the apostles, we are faced with a dilemma. There is a gigantic need in front of us, in fact there are multiple gigantic needs. There are 35 million people enslaved, right now, in this world. In 2022, 630,000 people died of HIV/AIDS. 21,000 people (most of them kids) die of starvation every. single. day. And if you’re like me, the enormity of the problem is crippling—unless we think like Andrew.

Andrew didn’t get how it would all work out, but he put his best solution forward, not because he actually thought it would solve everything, but because he knew that trusting Jesus means not having every answer, but rather being obedient with what you’ve got and trusting Him for the miracle.

And like the little boy, we’ve got a lunch box filled with what we feel is just enough to keep us satisfied. Yet God asks us to relinquish it so that He can work and do miracles with our very best offerings.

So what’s in your lunchbox?

I would contend that you have a lot in there. For starters, maybe you have a passion to help, resources at your disposal and the ability to pray. So, instead of seeing that 25 bucks as nothing, realize that it is something—it’s a fish! And what about the prayers you offer, the social media posts you share, and the internship you accept? All of those are loaves and fishes.

Those you care about need you to not crumble under the enormity of the problem, but rather rise up, bring forward your lunch, and trust that miracles will happen.

Or, if you’re Christine Caine, you got your motorcycle license. 

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m 55, I’ve got to do something new,’” Caine said, as if it’s the most obvious hobby for a full-time global ministry leader to pick up.

But in both her life and missions work, Caine always goes for the unexpected. She’s not interested in following the same path everyone else is taking. She’s on the lookout for the undiscovered path, the next step that lead to a new adventure.

It’s why, unlike most of the world, she has no desire for the world to “go back to normal.”

Moving Forward

“We are in a time that we all need reminding it’s time to move forward or we’re going to get stuck,” Caine said. “The one phrase I have heard more than any other phrase in the last three years is, ‘I just wish things would go back to normal.’ But I’m standing here thinking that we can’t do that. The world fundamentally has shifted in the way that we knew it. And not only that, but the Lord’s always doing a new thing.”

Caine has spent the last three years repeatedly hearing the message that God was doing a new thing in this season, which led her to write her latest book, Don’t Look Back.

She was reading Luke 17 one day when the message struck her. In verse 32, Jesus instructs the disciples to remember Lot’s wife. “It was like I had been hit in the head by a two by four,” Caine said. “I found out there are 170 women referenced in Scripture, either by name or in passing, but Jesus only told us to remember one woman: Lot’s wife. And he told us to remember her in the context of the world ending as we know it.”

Caine said she knew God was trying to show her a deeper message, which led her to Genesis 19: The world as Lot and his family knew it was burning down.

The Lord had rescued them out of Sodom and Gomorrah, and as it was all burning down, the angel of the Lord said, “Don’t look back.” But Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Through her studies, Caine quickly discovered why Jesus wanted people to remember the story of Lot’s wife.

“In the original language, the ‘looking back’ is like a longing, a wanting to go back,” she explained. “I was thinking how everyone has been talking about how they just want to go back to normal. They wish they could go back to the good old days, whatever that might mean. I thought, ‘Wow, there’s so much longing on the earth right now, even among believers, to go back to something, some sort of fantasy land that we think is awesome.’

“But Lot’s wife got stuck as a pillar of salt,” she continued. “She basically became calcified in a place she was only meant to be passing through. She was more attached to what she was leaving than what God had for her in the future.”

Caine realized that if we’re not vigilant, many of us can become like Lot’s wife — calcified in a moment for the rest of our lives. In fact, many of us have already become calcified, stuck in the past three years waiting for life to start again.

“We’ve been in a pandemic in sweatpants for three years, and it’s time to get your jeans back on and start stretching a bit and moving forward,” Caine said. “We are in a dangerous moment because there comes a threshold that if you don’t start at some point, you really do get stuck. And I truly believe that the time to act is now.”

“I think we are in a time on the Earth that we all need reminding that it’s time to move forward or we’re going to get stuck.”

Of course, sometimes the hardest part with moving forward is knowing how to take the first step. The world has changed tremendously over the last several years, and stepping into a new world is never easy, especially when the world seems like it’s heading down a chaotic path. But Caine wants people to know that we have to start somewhere.

“If you don’t start moving forward, you end up just in a holding pattern rehearsing and regurgitating the same old thing,” she said. “Otherwise, 20 years happen and you’re still dealing with the same problems. But you get to decide whether you’re going to move forward with that or whether you’re going to still be stuck.”

Caine chose to move forward by developing skills to transform her life, ministry and relationships: resiliency, tenacity and flexibility. It’s what led her to learn how to ride a motorcycle.

Caine pulled up to  a Southern Californian DMV fully prepared to leave with a small piece of paper that would let her drive a bike on the open road. Additionally, she left with a valuable lesson about looking forward to the future.

“The instructor would remind us, ‘Remember, where you look you go,’” Caine said. “And it was like something went off in my head. It’s so simple, but so true. If you keep looking back, you’re going to go backwards. And if you start looking forward, you can move forward.”

That simple bit of advice has become a mantra for Caine. She’s looking forward to what God has lying ahead for her, not focusing on what’s in the rearview mirror.

It is tempting to look back, she admits, but Caine is trying her hardest to keep her gaze on where she knows God wants her. Some days are easier than others, as some paths are easier to say yes to than others. She knows the future will have hardships and difficulties and unforeseen obstacles along the way. But she knows that ultimately, the difficult paths are always worth it.

“I’ve learned over the years that the pain of regret is greater than the pain of obedience,” she said. “I have to trust what I know about the character of God more than what I do not know about the future. That’s the only way I’m able to move forward.”

A Time for Reflection

As much as we may want change to happen overnight, we can’t wake up one day and no longer have a fear of the future. The problems we might be facing today don’t go away because we’ve got our sights set on what’s next. There is still a current reality that we have to learn to live in.

“If you keep looking back, you’re going to go backwards. And if you start looking forward, you can move forward.”

But, Caine warns, the key is learning how to navigate our challenges while still moving forward, not getting stuck in place trying to solve a solution.

“I don’t want people to think that they can dismiss or even bypass their pain and suffering by looking to the future,” Caine clarified. “But there is a difference between looking back on our circumstances to heal from them, like in a therapy session, and looking back to stay there, for good or bad reasons. There is a proper time to process it, and a proper time to move on from it.”

Caine points to Scripture for examples of Biblical heroes like Moses, Joshua and Saul aptly mourning their circumstances and then moving forward.

And that’s where Caine feels our world is now. We’ve spent three years lamenting a world that has passed away.

“Now, it’s time for us to start looking forward instead of backwards,” she said. “It’s almost like, OK, we need some permission now to say it’s OK to start looking forward towards the promise of God, the purpose of God. He’s still got a future. Our history doesn’t have to define our destiny. You can acknowledge what has happened, but not be defined by it.”

But what exactly does the first step toward the future look like? Caine has some advice for those brave enough to start a new journey. “The first step is always in your mind,” she said. “You have to decide for yourself because nothing changes until you change your mind.”

Think of your thoughts as if they’re a train, Caine explains. They take us from one place to a new destination, but you don’t get there if you don’t get on the train. By making the conscious decision to step on a thought train, you’re metaphorically stepping off the stationary platform.

“And then, be willing to go through the process,” she said. “You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get unstuck, whatever hard work is required.”

For some people, getting unstuck may be beginning therapy. Or it might be blocking, muting or unfollowing certain people. It could be changing friend groups, careers, or leaving a draining relationship.

“Truthfully, there isn’t always one tangible next thing you can do,” Caine said. “But whether it’s mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, relational or financial, whichever area you feel stuck in, that’s the area that you have to begin to do the next right thing.”

Everyone’s first steps look different, as do their second, third and fourth steps. Sometimes they’re big, like moving across the country, and sometimes it can be as small as setting an early morning alarm. Whatever the step, the important thing is to keep moving.

“Nothing changes until you change your mind.”

“I think most of us have a hope of where we want to end up,” Caine said. “But we don’t know how to get there. We end up minimizing the value of the right next step because we think it’s too small and it won’t make a difference. And the truth is, the difference probably won’t show up right away. But it will a year from now.

“Unfortunately, because of the world that we live in, no one’s got any patience,” she said. “Everyone wants instant gratification. We all want change, but it’s not going to happen. This is not a self-help thing that with three steps and two weeks will magically unstick you. I wish I could say there’s no pain. But there is pain, so choose your pain wisely.”

Caine chose to step into the pain of obedience three years ago. And while it led her to newfound experiences — more travels, more friendships, and of course, a motorcycle license to accompany her cream-colored Vespa — it also led her to a deeper intimacy with Jesus. And of all the things she’s embraced over the years, she continually admits that’s her favorite step she’s ever taken. 

“I’ve been given the opportunity — well, we all have — to become more intimate with Jesus,” she said. “And it didn’t take me long to realize that’s about the only guarantee we have in this life. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will never leave us nor forsake us. And I think coming out of the last few years, that’s about all I do know. He’s good; He won’t leave me; He is going to enable me to get through whatever it is, and in Him, all the promises of God are yes and amen.

“So despite what the past looks like, I can have hope, I can have faith, I can still have a glint in my eye, a spring in my step and look to the future with joy and peace and confidence,” she concluded. “Not because I know anything about the future, but because I know the One who holds the future in His hands.”

Historically, differences on teaching have caused major divisions within the Church. Few things annoyed Jesus or the apostles more than incorrect teaching. Martin Luther even started the Protestant Reformation because of his annoyance with the Church’s incorrect doctrine.

But before you go and nail a list of complaints to the door of your pastor’s office, take the time to ask yourself these three questions:

1. What Does the Bible Say About it?

Christianity is unique among religions in that its adherents are encouraged to test the teaching they receive and not accept it just because it comes from a preacher or person in authority. John encourages us in 1 John 4 to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

So take the teachings from your church, community or pastor and test them against what Scripture states. Can you find that they are consistent? Or do these teachings in your church disagree with what the Bible actually says?

This will help you discern whether you have biblical grounds to confront your teachers. If you do end up confronting the pastor or teacher, you will want to bring more of an argument than, “Your teaching annoys me.” You would be well served to have biblical grounds to challenge their (or anyone’s) teaching.

2. Is it Me?

Of course, you may find that your pastor or teacher lines up with Scripture. If so, then you probably need to search yourself and ask why you’re feeling annoyed.

Many times, we may walk away from a church not feeling right about what we heard taught. But this doesn’t necessarily mean the teaching was unbiblical or incorrect. Sometimes that feeling we feel is the Spirit of God using His Word to convict us of sin or in our own lives or errors in our thinking. Perhaps we feel annoyed because we didn’t get enough sleep the night before, or perhaps we failed to approach our time of worship in prayer and humility.

It’s wise, before you jump the gun and confront others, first to pray like the Psalmist, “Search me O God and know my heart, test me and see if there be any grievous way in me.” This kind of submission requires humility. So remember, be humble and ask, “Is there anything in my life that could be contributing to the discord I feel in my faith community?” “Am I annoyed because the teaching is unbiblical or am I annoyed because the teaching is striking too close to home?”

Often, I find the latter to be true.

3. Can I Confront False Teaching in a Spirit of Love and Peace?

Unity and peace within the Church are the foremost characteristics of a Spirit-filled community. We never want to do anything actively to bring discord to what God has joined together. Our motivation should always be love and never pride. Remember that love bears all things, endures all things and never fails (1 Corinthians 13).

However, if some teaching in your church runs contrary to the Scriptures or to the Gospel, then you should bring your concern to the authorities in your church.

But remember, Jesus-like confrontation is for the benefit of the Church, not your own reputation. So confront in the name of truth, but speak the truth in love. If you find can’t do this without getting angry, or if you’re just looking to prove you’re right, then take a step back and pray for wisdom as to how to proceed. Your victory will be hollow if you succeed in correcting your pastors’ or teachers’ doctrine, but fail to display the love and humility that doctrine teaches.

Within the last three years, the renowned worship leader has left her home country of Australia, joined a new church, become a mother and embarked on a solo career. Suffice to say, things look a lot different for her these days.

But regardless of what season she’s found herself in, she’s discovered that one thing remains constant: God. TAYA opened up to RELEVANT about how she’s rooted her trust in God during the changing seasons of life, and how she’s also found joy through the ups and downs and twist and turns.

This conversations has been edited for length and clarity.

Your song Gonna Be Good is so full of joy. Where did the inspiration for this song come from?

My husband, actually. He felt like he got that message from the Holy Spirit before we were moving to America. So that was maybe about three and a half years ago. He felt in the season that we were about to step into, which was just trusting in God and an overseas move and just stuff that we just hadn’t conceived would happen, but was going to happen. There were a lot of unknowns and things that could cause worry if we chose to go down that route. He felt this word from God that we’re meant to trust and be joyful, which is a really funny combination because you would think when you trust in God, you’re trusting in His character, you’re trusting in who He is. He’s omnipresent, He’s omniscient, He knows everything. Nothing is a surprise to Him, nothing shakes Him. He is true, infallible, eternal God — which should be enough for us.

But again, we’re humans and we have doubts. We allow things to creep in. But then so many times we can trust God, and still have these little attitudes of like, I trust you, but this sucks. And my husband really felt we were meant to trust and be joyful, which means that you truly do let go of the worry and you let go of the fear of the unknown.

And so I took some time out early last year, and I really wanted to hear a word from God because I can’t do it without him. I needed direction, so I waited. Eventually He spoke to me through birds through this scripture in Matthew 6 that says to cease from your worry about money. And I had to ask God, am I worrying about provision? Because we’re living in America, and there was a whole bunch of unforeseen things that were yet to unfold when it came to now no longer working at a church and what that looked like and the unpacking of that and finding a new church community and all of this.

So it felt like He was speaking into that season before we even knew that was going be unfolding. My husband at the time wasn’t working, so we were on one income and then unbeknownst to me, I was pregnant at that time. It just turned out to be wild timing and the wild kindness of God.

I felt like God was speaking into all of it for me. And He was saying, “Get your eyes off yourself, look up at the birds.” And in Matthew 6, it talks about how they are careless in the care of God, about how they are just obeying the instincts that God has placed within them. They don’t gather for food, and they don’t freak out. They don’t have a place to rest their heads. But God provides for them. And how much more does our Heavenly Father know what we need? And so I was having that revelation in January of last year as I was starting to write new music.

That reminds me of the line in “Oceans” where you sing “Spirit, Lead me where my trust is without borders.” Is trust something that you’re always wrestling with? 

Yeah I suppose so. I feel like trust is something that I’ll always have as a theme — not just in music, but in life. Like you said, “Oceans” is all about trust. It’s a kind of trust where it says a prayer of asking God to use me in such a way that I will walk out into the craziest deep water, where I have nothing else to lean on, nothing to fall back on, no borders.

I’ve found in every single season, it’s a reminder that trust is a layered thing. It’s not like you say you trust God in one season and then that’s it. It’s like, no, I get to, in this new season, trust Him in a whole new way, in a deeper way, and with things that are perhaps even more precious and that I care about even more.

And yet, I’m not meant to trust any less. I’m actually meant to continue to trust more and grow in my trust. In this season, it’s trust and joy, which has been a challenge and something that hasn’t come easily.

And again, I just want to be very honest. There have totally been days and times where I’m full-on crying, going, “Lord, what have I said yes to?” Or like, “Are you sure I’m the right person?” It’s like imposter syndrome.

Learning where to bring that — not just sitting in it, feeling it, yes, but knowing who to take it to — I take it to God first, and then I’m able to unpack that with my husband and dear, more mature friends that God has placed in our life. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever get away from, and I don’t want to either, because I think anytime I think I’ve got this, I’m going to fall on my face.

How are you learning to trust God as you step into this solo career?

I don’t love to be pegged into a particular box, which is hilarious when you’re called an artist because people want to know how to package this. Before recording a song with United, someone told me something that felt like God’s kindness in preparing me not to compare myself to others and to be content with who God wants me to be. It reminded me not to look left or right in comparison or envy but to be content with what God is doing.

I often go back to this advice: just because ministry, leading, or songwriting looks a certain way for someone else, doesn’t mean it has to be that way for you. Don’t put God in a box. Allow Him to do whatever He wants, and be open to that.

I’ve struggled with this a bit, especially being part of United for the last 10 years with its particular sound. It’s an honor to have music that resonates with people and connects them to Jesus. But what’s crazy is I didn’t write those songs. Now, writing my own songs, they will sound different. This first record allowed me to bring everything to the table—my voice, writing style, and my expression of who Jesus is. I love funky soul chords, prefer the black notes on the piano, and write in A flat.

In the last year, stewarding this record and opportunities from God, I’ve realized I need songs for the church because I’m asked to lead worship. Writing these songs has been harder to figure out and do well. My hat goes off to everyone who writes songs for the church. I’ve led them but am just starting to write them. It’s a learning experience.

Hopefully, the second half of this record, which I’m still working on, will include those expressions. It’s another step of faith, trusting God, and learning to be joyful in starting out again. Representing these songs live has been fun. We’ve translated them, played them differently, adjusted speeds, and made them more congregational. I love how malleable the songs are and how they’ve connected with people in worship settings and churches.

I’m excited for what’s to come. I know there will be a live worship record one day, but it doesn’t feel right for now. I hope people will come along on the journey as I follow what I feel God is saying for this season and the ones to come.

It was a normal Monday night and I was gathered with a dozen young adults in my living room, eating grilled cheese (the food of champions) and ready to play a game and talk about God, when the subject of conversation changed.

It has happened like that several times in the last few months—a sudden shift from the usual conversations about work and school, weekend shenanigans and new music. I couldn’t help but hold my breath once again as the topic turned to tragedy: Recent automobile accidents that claimed the lives of friends. Tragic, nonsensical shootings. International wars. Planned Parenthood videos. Lots to fear, lots of which to be afraid.

The list was long. Intense. Depressing. Scary.

Over the last few months, time and again, I have observed that when I’m talking with Christians—young or old—and the subject of conversation shifts to tragedies and world events, there happens to be a common denominator to their reactions. Of course, it’s all sad. Of course they differ in explaining how God may or may not be involved, depending on their background and experience. But when it comes to what they do personally when they receive what seems like a tidal wave of unsettling, fearsome information over airwaves, social media and news sites, there seems to be a common theme:

“Shut it off.”

Fear can be overwhelming. The more we feel the world is out of control, the less we want to be a part of it. We’re devastated people could act that way toward one another. We’re confused as to how we can protect ourselves. We’re uncertain about the what-ifs. And so, we shut down.

“That’s why I don’t watch/listen to/read the news anymore.”

Maybe you have said it. Maybe you have done it. Maybe after discussing all this stuff going on in this crazy world, you are choosing to do it right now. Maybe it’s the reason you signed off cable and signed onto Netflix.

And it makes perfect sense, if you think about it. Fear traps, imprisons, paralyzes. Even for those who place their hope in Jesus Christ, thinking about big problems and possible tragedies can cause insomnia, stress and sadness. I don’t know about you, but when my heart breaks, I don’t like the way that feels. I sometimes think if I don’t know, think about or talk about disasters, epidemics, wars or bombings, I don’t have to experience that.

We often feel helpless about our own lives, let alone the world. Besides, even Christ-followers can’t do anything about these local, national and worldwide tragedies anyway—right?

Not according to Jesus.

While there are legitimate times to step away, and while chronic fear and anxiety are real issues that need to be faced and mitigated in our lives, pulling the curtains to block out the world doesn’t seem to be an option for anyone who claims to follow Christ. Jesus was with people so much that the Scriptures go out of their way to indicate He experienced gut-wrenching compassion for them in their state of life (Mark 6, Matthew 14).

On one occasion, when crowds of people began to gather around Jesus, He sat down on a mountainside with His crew—the 12 disciples—and purposely allowed the throngs of folks to overhear His teachings. He surprised everyone by first calling out blessings on unexpected groups of people: the poor, the mourners, the humble, the persecuted. The list went on. In that time, everyone believed those people to be punished by God, as indicated by their horrible circumstances. But Jesus claimed the opposite—that God was with them and they were where God was.

And after listing these groups of “blessed” people, Jesus started talking to the disciples directly about their responsibility, their role.

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16).

The disciples knew the strategic placement of cities of the day—built on top of hills, these cities allowed their inhabitants to protect themselves and see what was going on miles away. City lights also helped travelers orient themselves on the road. Seeing a city gave people relief and HOPE. The light of the city helped those in the city to see, as well as others to see the city and be guided by it.

Responsibility is powered by awareness. Awareness is possible through involvement. Involvement results in illumination.

But what would happen if everybody shut their windows, shut their curtains and put their lights under baskets?

We wind up aiding the darkness when we go too far to protect our light.

If God’s Spirit populates us like a city, we need to see what’s happening on the landscape. We need to be connected to the world—to those unruly situations, people and places that make us most afraid—so we can be reminded how much we need to rely on God and not on human attempts to be gods. By shutting off the world around us, how would we know who and what to pray for? If we actually believe prayer has a purpose and God can work in anyone, anywhere, we need to plead on the behalf of others.

Christ-followers should feel uncomfortable when we hear of people killing one another, of viruses spreading, of citizens living in the midst of rocket fire and war. When that discomfort turns into fear, we shut ourselves off from the news, cover our lamps, and take cover in our comfortable living rooms.

But when that discomfort turns into prayer and trust in a God who has plans to restore His broken world, we shut down the author of fear, the prince of darkness. We are propelled to fight against injustice and offer hope and help to those suffering from accidents, addictions and depression. We support aid organizations and go on mission trips to change situations and our priorities. Fear does not get the best of us—God does.

And we pray—not just say we will. But really pray.

The ability to sing the song of hope and to live each day in the confidence that God will write the final bars does not depend on what’s going on around us. Like the light of Christ that we’ve been given, that hope only dies—actually suffocates—when we attempt to cover it for ourselves.

I should have seen it coming. I had packed my life with jobs and positions and commitments out of my deep-seated need to be needed. I was too busy, and the gentle, calm woman I’d married five years prior had decided she would rather be single than be married and do life all alone.

“Pam,” I said, my voice low and my words slow, “if you will stay here tonight—if you will agree not to leave tonight—I will walk in tomorrow and resign.” The red rims around her eyes told me she’d been crying all afternoon. “No, you won’t,” she challenged. “You won’t.” I asked for 24 hours, to prove that I’d make good on my plan. And by that time the following day, I had resigned every last role.

That was one of the first times I realized I have a problem: I’m addicted to being busy.

And it’s not just me. Every problem I see, in every person I know, ultimately is a problem of moving too fast for too long in too many aspects of life. Every problem. And I’m a pastor, so I see a lot of problems.

We think if we can keep going, keep busy, keep plowing ahead, our conscience won’t have time to catch us because—ha, ha!—we’ll already be long gone. And the reality is this approach actually works. But only for a time. “Life is like the breath,” writes Brother David Steindl-Rast. “We must be able to live in an easy rhythm between give and take. If we cannot learn to live and breathe in this rhythm, we will place ourselves in grave danger.” Maybe even the literal grave.

Because it’s easy for me to chase after the tempting buzz of busy living, I’ve learned to recognize the signs that my addiction has kicked in again. If you lean toward over-scheduled and under-rested, consider these danger signs of a busyness addiction:

You Feel Like You’re in Your Glory When You’re Busiest.

This really should be the first clue that something is amiss. You see, I like how success feels. I don’t want to unplug. I don’t want to relax. The last thing I crave is rest. I’m a recovering speed-and-wild-success junkie who never wants to come down, and to allow any semblance of white space is to cause the undesirable effects of withdrawal.

You’re More Fascinated With Gadgets Than With God.

I got to work a few days ago and realized I’d left my phone at home. The all-out search that proved futile and the ensuing overwhelming angst I experienced were significant. I think I was more distraught than if I’d misplaced one of my children. How am I going to get through this day without my phone? I thought.

A different kind of call was coming in, even as I searched for the device. It was a call from God: “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Of course I didn’t pick up.

God tried again: “Lay your burdens down, child. Walk with me, and your walk will be burden-free.” To which I didn’t respond. Again.

God stays the course: “I want you to be fascinated not with trinkets, but with me.” Still, no response.

Ever-patient, ever-persistent, God went for it a fourth time: “Slow down. Look up. Linger here with me.”

It was then I thought I heard something. Wait. Was that the voice of God?

But then, I hear a subtle ding from my phone, which had been in my laptop bag the entire time. The ding was alerting me to a text message that had just arrived. My thumb couldn’t help itself—it was itching to swipe. As I reached for my phone, all attention focused on that new text, I simultaneously scored one for the enemy of my soul.

Technology is not a bad thing in itself, but when we’re more tuned into our iPhone alerts than to our Creator, it’s a problem.

Your Favorite Compliment Has Become, “Wow. You’re Always so Busy.”

Behind the” I’m-so-busy-it-would-blow-your-mind” conversations is the motivation for all my busyness. I have a theory on this, which is that busyness is our means to impress. If I’m busy, then I’m important, and if I’m important, then you’ll be impressed. That’s the reason I spend so much time being busy: to impress you, so perhaps I’ll feel like I matter. Impression management becomes a full-time job, and it’s exhausting.

You Don’t Have Time for the Ones You Love.

These days, years after that day of packed bags at the door, I don’t let things get that far. But still there are times when I can see in my wife’s weary gaze that I’ve been pushing and driving too hard. It’s the worst warning sign of all, I think, the one that says, “You’re hurting the ones you most love.”

For some people, it takes a world-rocking tragedy or the loss of everything they hold dear in order to finally learn how to slow down, to tend to their souls, to rest—it takes some sort of death. I hope that won’t be true for you. I’m determined it won’t be true for me. I’m resolving instead to go down a different path, a path paved with rest and peace.

Consider this: God is not merely a peaceful person; God, in fact, is peace. When you and I sit in God’s presence, we’re sitting in the presence of peace. And when we sit there—actually stay there, quiet, still—we come away breathing differently. We come away with steadied souls. From there, astoundingly, we can become people of peace. We can become more like God.

This is why God’s invitation is so profound, the invitation to come to Him to find our rest: He can actually deliver on what He promises, something the world never will be able to do.

I want this type of restfulness. I want to say yes to this.

We slow down—to rest, to contemplate, to lollygag with God—because slow can pay serious dividends, for our bodies, for our minds, for our souls.