I’m not accustomed to grief, despite experiencing it now; but I regularly speak to people in their moments of sorrow.  I think often of a quote from Tim Keller, “We can be sure our prayers are answered precisely in the way we would want them to be answered if we knew everything God knows.”  And … More A Sit-down with the Creator and Savior

My little baby, who had no name, who I knew nothing about, had no heartbeat today.   He never saw my face, he never heard my voice, but he was loved by me, and he felt the love of his mother.   I thought he was going to complete our family, and without this little … More At the Mountains of Sadness

I’m more of a social media observer than I am a participator, but I’m concerned about how my Christian brothers and sisters are engaged in the political discourse. It’s not an easy political or social landscape out there right now.  Whatever you agree or disagree on will have harsh critics on the other side. I don’t want … More Christian Guidelines for Social Media Use

I was awoken in the middle of the night.  I had some sort of nightmare.  I just remember my world falling apart.  I was in a panic. Normally after a nightmare, it just takes you a few moments to come to grips with reality that you aren’t falling into a precipice or being chased by … More When a Baptist Only Has Pentecostal Words to Describe an Experience

Maybe you’ve heard about the book or read an article on the concept of “When Helping Hurts.” There’s no doubt this is a real phenomenon.  Basically, picture this:  A natural disaster happens such as the earthquake in Haiti a few years back and people start sending in donations.  USAID uses the money donated to buy millions … More When Helping Actually Helps

The Wise Men or Magi are major players in the Christmas Narrative.  In every production we present these men with certain qualities and it just became common knowledge (despite just being made-up).  But what do we actually know?  What educated guess and inferences can we make?  Here is every fact I can pull out of … More Everything You Never Wanted to Know about the Wise Men

If you are unsure if Jesus is THE King, go ahead and read this first.  It’s okay.  I’ll wait.  It’s fine.  Go, go, I have nothing else to do. Seriously, read it. Good.  Gosh you’re a slow reader.  Are you done yet?  Done?  Finally.  Ok, so now you are convinced that Jesus is the King, the question … More Is Jesus Your King?

It has felt more complicated to comment on politics lately.  You are either for separating children from their parents; or you are for all of Central America coming to the US and potentially destroying our economy.  You are either for destroying this planet with greenhouse gases, or you are for crippling the 3rd world by preventing … More Christian Politics

UPDATED (updates at bottom) Well, I’ve settled on it.  I’m going to embark on one of the tougher challenges of my life.  I’ve hiked 100 miles in 10 days.  This will be harder.  I completed a Doctoral Program in less than 24 months with 2 jobs, a wife, and a kid.  This will be harder. … More My 1 Corinthians 6:12 Challenge (or Joe’s 7 Deadly Sins)

Have you ever felt like God isn’t listening?  Like He was distant?  Your head tells you that He’s always there or at least right around the corner, but your heart is screaming, “Where the heck is God?”  I’m going to call this a desert – a spiritual desert. Now there are several possibilities here for why … More Growing in a Desert