22 Things I learned in 2022

Now that 2022 is done with, it is time to reflect on just a few of the things that I learned throughout the year. Rather than do 22 separate blog posts about them, I thought I’d give you all 22 in one shot. So here we go!!!

Bootleg Jesus

This past weekend at COSA, I gave a message that I entitled “What Does Jesus Look Like?” I invited our people to picture what image comes to mind when they hear His name. I then proceeded to show a series of paintings, artistic interpretations, of what others thought Jesus might be like. There was a […]

Courageous habits

I am by no means a paragon of courage. For example, I am not a fan of scary movies. I can’t handle them. I mean come on, life is scary enough without going over the top with it. I have enough scary information to process after watching the news. I don’t need Freddy, Jason, Michael […]

3 Things We Can Agree On

I know, there are a ton of things that none of us can agree on right now. As a matter of fact, the list on what we can agree on grows smaller and smaller. At least, it sort of feels that way. However, there are a lot of things that we can all agree on. […]

Hope Bandits

A few weeks ago, I started a series on hope. To be perfectly transparent, I did it because I really need hope right now. Don’t worry, I’m okay. It’s just that it seems like I have needed hope more than I ever have before. Times are difficult and hope seems to be in short supply. […]

End of the Rope Hope: The Dynamic Duo

There are certain combos that are unbeatable. It’s like when you go to the movies and you have to get a bucket of popcorn. I know, you have to take out a small loan just to get the popcorn, not to mention the Coke Icee that goes with it but totally worth it in the […]

The BIg Picture

Last week wrote about a topic that has been key to my survival the last few years entitled “End of your rope hope.” This is hope that is gritty and tough. It’s different from blind optimism or toxic positivity. Gritty Hope is the kind of hope that can persevere during small changes in life and […]

End of the rope hope: Finding Hope in Hopeless circumstances

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to that have said they are at the end of their rope. If I’m being honest, I am in and out of that state of mind as well. However, the moment I start feeling sorry for myself, I am reminded that there are a lot of […]

Chaos Management

Have you ever lost control of your car on an icy or wet road? It is terrifying isn’t it? The crazy thing about losing control on the road is that the more you try to regain control by overcorrecting, the worse the problem gets. Another way to say that is… The more you grasp for […]

Bundling our faith

Have you ever gone to get a new phone, along with a new phone plan, and tried to sift through all of the different charges and “benefits” that you’ll be receiving? You slowly begin to realize that you’ll be signing your life away along with your first born. I get anxiety and a little bit […]