Is Jesus Better? When I was a freshman in high school, I remember talking to an older Christian who was trying to be a leader to me. I asked him how it is that “religious people” (as I called them), were able to resist the temptation to have sex before marriage. He didn’t answer the…

God Doesn’t Need Us After recently returning from Gatlinburg, NC and seeing the destruction left behind the wake of the historic fire, I’ve been thinking a lot about what servanthood means.  If our goal is to emulate the life of Jesus while we’re on earth, then shouldn’t we all strive to make ourselves servants just…

We have become awash with the “keeping it casual” mentality. It’s not just our hook-up culture. It spills over into the objectification of others via various social media and it spills into social circles that are a mile wide and an inch deep. But what’s really tragic is when it spills into the Christian’s relationship…

College students are probably the most stressed out people in the universe, but I don’t have to tell you all that. Everyone knows someone who is so high strung and stressed out that they always seem to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. And if you don’t know someone like that, then you’re…

In the last year or so, I have noticed how much I value alone time. Nothing recharges me more than sitting in a quiet room and spending some time by myself. I’m what they call an introvert. Introversion and extroversion seem to be big topics in conversation today. College students especially are always aware of…

Every once in awhile, God seems to take my environment around me, especially nature, and snap it into focus in such a way that it brings some clarity to my own heart. I pass a lot of trees on my way to class every day. Back in the fall, I watched as the trees changed and…

Spend some time in prayer today. A couple weeks ago my friends and I wrote down some questions to think about. There is nothing magical about them. They are just a tools we use to reflect on our purpose of serving the kingdom. These questions are worded as prayers to God and I hope as…

Community is a word that is spoken often in the church but its true meaning and what it looks like in the everyday lives of believers is rather ill defined. Community is often thought to be an average Sunday morning spent singing in the same building with other believers and maybe if you know them…

Exiles in foreign cities In the opening verses of 1 Peter, Peter describes us (Christians) as exiles. We are exiles in foreign worlds, and these worlds are not our true home. We need to know how to live as exiles in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Boone, Charlotte, and elsewhere. Fortunately, God has sent his people into…

Last night I was reading in Mark 2 and I came across Mark 2:18-22 18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is…