Edwin Friedman, in his incredible leadership book, Failure of Nerve talks about how when humans are grouped into an unhealthy emotional system, we tend to develop this herd mentality where we get swept up and away in the general consensus of the population without critically thinking and discerning whether what we’re thinking, or acting on is inherently positive, productive, true or good.

Every single one of us has been created with incredible detail. From the color of your eyes, to the length of your toes, to your ability to draw, or write, or put a ball in a hoop, to mix elements in a lab, or solve complex math problems, or to understand computer programming, astrophysics or engineering. Each of us have these unique gifts and abilities that stem from the calling or purpose that God has placed on our lives. What’s yours? I mean, deep down, isn’t that what we’re all truly craving to know?

Jesus’s vision for the Church is that of a family. He calls the Church, “the bride of Christ.” He claims himself as the groom. Jesus says that whoever does the will of God is his brother and sister and mother. All throughout the New Testament, the apostles greet one another as, “brothers and sisters in Christ.” We call God what? God the Father! So, just to reiterate, Jesus is not anti-family. But he is anti-partial allegiance. He’s anti-“luke-warmness,” as he calls it.

I don’t think it’s a secret that we live in the most connected society ever. At the snap of a finger, we can pull up—on our devices—a friend from Norway or China or India. In an instant, we can send a message of communication literally around the world. Our ability to connect and accessibility to the world has never been higher. Simply put, there’s never been more opportunities to be a witness to not just the world, but to those all around us. With one message, one tweet, one snap, we could potentially have communicated with every single person in our immediate sphere. The potential for relationship has never been greater and yet, many of us are lonelier than ever. How can that be?!

Jesus didn’t avoid those who looked different, lived different or acted different from him. He didn’t hole himself up in a church or synagogue and live his life safely in the confines of other Bible-believing Jews. Jesus went to the margins of society and sought to LOVE those who were deemed different, less than or inferior to him. Jesus believed in the power of presence. What about us?

There’s something powerful about the practice of generosity. Oftentimes, generosity is a front door vehicle for us—as followers of Jesus—to deliver the Good News. To help someone in need establishes credibility in a relationship to teach and preach about Jesus. I want to get super practical this week and offer 5 simple ways that you can begin practicing generosity right now.

One of my favorite figures in the faith is a guy by the name of St. Francis. Francis of Assisi is well-known for many reasons. At the top is his explanation of what he calls, “perfect joy.” I love this. It’s riveting.

Why are we so afraid to love those different from us? How do we step into a different cultural, ethnic, societal, socio-economic, popularity relationship and lean into the tension that’s present? How do we love the person whom society would deem—either explicitly or implicitly—“the other?”

What does it mean to belong to a, “healthy” family? That’s a big question, isn’t it? Is there an answer? When we open the Scriptures, we find a vastly different cultural context than what we find ourselves living in now. This fact is imperative to know as we attempt to extrapolate the truth behind Jesus’s words regarding family. However, I must warn you, Jesus’s word were as provocative and challenging then as they’re going to sound now.

According to World Vision, 698 million people live on less than $2.00 a day. Just for context: You can barely buy a candy bar for $2.00 anymore—you couldn’t even buy a gallon of gas for $2.00 if you wanted to.

In Luke 2, we read about a message that an angel brings to shepherds regarding the birth of a promised Savior. The angel declares, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10, NIV).

God has given you gifts, talents, and passions for a reason! Just like the men were entrusted with money to earn more for the rich man, God entrusts us with gifts to use them for His glory. To point others to Him. To multiply the amount of people who will enter His kingdom. Don’t waste God’s gift…

How do we become person of character? Of integrity? It’s a question many of us want to know the answer to, but quite honestly, aren’t willing to put the work in to discover. The process of character-building is a long, slow, process. But, it is possible and necessary in our walk with Jesus. So, how do we become such a person? How do we grow our character?

There’s a question we all—deep down—long to ask, but for many of us, it’s become too shameful, embarrassing, or humiliating to work up the courage to ask it. The question is this: How do I defeat temptation in my life?

God calls us His children. But, what does that mean? To be a child of God, is that…special? Not only is it special, it’s incomparable. There’s no other title like it. But, how quickly we forget…

No matter if you feel like you’ve been given 1, 2, or 5 bags of talent, be faithful through and through to the calling that God has placed on your life. The returns you will see will be beyond anything you could ever comprehend…

As followers of Jesus, the question that we have to continually ask is, “what kind of human being am I going to be?”

Those moments where your heart is pumping, your veins coursing, your temperature rising. In your heart you know it’s wrong but in your head, you think it could be right just this…one…time.

Have you ever seen something that you thought was too bad to be true? I know the cliché saying is, “it’s too good to be true.” But, what I want to know is if you’ve ever seen something that was too bad to be true?

If we go back to the very beginning of time, we can see that at its core, at its foundation, humanity is not inherently evil. In fact, there is nothing in heaven or here on earth that was created with the intention to become evil.