“Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

Acts 2:46-47 CSB

I really love reading through the beginning of the Church in the book of Acts, seeing how these believers came together as a community to share the Gospel and be there for each other. It’s pretty clear that in today’s world, things are very divided and tensions grow daily. What is even more disheartening and breaks me, is seeing that those who claim to follow Christ, spew the most hateful ideology of an us versus them mindset, all while mis-using Scripture to fuel their hate. Let me be clear, this is wrong and against the entire message of Christ and Scripture.

It’s so sad and yet also not surprising, we see that the goal of the enemy is to steal, kill, and destroy. What is a better way of doing that, than attacking the pride that lives in the heart?

Now, that sounds very bleak, but I have a heart for optimism and I truly believe that it does not have to be this way.

The truth is, the kingdom that Christ desires is one of diversity and deep love for one another.

We do not have to let ourselves fall into the trap that has been set, we can choose to follow the example that Christ left for us, to be a light in the world as a community because we are better together.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6 CSB

In John Mark Comer’s book, Practicing the Way, he makes the statement that all of us are being formed by something, that can either be the world around us or by Christ. This is not just a profound statement, but one that is vital as people who claim to follow Christ. I’ve found that many times, people listen to an explanation for how to live, rather than seeking the path that Jesus left His disciples. Those disciples being you and me, not just the ones we read about.

When I meet with those who follow Jesus and those who just have questions about following, my biggest encouragement is to read and embrace the lifestyle that Jesus lived, because for all of us, that is the truth we are called to live out. It’s the easy answer, but often the answer that we avoid the most. Why? Why do we know what we should do and yet turn to something easier? We go to church on Sunday but don’t even look at the Scriptures referenced on Monday. We follow a myriad of influencers to give us their view of Scripture, yet don’t validate what they claim for ourselves. We end up misusing Scripture to either make ourselves look better or harm others, something that Jesus fully rejects and stood against.

We are all being formed, make sure you are being formed by the life-giving words of Jesus, our savior.

“Then Joshua set up in Gilgal twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, ‘in the future, when your children ask their fathers, what is the meaning of these stones? You should tell your children, Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.”

Joshua 4:20-21 CSB

I love this moment in Scripture, where Joshua has led the people away from harm, and he stops to mark the moment, looking back in order to move forward. I think this is important for all of us to do as we continue to grow in our lives. Not to dwell on the past, but to look back at where you have been and then use that to move yourself forward into new things.

September is here and with is brings in cooler (sort of) weather and into a season that begins a time of harvest. I view the year’s seasons as a way to reflect and navigate in my own life, as September marks the beginning of the end of the year. Fall is naturally busy and one that if I let it slip by, it can move through my fingers in an instant.

So, I begin to reflect so that I can take hold of the good that will come in the coming months.

“In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Matthew 23:28 CSB

There was a video that went viral a little while back, where a youth group was interviewing their students, asking the student what the verse in their social media bio said…and not one student actually knew what the verse said. I saw a lot of responses and a whole lot of judgement, and at first I will admit I too had the thought of, “are they for real,” but I stopped myself because I too have been in that place. Where I looked good and like I had this deep relationship with God, but I really was just coasting in my faith or didn’t make it my own.

I mean, think back to high school, you’re really a product of your environment, and the church world is a very easy environment to look good without needing it to be real. Now, the majority of you reading this have been out of high school for many years, which would let us believe that we would never do something like what these students do, but we know that’s not really true.

I mean, who hasn’t shared a picture of their coffee and Bible…that might not have been opened at all, but the optics look great! The verse in the bio, the shot of your hands high in worship, your prayer before a meal in public, all of it looks great; but at the end of the day, the evidence matters more over the optics of your faith.

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.”

Philippians 4:8 CSB

A few days ago, dear Danielle and I were having a nightly recap of watching the TikToks we sent each other because we’re cute like that. I had seen a wild video of a security video of a bear climbing onto a trampoline, but as we watched it, I realized that it was an AI video and not real…which was so frustrating.

Thinking I had quickly seen a funny video, only to realize it was fake, was such a bummer because rather than seeing something real, I had been fooled. Now, I am not a fan of AI at all, I think God has made us creative, and cutting out a creative person for a lesser quality product is just wrong (not only that but the negative environmental impact of God’s creation doesn’t sit right with me). It’s harder to differentiate what is real and fake on digital platforms, and it reminded me of this Scripture where Paul encourages the church to dwell on things that bring praise and are true.

We are called to dwell on what is true in a world where truth is relative.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18:21

I recently watched a video come on my feed from the comedian Pete Holmes, and in this short clip, he spoke to the fact that words are spells that we cast on each other and ourselves. I love that imagery! Now, before anyone gets fundamental on me, it’s not evil, it’s a picture of the power our words hold. This comes straight from Scripture, and I believe it is a vital reminder to us every day.

The words we use are magic.

Life and death are in their power, and that should not be glossed over as we go about our lives.

There are memories I have of an encouraging word that have stuck with me through the years, and there are also memories of negative words spoken of me as well. The thing that we need to remember, is that our words have power, so we need to do the right thing and use it for good.

“Because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.”

Galatians 6:8-10 CSB

Dear Danielle and I have been doing a ton of gardening. We’re both jumping into this thing full swing without a huge knowledge base of what we’re doing, all while learning a ton along the way. I’ve really enjoyed it, minus the humidity and billions of gnats that fly into my eyeballs, but it has been a blast because we get to prepare the soil, sow the seeds, and then harvest something beautiful.

I think that’s beautiful. Scripture continually uses imagery of agriculture, and I believe this is intentional as it continually reminds us that life is about cycles of sowing and reaping.