Experiencing Jesus in the Grocery Store

I don't know why, but the grocery store can often bring out the absolute worst in me. I've narrowed it down to a couple of things that could be wrong: 1) I am an introvert, and there is simply no time of day that the grocery store is not crowded. Loving people have suggested different times to try to swing by when it will be "less busy," but it's always busy. I always have to be around…

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Experiencing Jesus in Prayer

“Why do you Presbyterians pray with your eyes open?” I had never heard a question like that before, but my friend meant it honestly and curiously. He had noticed as he had been hanging out in our little church in my hometown that everyone seemed to offer their prayers with their eyes open, rather than closing them and folding their hands like he was used to. It was a little bit of a mystery to me,…

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Experiencing Jesus in the Bible

A few days ago I was having a conversation with someone who had just recently discovered that I was a youth pastor. I love that moment, when people look at my bearded self and try to reconcile all their pictures of what a pastor is with what’s standing before them. It can illicit all kinds of responses. Sometimes people will try to convince me that they go to church, which is an interesting first r…

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Piece by Piece (Nicole Cain)

Even the best of us can admit that, at one time or another, we have been selfish. For many, if not all, this started as a result of a basic stage in human development usually reached by those three and four year olds who walk the streets like they have the whole world in their hands. While all of us start out this way in life, many of us find humility in one way or another, and learn to embrace…

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Love for the Unlovable

Greetings friends! My friend Nicole Cain shared this blog post with me a few days ago, and while for the most part the blog is shut down for the summer, I thought this was way too rich to not share with our readers. Nicole has just graduated from High School, and shares rather vulnerably from her own faith journey below. After being in pain for so long, the idea of being loved seems to become…

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