Daily Reading
May 21, 2026
At some point we all face the same decision—what will we do with the Arrows we’ve known? Maybe a better way to say it is, what have they tempted us to do? However they come to us, whether through a loss we experience as abandonment or some deep viola...
Daily Reading
May 20, 2026
Let me take you back now to the last cup of tea, Luke’s parting, and the ending of our family’s childhood era. It was the Saturday of his high school graduation. We had been through two others before and knew the ritual well. I believe in rituals; th...
Daily Reading
May 19, 2026
We live now in a culture of expertise, so completely second nature to us that we don’t give it a second thought. Cutting-edge advances in science and technology—ever sharpening, ever thrusting forward—are now available to anyone with an Internet conn...
Daily Reading
May 18, 2026
Our local zoo had for years one of the biggest African lions I’ve ever seen. A huge male, nearly five hundred pounds, with a wonderful mane and absolutely enormous paws. Panthera leo. The King of the Beasts. Sure, he was caged, but I’m telling you th...
Daily Reading
May 17, 2026
The book "Killing Lions" is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face. [Sam] Are there some things we should do that might not come easy to build a relationship with God, or can we find him in whatever we prefer to...
Daily Reading
May 16, 2026
Whatever else we might believe about intimacy with God at this point, the truth is that God knows us very intimately. He knows what time you went to bed last night. He knows what you dreamed about. He knows what you had for breakfast this morning. He...
Daily Reading
May 15, 2026
We've all heard the story and missed the miracle—God begins his greatest work by including us. Even though we bungled it so badly the first time, back in Eden. Once again he shares in the excitement. Come with me, you have a part in this—the re-creat...
Daily Reading
May 14, 2026
Any movement toward freedom and life, any movement toward God or others, will be opposed.Marriage, friendship, beauty, rest—the thief wants it all. So, it becomes the devil’s business to keep the Christian’s spirit imprisoned. He knows that the belie...
Daily Reading
May 13, 2026
The sense of being part of some bigger story, a purposeful adventure that is the Christian life, begins to drain away again after those first-love years in spite of everything we can do to stop it. Instead of a love affair with God, your life begins ...
Daily Reading
May 12, 2026
Look, let’s go ahead and name the elephant in the room—some prayers work, and some prayers don’t. Why does that surprise and irritate us? Some diets work, but most don’t; no one is really surprised by that. We simply keep looking for the one that wil...
Daily Reading
August 18, 2026
But there’s something deeper that calls to me, something richer I have tasted which compels me to let go of the life I keep rebuilding in order to learn how to love. I want God. Can you name a better reason? There is simply no other fountain of life;...
Daily Reading
August 17, 2026
One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alab...
Daily Reading
August 16, 2026
What do all the great stories and myths tell us? What do they have in common? What are they trying to get across? Wherever they may come from, whatever their shape might be, they nearly always speak to us Three Eternal Truths. First, these stories ar...
Daily Reading
August 15, 2026
The book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face. [John] You have entered the Warrior Stage of a young man’s life. Young men have been at the center of most of history’s revolutions. Deep in ...
Daily Reading
August 14, 2026
The loss of personality confounds our imitation of Christ. What happens is, our particular brand of church seizes upon one or two of his virtues as the essence of Christ for us to follow. Justice. Mercy. Righteousness. Whatever. You cannot live a lif...
Daily Reading
August 13, 2026
There is an overlooked passage late in the New Testament that is going to begin to connect some dots for us in a wild way. It comes from the book of James, and he brings us back around to the old man, Elijah, praying on the mountain: “The prayer of a...
Daily Reading
August 12, 2026
How quickly do betrayal and slavery fall upon Joseph after his father gives him the coat of many colors, the symbol of his delight. We don’t know exactly how much time has passed, but those events are told in the same chapter in Genesis, barely verse...
Daily Reading
August 11, 2026
There is nothing like stepping out your door into a bright and beckoning world. This is why people vacation in beautiful places. It is also the secret to the stories you love — that magical moment when the hero or heroine steps into a "brave new worl...
Daily Reading
August 10, 2026
Let’s name the “levels” of our being:You have fleeting thoughts throughout the day, most of which are insignificant.You also have longings, hopes, and dreams that are far more important.Deep within you, you have experienced the cry for love, hope, an...
Daily Reading
August 9, 2026
In order to learn who we really are, we must have a place in our lives where we are removed from the materialism, entertainment, diversion, and busyness that the Vanity Fair of our society and culture immerse us in. The things sold at the booths in t...
Daily Reading
August 8, 2026
Be very careful how you interpret “unanswered prayer.” Our hearts are so vulnerable in these moments. It’s just too easy to lose heart. The conclusions come rushing in — God isn’t listening; he doesn’t care; I’m not faithful enough; prayer doesn’t re...
Daily Reading
August 7, 2026
You shall know them, Jesus said, by their fruit. The principle holds true for anything in life. It is especially helpful in diagnosing what the enemy might be up to. What is the fruit of what you’re experiencing? What is its effect? If it continues, ...
Daily Reading
August 6, 2026
We’re going to want our souls strong and ready for the days ahead, filled with God, not fried and empty. So we must practice soul care.I’m not suggesting you go on a witch hunt for every neglected place in your soul. There’s way too much loss in ther...
Daily Reading
August 5, 2026
It seems that much of what Christians believe they are called to these days is a cluster of activities that include regular church attendance, Bible study, prayer, giving, concern for justice, and attending the annual men or women’s retreat. Now — wh...
Daily Reading
August 4, 2026
If you want to get to know someone, you need to know their story. Their life is a story. It, too, has a past and a future. It, too, unfolds in a series of scenes over the course of time. Why is Grandfather so silent? Why does he drink too much? Well,...
Daily Reading
August 3, 2026
We are now in the late stages of the long and vicious war against the human heart. I know — it sounds overly dramatic. I almost didn't use the term "war" at all, for fear of being dismissed at this point as one more in the group of "Chicken Littles,"...
Daily Reading
August 2, 2026
If the way to avoid the murderous rage and deceptive allures of desire is to kill it, if deadness is next to godliness, then Jesus had to be the deadest person ever. But he is called the living God. "It is a dreadful thing," the writer of Hebrews say...
Daily Reading
August 1, 2026
We come into the world with a longing to be known and a deep-seated fear that we aren't what we should be. We are set up for a crisis of identity. And then, says Frederick Buechner, the world goes to work: Starting with the rather too pretty young wo...
Daily Reading
August 1, 2026
The human soul is a place of profound mysteries. God is a person of infinite creativity. He can do this any way he wants. Sometimes he goes straight for the wound or the brokenness. Having had that healed, we find it far easier to resist the enemy an...
Daily Reading
July 31, 2026
Mental resilience begins when we decide to take hold of our thought life. Navy SEAL training includes teaching the recruits positive self-talk. Apparently we say something like three hundred to one thousand words to ourselves every minute. You know ...