Tag: Christian living
-
From Provision to Purpose
Early in my ministry, I worked with a pastor who had been a successful engineer in his younger years. His family owned a company in a niche industry, and the business had become quite profitable. But God intervened in this young man’s life, and he eventually sold his stake in the family business to enter…
-
When Provision Disappears
In high school, I planned to become an orthopedic surgeon. As a committed athlete, I had spent my share of time in a doctor’s office getting wrists and knees and fingers repaired. Over time, I began to grow in my fascination for how the human body worked, and also for my doctor’s Rolex. Living in…
-
Speaking for God
A research study in 2007 found that “getting rich and famous” was a high priority for young adults. Another found that one in three millennials wanted to be famous—with some even willing to sacrifice jobs and relationships to achieve it. One U.S. poll found that half of adults wouldn’t mind experiencing some measure of fame.…
-
This is the Life
Once a year I head to Gateway Christian School to participate in a session of their life skills class for high school seniors. I pull my old Jeep CJ out of the garage and use it to teach them how to check and change their oil, jump a dead battery, and change a tire. I…
-
The Race that Matters
A pastor friend here on the island often jokes that I’m missing the part of my brain that says, “This hurts, I should stop.” That’s because, despite being a relatively big guy, I’ve completed several major endurance events over the years. After multiple marathons, long-distance bike rides, and several half and full-distance Ironman races, I’m…
-
Cool Gear, Empty Identity
On my twelfth birthday, my parents gave me an unexpected gift. I don’t remember asking for a guitar, but that first acoustic delivered to me on that cold February evening turned into a lifelong obsession. I shudder to think of the time (and even more frighteningly, the money) I’ve spent on guitars over the last…
-
More Than a Chore Chart
My daughters are entering their summer break from school. Like every parent, we’re beginning this summer season full of optimism, hoping that the girls will do more than sit on the couch, wasting away the hours by watching mindless television and playing video games. We’ll have chore charts, activities, and responsibilities for them to balance…
-
Order Matters
Do you remember learning about “order of operations” in middle school? Maybe the mention of PEMDAS just gave you PTSD! We suffered through countless homework assignments designed to remind us that it wasn’t enough to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. The order in which we performed those operations could create drastically different…
Pastor Jeremy Stephens 