May the 4th be with you! 

The first time I saw Star Wars, I was speechless. I had never seen anything like it in my life. 

But after many years — and the prequel trilogy filling in some gaps — I came to more deeply appreciate these films… 

And I found my story with God in Star Wars. 

My daughter talks about a lot of things at the dinner table. 

“Can I do a somersault in the bath tonight?”

“Frozen has the BEST songs ever of any movie ever!” 

“I want to fly but I’d be a pony too.” 

But ever since Easter, she’s been on a kick about brokenness.

Last week, Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis gave towns and cities the go-ahead to reopen beaches, allowing time throughout the day to get outside and forget about the lockdown if even for an hour or two. 

And it went about as you’d expect. 

Thousands of people showed up within minutes of the announcement. After weeks of limiting social interaction, these people were craving the outdoors. The sunlight, the wind, the waves, the sounds, the smells… 

It made me think about heaven. 

Our lives here are a shadow of what they will be with Jesus in heaven..

We hope everyone had a happy Easter weekend! 

If you’re like me, you get a little confused with the timeline of what happened when… it’s a very busy three days! 

Never fear because these 19 hilarious Twitter memes will help you keep it all straight! 

In a world where entire nations are on lockdown, families are being quarantined, and sports have been cancelled… there’s quite a bit of extra time on our hands. 

I’m not proud to admit it, but I used a lot of that time catching up on the most talked about documentary of the last two weeks: 

Tiger King. 

And while the documentary had more than enough twists and turns on its own, I wasn’t prepared for what God was going to teach me by the end. 

It has been a stressful couple of weeks and it will be hard to navigate through the next couple of months. I’ll need to work hard to keep a steady paycheck. But my panic wasn’t just because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills. It was something else…

If I’m honest with myself, I was insecure because far too much of my identity is wrapped up in how well I do my job.

I was doing my job poorly, so what am I worth?

Moments of crisis reveal who we really are.

Christians are no stranger to pandemics. From the moment Jesus reached out and touched a man full of leprosy, the call to heal the sick has been clear...

Love your neighbor as yourself. 

And over the years, Christians have taken Jesus’ example to heart no matter what plague or illness has come upon their neighbors.

Have you ever walked a corn field with a farmer?

 I have. 

They’re obsessed with dirt. And when I say obsessed... I mean obsessed. They’ll weigh it, observe it, and measure it. They’ll run it through their fingertips. They’ll even taste it. 

And they do all of this because good soil is the most important part of growing good crops.

In the face of a worldwide pandemic, it’s easy to be anxious. 

How can I prevent getting sick? 

What if my children come down with it? 

How will I make ends meet if I miss work for a couple of weeks? 

Why would God do this?

You've probably heard the word grace before. You've probably heard the word mercy before. 

But have you ever really understood what the difference is? 

Take a look at our latest blog and video as we dive in to the difference and why we need both.

It isn't enough to talk about reading the Bible, we have to actually sit down & read it.

Watch @HonestYouthPastor give some really simple, practical tips for studying your Bible.

Jesus says, "I came into the world to bear witness to the truth."

But what does He mean?

And what does that mean for us. 

Take a look at our latest blog post to learn more about what God is calling us to in this phrase.

Jesus has called us out of death to live. 

Don't run back to the the dead things, run to the the things that bring life. 

 Don't work to gain favor with God, work to rest in his unending, never giving up, always pursuing, unimaginable grace.

There is a story going around the internet about Vincent Van Gogh, the famous artist, that later on in his life, he wanted to eat yellow paint. 

He said that he hoped it would make him happy, because yellow is a happy color. It might be a true story, might not be. It doesn't really matter. The deeper truth is the same. 

We put together a list of things that are really important to us, we can even call them our DNA. 

If you have ever wondered what we are about, you should definitely check this out.

Click below to learn about the heartbeat and DNA of our brand.

I always start the year off with a ton of goals & resolutions. And 2019 was no different. 

You get it.And every year, right around December 26th, it all starts to set in. 

I didn't do anything I set out to.I mean I did some of it, sort of.But not like I hoped I would.I failed...

This is something that we have been thinking about for awhile. 

But before you get frustrated, or confused you should click below and just give it a read. 

We think this is a pretty important read.

Want to know who the saddest character in the Bible is? His name is Demas.

You might be thinking, "Demas? Who the heck is Demas?"And you aren't alone. Most people probably don't know who he is. 

Yet, he is truly one of the saddest stories in the entire Bible

I recently preached a sermon on the passage in Psalm where it reads, "Be still & know that I am God."

But I think I got this verse wrong for a long time, check out this post & see what I learned!

In Revelation 4, John tells us what he sees in his vision of heaven. And it's nuts.

We see people throwing their crowns at the feet of God. But why?!

That phrase may be super jarring. "Wait, why would you say that my best isn't good enough?! That is terrible."

But what if that is the best news ever? What if that is exactly what you need to hear?

The last words of Jesus on the cross were this phrase: Tetelestai. 

It is Greek for "It is Finished!" But what did he mean? And why is that important for us today?

So Adam & Eve they eat this fruit in the garden and all hell breaks loose. 

Was God surprised? Did this mess up God's plan?

Why is it so easy to believe in things? Werewolves, the lochness monster, and Sasquatch. People actually believe in them. 

But Jesus? That is way harder.