Reaching for Hope When Life is Too Much

Excerpt taken from Reaching for Hope When Life Is Too Much, an interview with Rush Witt. When life overwhelms, it’s natural to try to get away. Escape holds a powerful allure amid hard times. In every season, a myriad of pressures, challenges, regrets, and disappointments plague our lives. These trials and tribulations often provoke us to cry, “I’ve got to get outta here!” Even though we have…

Sydney Tooley on Finding Hope in Taiwan and Sun Moon (Video Interview)

Sydney Tooley first picked up a camcorder when she was ten years old. It was then that her love for filmmaking was born. Fast forward several years, Tooley, fresh out of college, was at crossroads. Unsure of what she wanted to do with her life, she moved to Taiwan for a year to teach English at a local school. After her year abroad, she returned to the States and moved to Nashville to pursue her…

Conversations with God

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” — Martin Luther Praying was one of the first spiritual disciplines I learned as a new Christian. I didn’t ask anyone how long to pray, what to say in prayer, or what to do when I pray; I just started having a personal conversation with God. One on one, just talking to God like he is right there in the…

3 Ways to Survive the Real Estate Gold Rush

Everyone’s talking about the real estate gold rush. And buyers are doing some pretty crazy stuff to stay competitive—like offering way over the asking price and, in some cases, offering the naming rights to their firstborn child. Yikes! This hype comes from some real factors influencing people to act quickly. Since the start of the pandemic, mortgage interest rates have reached all-time lows.…

‘Breakthrough’ Movie: Miracle on Ice?

  Ever meet someone who died…and lived to tell about it?  Breakthrough tells a startling, back-from-the-brink recovery story that's sure to leave you scratching your head, even if you don't share the grateful mom's faith-miracle conclusions. In January 2015, Missouri teen John Smith spent nearly 30 minutes in icy water – much of it underwater after falling through the ice.  A first…

Fill Me Now

"Do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."—Ephesians 5:18 NASB For Jesus’ disciples, the Holy Spirit changed everything. Waiting in the Upper Room, weak and uncertain, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out” (Acts 2:4). Suddenly, God’s power flowed…

Remember, but Don’t Look Back

“Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32). This is the second shortest verse in the Bible. It certainly is an easy verse to memorize. And as Jesus explains about the end of days, he expects his students to already know about Lot’s wife. Jesus doesn’t ask a question, or sleepwalk through the statement, he uses emphasis to energize the remembering! Because there is no prior knowledge required to enjoy…

Fall in Love With Jesus

Jesus is the Lover of our souls, and He wants us to respond to that love by cultivating an intimate relationship with Him. We’re promised that He will draw near to us when we make a commitment to draw near to Him (James 4:8). Although there’s no formula for having this kind of intimate, personal relationship with Jesus, the Bible gives us patterns and examples to follow: Regularly enter…

Dealing with Disappointment

Disappointment comes in all shapes and sizes. Dealing with disappointment, heartbreak, and unexpected transitions is a frustrating but normal part of life. Some heartbreaks are major and life-altering, while some disappointments are just minor irritations. Regardless of their size or scope, disappointments still hurt. But since these letdowns are part of what it means to be human, it would serve…

5 Things to Look for in a Career

If you have ever worked a position you knew would be temporary, you probably realize the fundamental difference between a job and a career. While a job pays the bills and can be a step forward in a career, your career is focused on long-term growth and development. With a career’s big-picture nature, the question of what you really want out of it becomes much more important. If you get ten…