There is a moment in the story of Nicky Cruz, the feared leader of a 1950s Brooklyn street gang, that stops you cold. Standing face to face with a preacher who had come into his world uninvited, Cruz ...  Read More

Have you ever looked at a family tree? It starts with parents and then branches out to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Genesis 4 shows us two family lines. Cain’s family built cities...  Read More

The opening chapters of John describe our world much like Genesis does. God made the world good, but sin brought darkness into it. Genesis 4 shows that darkness spreading as Cain murders Abel and viol...  Read More

Biggie Smalls once painted a picture of a world unraveling. In his 1994 song "Things Done Changed," he described what it felt like to watch a community he loved collapse around him. Barbecues and bloc...  Read More

It is a question that rises up almost involuntarily when you watch the news, when you sit with a friend in the middle of their crisis, when something you trusted turns out to be broken. What is wrong ...  Read More

Romans 8:18–30 (NIV)I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be...  Read More

Have you ever broken something you really liked? Maybe you dropped a favorite cup, stepped on a toy, or tore something you had made. Once something breaks, you might try to glue it back together, but ...  Read More

What does it look like for a community to truly thrive? The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has developed what they call a Livability Index, a scoring system built around seven key elem...  Read More

Have you ever tried to grow a plant? A plant needs several things to grow strong and healthy. It needs good soil, water, sunlight, and room for its roots to grow. If you put a flower in a dark closet ...  Read More

Psalm 1:1–6 (NIV)1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, a...  Read More

There is a hunger in every human heart that no achievement, relationship, or accomplishment can fully satisfy. Alex Haley, the creator of the celebrated miniseries Roots, described it this way: "In al...  Read More

Have you ever built something with blocks? You may have chosen where every block belonged. Some became walls, some became windows, and some became a tall tower. Each block had a place and a purpose.Go...  Read More