You Take Me as I Am: Insecurity, My Boring Story, and Coming to Grips with Grace
How could I think that my prideful, selfish, unloving heart being raised to new life is anything less than supernatural? How could I want more drama than that? How could I want a more spectacular demonstration of power than that?
Beauty Will Redeem the World: My Favorite Scene from TV This Year
Beauty is its own argument, for as much as we ignore or deny or question its power, we melt in its presence. Human hearts may be nearly impossible to change; but beauty changes them. Beauty pierces us. Beauty reorients our values and purposes. It can drive us and inspire us. Beauty, weak as it may seem, has the power to do what almost nothing else can.
Six Practical Ways to See Beauty in Art
All real artists are putting everything they have into their art. They’re not spending hours crafting their perfect painting or song or book without great thought and intentionality. They’re not doing this because they have nothing better to do with their time. They’re doing this because there’s something profound they’re trying to figure out how to communicate. And if that’s the case, maybe we should listen.
I Was Made for You: The Story, Singleness, the Church, and a Love Letter to Those Who Really Love Me
As someone who believes strongly in the value of being real, of confessing, of knowing and being known, I live a life torn in two directions. As desperate as I am to be known, I think the vast majority of people around me see the smile on my mouth and call me blessed. What they don’t realize is that I have so much to say that doesn’t come out. They don’t realize I’m a messed up head-case who’s insecure and needy and impatient and selfish—but as much as I want them all to know that and accept me and love me, the reality is that I don’t trust that they’d really accept me if they knew the real me. I can barely get people to like the projected me, so what hope is there that they’ll accept the whole, unfiltered me behind the projected me?
How Am I Going to Be an Optimist about This?
Is the refrain from Bastille's popular song also the refrain of Christians? When the world crumbles around us, in the midst of our guilt and our worry, sometimes our number one concern is "how am I going to be an optimist about this?" After all, if we'll just close our eyes, doesn't it feel like nothing's all that wrong?
Will You Help Us Learn How to Serve Houston?
For the sake of Houston, will you help us find people to meet with? We want to learn about the people around us so that we can figure out how to serve them. Will you help us?