Spiritual Growth

Unqualified Jesus

When I visited Honduras in 2017, I had an M.Div. degree, years of ministry experience, and a position with a global nonp...

Reflect: The Long Walk Home

When the Wine Runs Out

Sitting at Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square, I had to lead another Bible study. But I'd already studied the Bible with five...

Angered By Grace

In the spring of 2009, a student I discipled, whom I'll call Rob, went on a missions trip to Honduras. Unfortunately, on...

Jesus First

"The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write abo...

Daring Thomas

When one of my friends died, his wife prayed for three days that God would raise him from the dead. She reasoned that Je...

Nowhere Else To Go

I showed up at the building to collect my items and say goodbye, but a security guard met me outside the front door with...

You're Not a Christian

Who am I to question someone’s faith? It’s the kind of accusation that abusive leaders use to destabilize and control. E...

Do You Want To Look At Jesus?

When I arrived for a weekend retreat with thirty up-and-coming leaders, the jockeying for position started immediately....

I Just Couldn't See It

"For five months I've perceived you as being arrogant to me. So I've been praying for you every day and trying to start...

Reflect: The Answer You Didn't Want

The Invisible Jesus

When a large foundation announced they planned to spend a billion dollars on advertisements about Jesus, I felt conflict...

Don't Miss What God Is Doing

When I was dating, I thought God would deliver for me the way he had for my friends. I just needed to pray, ask her out,...

The Word is With Us

My Mom said the rocks would be amazing. I believed her, but sitting in the car for hours made me wish I was back home. S...

The King Who Ran Away

"Thank you Heavenly Father...to allow us to send a message to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists that t...

The Life We Are Dying to Kill

I once got incredibly angry at one of my roommates because he wrote a blog with what I considered bad theology. I felt I...

The Long Walk Home

The hardest part of trusting God isn't the first step. It's the long walk after, before we know the outcome. For instan...

Where Are You Looking?

"Why were your headquarters so nice?" asked my friend. I was puzzled. "What do you mean?" I thought to myself. "The mini...

The World He Loved

We love John 3:16 because it feels safe. It's an inspirational thought printed on bumper stickers and In-N-Out cups. But...

Going to Jesus

We were sitting at Flour in Boston because I couldn't resist their croissants. As I caught up with an old friend, I ask...

Reflect: Come and See

When the Bible Becomes a Battleground

I spent years arguing about whether God chose me or I chose God. Scholars on both sides warned me that the other positio...

The End of the VIP Room

One of the perks of working at RZIM was access to the Green Room. When we hosted packed events at our headquarters, it f...

They Tried to Kill God

"You're lying. I don't trust you." My co-worker's accusation felt worse than getting punched in the face. I knew I was...

An Unforgettable Dinner

"I gave my car to the church." I didn't know what to make of it. She was a college student overloaded with student loans...

Reflect: Plans for Jesus

God's Grace Is Enough

I remember staring at my phone, willing myself to pick it up, but my arm felt like lead. I needed to raise support to ke...

When the Room Makes Truth Unthinkable

I was on a global Skype call with RZIM's senior leaders and Ravi Zacharias himself—the famous apologist whose ministry w...

Prayers That Bounce

At Thanksgiving, we gathered in the kitchen, joined hands, bowed our heads, and prayed. But I wondered, "What's the poin...

Weekend Reflection

Look!

When I was in middle school, another student loved to torment me with cruel nicknames. The one that hurt the most? "Tubb...

When Outsiders Get It First

"I just called everyone on my phone and told them about Jesus." I was stunned. I didn't even know she was a Christian....

Convenient Amnesia

A best-selling apologist called me to talk about Ravi. He agreed that Ravi was a liar, a bully, and a predator. Then he...

True Friends Might Wound Us

When I was fifteen, my grandfather asked if he could talk with me for a moment. I could tell from the tone of his voice...

The Exhaustion of Self-Creation

When Facebook first arrived at my college, I remember the rush to set up a profile so everyone could know who I was, wha...

A Beautiful Waste

When I graduated from Rhodes College, all of my friends were getting traditional jobs that came with salaries, benefits,...

When Prayer Feels Like a Performance

My friend and I met up in Bellingrath Chapel at Rhodes College, where we'd agreed to pray together for an hour. The sile...

Reflect: Look at Jesus

The Unlikely Disciple

The discolored, funky-smelling jerseys made middle school P.E. bad enough. But the worst part was when teams were picked...