Editor’s Note: Nineteen years ago, Gabe and Rebekah Lyons’s life took a dramatic turn when they learned that their newborn son, Cade, had Down syndrome. Remembering the day they received the diagnosis, Rebekah said that she collapsed. “Something died in me the day Cade was born — a controlled plan for my life,” Rebekah said. “But…
Christmas Lights
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. — Matthew 5:14 No one loves Christmas more than my dad. My parents had a way of making it magical every year, and a huge part of that experience was the decorating. There was only one kind of Christmas…
The Daniel Dilemma: In the World but Not of It
Truth without grace is mean. Grace without truth is meaningless. Truth and grace together are good medicine. ~ Chris Hodges Getting Started “Does it really matter what this movie is rated?” “How should I vote on issues that contradict my beliefs?” “When is it appropriate for me to bring up my faith with my coworkers…
Being Great in 2017
“You are the light of the world…” — Matthew 5:14 Greatness and fame are terms often confused or even used inter-changeably. Fame is usually the result of some popular act: a ball is caught, a song is sung, a book is written, or a character is played. But greatness cannot be reduced to an action or…
Overwatering: Too Much of a Good Thing
You are the light of the world. — Jesus in Matthew 5:14 It may seem odd or even inconceivable, but a plant can actually have too much water. A plant can have too much of a good and life-giving thing! When they’re overwatered, plants yellow and then die. Can we as followers of Christ be…
Trembling at His Word
I read a verse the other day that literally brought me to tears. It was Isaiah 66:2. It says, This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word. God says, “This is the person I’m going to look to: the one who’s…
Leaving Nazareth
The city of Nazareth sits on a summit. Certainly no Nazarene boy could resist an occasional hike to the crest to look out over the valley beneath. Sitting six hundred feet above the level of the sea, the young Jesus could examine this world He had made. Mountain flowers in the spring. Cool sunsets. Pelicans…