God‘s love is real and he loves you. When those words came to my mind recently, my first thought was that “somebody needs to hear that.” But as I gave it more attention, I realized everyone needs to hear that truth! We all need to be reminded that God‘s love for us is real and that his love is the fuel behind the hope we have in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, I urge you to read this again and give it some thought: God‘s love is real and HE LOVES YOU!

Over the last few months, my wife Becky and I have been blessed with numerous opportunities to celebrate what God is doing in our family and through our ministry with FamilyLife. In those conversations, we share our testimony as a couple that if Jesus Christ wasn’t at the center of our marriage – if our hope in this life wasn’t rooted in our faith in Jesus as our savior – then our marriage would likely be in shambles and nothing about living in a world impacted by disability would make sense to us. But through God’s abounding love, we’ve been reminded time and time again that our faith in Jesus and the hope we find in him in the midst of so many difficult moments in this life is what allows us to move forward each day. The truth and fruit of God’s love for our family is evident all around us.

If you’re reading this then you’ve likely journeyed through your own trials and challenges in life and you understand that living in a broken world is difficult even under the best of circumstances. Today, you may find yourself in the midst of a deep valley where defeat appears inevitable. You may look around and wonder where you can find even an ounce of hope to hold onto in the depths of your despair. And you may find that mustering the strength to just start a new day is a daunting, if not virtually impossible task. If that’s you or someone you know, then I want to remind you that God’s love is real and He loves you!

The words of the prophet Jeremiah from Scripture in Lamentations 3:22-23 are especially encouraging to me, particularly when the struggles of this life are getting the best of me and hope seems lost. “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” It is because of God’s faithful love that we have hope in this life and that hope is found in the Good News of Jesus. 1 John 4:19 tells us that we know and experience love in this life because God first loved us.

As we encounter a variety of trials and suffering in this world, we as believers and followers of Jesus Christ must hold firmly to the truth of God’s love for us and that all of our hope in this life and for eternity is built on the foundation of His love. And if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to consider what the Bible says about Jesus – his perfect life on earth, his sacrificial death on the cross, his victory over death three days later through his resurrection and the truth that he will return to complete the triumph over sin one day soon. John 3:16 is the most well known Scripture in the world for a reason – because it’s clear and true – and it starts with God’s love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

I know the holiday season can stir a wide range of emotions and feelings for each of us. In the midst of what should be a joyful celebration centered on the birth of Jesus and the triumph that followed through his life, we can find ourselves overcome with sadness and hopelessness that rise to the surface in the most tangible ways. Whether it’s the loss or absence of someone we love, the loss or absence of the resources needed to be safe and healthy in life or simply the loss or absence of hopes and dreams we may have had for ourselves and our families , the holidays can bring the lowest of lows for many of us.

If you find yourself or someone you care about in that type of downcast place during the holidays, then I remind you that God’s love is real and He loves YOU! Knowing and believing God’s love for us is pivotal to our faith journey and the strength needed to move forward with each new day. His faithful love for us and his unending mercy and grace for us are why we can live each day with hope. Hold fast to that truth and know that Jesus will move closer to you as you seek to closer to him through prayer, Scripture, worship and community with other followers of Jesus. God‘s love is real and HE LOVES YOU!

God, I praise you for your faithful love for me and for the hope you’ve poured out to me through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lord, I lift up each person who reads this and I pray that they will experience your love and your presence in their life this holiday season. I pray that each of us will be reminded in tangible ways of your faithful love for us and that we will share that love with the people around us. Help us remember that your love is real and that you do love us! We pray this prayer in the name of our loving savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!

For many years now, the Lord has provided significant encouragement, hope and peace to me as a husband and a dad in a family impacted by disability through Jesus’s interactions with the man who was born blind from chapter 9 in the Gospel of John. That particular section of Scripture is one that I return to often and each time, the Holy Spirit leads me down a path of discovery and revelation that only can be found in the Living Word of God. And while there is so much to be learned from those 41 verses in John 9, today I want to focus primarily on just one verse – verse 1.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit that for some time, I read so quickly through the first verse of John 9 that I missed the significance of it because so much of my focus moved ahead to the question from the disciples and the response from Jesus in verses 2 and 3. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” After the birth of our son, I had plenty of my own questions for God about why Isaac was born with Down syndrome and the Lord has been so gracious to consistently speak through those verses to tell me why – so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

But one day, as I found myself reading through the various highlighted and underlined sentences in my Bible, the Lord opened my eyes (pun intended) to a powerful truth from John 9 that I had never previously noticed. As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. For the first time, I connected that everything Jesus said about God’s plan for the man and everything Jesus himself did to positively impact the man’s life forever happened after Jesus saw the man. As Jesus and his disciples were walking and talking, Jesus saw the man, which meant his disciples also saw the man. And that begs the question, what does it mean to be seen by Jesus?

There are other examples from Scripture like John 9 when Jesus saw someone and then moved with purpose. In John 5, Jesus saw the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda. In Luke 7, Jesus saw the widow and her only son who had just died. And in Luke 19, Jesus saw Zaccheus in the sycamore tree. And like he did with the man in John 9, in each of those examples, Jesus saw someone with a need and he met them where they were. For the man at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus healed him from his paralysis. For the widow, Jesus brought her son back to life. For Zaccheus, Jesus provided salvation. And for the man in John 9, Jesus healed him from his physical blindness and healed him from his spiritual blindness. So what does it mean to be seen by Jesus? It means everything because only Jesus can provide eternal life change through spiritual healing.

Because Jesus saw the man, the disciples also noticed the man and that started a conversation. From that conversation, the man’s life would forever be changed through his interactions with Jesus. All 41 verses of John 9 are devoted to telling the story of God’s plan and purpose for the blind man – to glorify Jesus and to have a personal relationship with him – and that eternal blessing was made possible because Jesus saw the man.

God’s plan and purpose for the blind man continues to be a source of hope for me, not only as I think about my son with a disability, but also when I think about my daughter, my wife and even myself. Why? Because each of us were born with spiritual blindness and sin that separates us from God but because of Jesus, we have a pathway to our own spiritual healing through Him. There is great peace in knowing that everyone in my family and each of you reading this were created with the purpose of glorifying God. And just like the blind man, Jesus sees you and wants to have a relationship with you as your Savior.

Lord, I praise you for your plan and your purpose for not only my life, but the life of my wife, my daughter and my son. And while the journey through this life isn’t easy, we know your Word is clear that you will sustain us through your love, mercy and grace. Thank you Jesus for seeing me and saving me from my sin. God, help me to see and love other people in the same ways you see and love them and give me the boldness and courage to share the good news of the Gospel with the people around me. Amen!

About two months ago, I shared an update here on my resignation from the Shine Disabilities Ministry team at Southeast Christian Church and the Lord’s plan to close the door on that chapter of ministry for me. At that point in the journey, I didn’t have clarity from the Holy Spirit on what was to follow for me professionally. After more than six years in full-time vocational ministry, I was certain of God’s calling in my life to live on mission for him but I wasn’t sure what he had planned next for me and my family. However, my wife Becky and I were as confident then as we are today in God’s sovereignty and we trusted his timing in revealing where he wanted to guide us. Thankfully, in his love and graciousness, the Lord chose to reveal the next chapter even faster than I could have ever expected.

Earlier this month, I was blessed to accept an invitation to join staff in a full-time role with FamilyLife, where I will be serving alongside Becky as we continue our ministry for families impacted by disability in new ways! Becky has served in both full-time and part-time roles with Cru and FamilyLife for many years and we’ve experienced so many of God’s blessings individually and as a family through those wonderful ministries. Today, we’re beyond excited for this next chapter of ministry together through FamilyLife, which also allows us to continue to call Louisville home, and we’re thankful for the prayers and support of so many people during this time of transition.

For those that may not know, FamilyLife is a Cru ministry that exists to help families grow together and impact their corner of the world. Their mission is to effectively develop godly families who change the world one home at a time and they achieve that mission in various ways for families from numerous backgrounds and walks of life. For more than a year now, I’ve seen the FamilyLife mission in action through Becky and her teammates as they’ve shared the hope of Jesus and the power of Christ-centered community with families impacted by disability. For God to allow us to do this together as he opens new doors for us to reach more families like ours through an organization like FamilyLife is truly a blessing.

There will be plenty more to share in the weeks and months ahead but I can’t reflect on the last few months of life for me and our family without being reminded and encouraged by the words found in Proverbs 16:9 – The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Only the Lord knows how he works so perfectly through his sovereignty and our humanity but I am grateful to follow and serve a loving God who is in the heavens and does all that he pleases (Psalm 115:3). Thank you Lord!

Until next time, thanks for reading along with me today and blessings to you my friend!

When I created this Substack in 2023, the name Faith Through the Roof was inspired by the Biblical account of the spiritual and physical healing shared by Jesus with a paralyzed man after his four friends lowered him through the roof of a house so he could encounter Christ. This first century miracle is recapped for us in each of the three synoptic Gospels (Mark 2, Luke 5 and Matthew 9). I enjoy reading each of those together to get a clearer picture of how truly astonishing that experience must have been for everyone present that day. Whether we consider it from the perspective of the paralyzed man who received the spiritual and physical renewal only possible through Jesus or the outlook of the Pharisees, teachers of the law, and scribes who watched in amazement or from the point of view of the four men who had physically carried their friend as far as needed to be in the presence of Jesus, this pivotal scene from the earthly ministry of Jesus has so much to teach us today as we seek to faithfully follow Him in the day to day journey of our own lives.

One of the most impactful teaching moments in my life from this miraculous account centers on the response from Jesus after he and everyone in that overcrowded home watched as the four men removed large sections of the roof of the house before lowering their friend to the ground below. One can only imagine all of the comments, criticisms and rebukes being whispered among those who observed this unexpected turn of events unfold before them. And the onlookers must have wondered with great expectation what Jesus, whose reputation as a bold teacher and miraculous healer had created this beyond capacity gathering, would say and do as these four men and their paralyzed friend interrupted the proceedings that day in such a daring manner.

So how did Jesus respond? When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Those were the first words of Jesus in response to the rooftop entry as recorded in the Gospel of Mark (2:5, NIV). There was no frustration or anger from Jesus directed at the four men and their friend in light of the interruption to the preaching message or the damage done to the roof of the house or the highly distracting scene they had created. There were no comments from Jesus regarding the inconvenience generated by these men and their friend or the financial impact of the repairs to the roof or the seemingly selfish actions that stole the spotlight off of him as the featured speaker of the day.

No correction nor punishment nor condemnation from Jesus. No reprimand nor chastisement nor penalty from Christ. Instead, Jesus saw authentic faith in action from these men on behalf of their friend and his response was to share the life-saving gift only he can provide – salvation through the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus saw their faith. The Bible doesn’t tell us that Jesus listened to these four men and their friend talk about their understanding of Scripture and the theological insight they brought with them that day. We don’t read in any of the Gospels where Jesus supernaturally perceived the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the paralyzed man or his friends. We do know Jesus certainly had the ability to sense and understand the thoughts of others because he demonstrated that skill moments later in response to those in attendance who doubted him (Mark 2:8), but that’s not what the Bible says happened with the paralyzed man and his four friends. What God’s Word does tell us in all three Gospel accounts of this miracle is that Jesus saw their faith and then immediately healed the paralyzed man spiritually through the forgiveness of his sins.

What a truly remarkable occasion not only in the earthly ministry of Jesus and the eternal life of that paralyzed man, but also for us today as believers and followers of Christ. The faith in action of those four men changed the eternal trajectory for their friend who was paralyzed and God wants to use you and me in similar ways in the lives of the people around us. Let me be clear, this is not a call to action for you or me to work harder in order to earn our salvation but instead it’s a call to action for each of us to live out our faith and salvation by loving and serving others like Jesus. Scripture is clear that the gift of salvation – the forgiveness of the sin that separates all of humanity from a perfect and holy God – is available only through faith in Jesus and not through our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). But as we see in the very next verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we are created by God for the purpose of good works, which the Lord has prepared so that he gets the glory (Ephesians 2:10). And Scripture shows us an example of that theological truth lived out through these four men and their paralyzed friend as they made an encounter with Jesus a priority and Christ honored their faith through the forgiveness of sin.

As we read ahead in each of the three Gospels, we know that Jesus followed his gift of salvation with a gift of physical healing for the man, and there is plenty that can be written and shared in regard to the spiritual and physical healings from Christ as well as the reactions of the onlookers after each of these exceptional moments. Most of those conversations can be saved for another day but I did want to point out that Jesus shared the blessing of the spiritual healing before he provided the physical healing, which should remind us that the soul-saving power of Christ is available for all people, including anyone with a disability. Sometimes, the biggest barriers between the Gospel and a lost person can be the lack of faith in action from us as followers of Jesus, who are commanded to live on mission by sharing the Good News with ALL people (Matthew 28:19-20). We should never assume anyone is too lost, too sinful or even too disabled for the Holy Spirit to work but instead our job is to be faithful to our calling to love, serve and share Jesus with everyone.

As we close today’s message, I invite you to join me as we examine our own personal relationships with Jesus and consider the ways our faith is visible (or invisible) to Him and to the world around us. How can we take bigger steps of faith on behalf of the people in our circles who need their own encounter with Christ for spiritual healing and eternal salvation? What are the ways our churches can remove barriers and create new pathways to the Gospel for our friends and families impacted by disability? What intentional choices can each of us make to be better prepared for God’s unexpected interruptions in life so that we respond in ways that not only mirror Jesus but allows us to share the love and hope of Christ with someone who desperately needs to hear it, even if that conversation isn’t on our calendar that day?

God, I thank you for the faith of those four men and their friend and for all of the ways we can learn from that example of what faith in action looks like for your glory. Help each of us to look at our own hearts and lives to see the ways you want us to take those steps of faith to initiate a conversation, remove a roadblock, and create an encounter with the Gospel for all people. We praise you for the ways you honor our faith for our good and for your glory. Lord, we thank you for the hope we have in Jesus! Amen!

Until next time, thanks for reading along with me today and blessings to you my friend!

For some time now, I’ve found myself reading Psalm 100 each morning near the end of my daily Scripture and prayer time with the Lord. Many years ago, I had written the five verses from Psalm 100 on an index card and used it as a bookmark with the purpose of seeing that section of God’s Word on a consistent basis. My hope in reading Psalm 100 as often as possible was for the Holy Spirit to speak this psalm of thanksgiving into my life. Truthfully, I don’t recall how effective or ineffective that was when I first wrote those words on that index card but in recent weeks and months, God has proven faithful to deliver on that hope while meeting me in that daily repetition.

Life is never easy. More specifically, life is hard. We see the results of sin and brokenness all around us. For families like mine, with a loved one impacted by disability, we know we live in an imperfect world that isn’t designed with the best interests of our loved ones in mind. And as followers of Jesus, we know there is an enemy to our Savior and an enemy to us who wants nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy us. But we have hope because we know Christ came not only to give us life but so we could have it abundantly (John 10:10).

Truthfully, the last few months have included plenty of moments of exhaustion, confusion, discouragement, pain and sadness for me and my family and that abundant life we see in John 10:10 has seemed all too elusive. And while that’s a very common reality for anyone on the day-to-day journey of caring for someone with a disability, we know it’s not isolated to one area of life or one group of people. In the same way Satan is an equal opportunity enemy to every person, the deepest and darkest valleys of life also do not discriminate based on any category or label we’ve created as humans. For my family, the most difficult challenges in life will often trigger the grief cycle, which takes us back to some of the heaviest moments of pain we’ve encountered, especially in the areas of disability – from diagnosis to health emergencies to missed milestones to church hurt and everything in between. And that’s where our family has landed at various moments over the last few months.

I don’t remember consciously making the decision earlier this year to restart the routine of reading Psalm 100 each day but I know it was prompted by the Holy Spirit and the timing of it has been perfect because God has used that section of Scripture to consistently remind me of the truths of who He is and who I am (through Christ) in the midst of some dark days and nights. Despite being only five verses, God has packed so much power in Psalm 100 to guide me down a path in overcoming those moments of exhaustion, confusion, discouragement, pain, sadness and any other emotion God has hardwired us to feel.

Psalm 100
Be Thankful
A psalm of thanksgiving
1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his — his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

There are so many words that jump off the page when I read Psalm 100 and I’ve highlighted a few of them on the index card I read through each day. Today, I want to focus for a moment on triumphantly, gladness, joyful, thanksgiving, praise and bless because of the call to action in those words and this psalm of thanksgiving for us as believers and followers of Jesus. Oftentimes, when life delivers some of its toughest gut punches, my flesh wants to push back on the call to praise and I’ll even ask myself and the Lord “how am I supposed to praise right now while I’m going through this?” But we’re reminded throughout Scripture that those are the precise moments when we should be praising and worshiping with gladness and joy because of the grace and love poured out to us by Jesus through his perfect life, his sacrificial death and his victorious resurrection. It is in that praise and worship where God will recenter our hearts and minds on him as the Lord of our lives and will remind us that Jesus already has victory in this life (John 16:33).

And so, God has been gracious to give me Psalm 100 as a reminder of what he wants for me in this life and the posture needed for me to experience his presence. Shout triumphantly to the Lord; serve the Lord with gladness; Come to him with joyful songs; acknowledge the Lord is God; enter his presence with thanksgiving and praise; give thanks to him and bless his name!

And why should I do all of those things? The answer is right there in verse 5: “For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.” God is good, his faithful love does endure forever and those truths are worthy of praise and worship with gladness and joy from each of us!

As I’ve read those words in Psalm 100 day after day and month after month since early this year, the Holy Spirit has reminded me that the circumstances of this life, from the highs to the lows, pale in comparison to the eternal love and goodness poured out on me through my relationship with Jesus Christ and through the loving faithfulness of the Lord. So as you continue on your own journey in this life and as you face the inevitable valleys that are sure to come, I encourage you to open the Bible and allow God’s Word to point you to the places where you can find hope and joy in this life and beyond. I hope you too will hold firmly to the truths of Psalm 100 and remember the Lord is God and the Lord is good!

Hey friends! After more than six years serving with the Shine Disabilities Ministry team at Southeast Christian Church, the Lord has closed the book on this chapter of ministry for me. I resigned from my staff role last week and I have officially said goodbye this week. The Lord has been stirring inside of me for a while now and I’m at peace in trusting Him in this change and in whatever He wants to do in me and through me in the next season of life.

I can’t begin to share all of the ways God has blessed me and my family during my time with Shine but I leave knowing we followed Jesus faithfully and he produced amazing fruit along the way for his glory and for the good of our Shine friends and families. From Camp Freedom to weekends in our Shine classes across multiple campuses to Shine Fall Fest to so many other moments, God has poured out his love, grace and faithfulness time and time again during my time on staff and it’s been a true honor to serve with our Shine Squad! We often say on our team that we know God doesn’t need us to do any of the things he’s doing in Shine but we’re thankful he’s gracious enough to invite us in to experience it with him and that’s as true today as it’s ever been.

I’m forever grateful to my friend and our ministry leader Mary Tatum for her support, care and love for me and my family! She took a chance on hiring me more than six years ago and her steadfast belief in me has changed the trajectory of my life and the life of my family for the good! Thank you Mary! You really are the best!

To everyone with Shine and to all of the people who have cared and supported me at Southeast, thank you all for loving me and our family so well and for allowing us to live on mission with you over the last six years. I echo the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the church of Philippi as an encouragement to everyone connected with Shine Ministry. The words below perfectly communicate my feelings for our Shine friends, families, volunteers and staff.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” | Philippians 1:3-6

For those who may ask, I don’t know what’s next for me professionally but I do know God is good and he’s worthy of following and trusting in faith, which seems very on brand for this Substack. I hope to do more writing in the months ahead so I invite you to join me on this journey into the unknown as we pray and wait expectantly for the Lord to move in ways only he can for his glory. And if you want to invite your friends to subscribe and read along, we’ll gladly make room for them.

Before we end our time together today, I want to share with you a song the Lord has used in this season of life to encourage me and remind me that anything good in this world and in my life is built on Him. As I prayed through and processed the Lord’s plan to end this season of ministry for me, I heard this song as I drove one day and it literally brought a smile to my face (so much so that I even texted my wife to let her know!). In his song Cornerstone, TobyMac reminds us that “Seasons come and seasons go, they take me high, then leave me low but I'm still standing on the only rock I know, You're my cornerstone.”

That reminder that my cornerstone and foundation in this life is built on Jesus and what did for me on the cross is greater than any highs or lows I could possibly encounter along the way and that’s why this song continues to bring a smile to my face. I hope you enjoy the song and thank you for reading along with me.

“For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” | Jeremiah 29:11

Six years ago this week, my wife Becky and I made the difficult decision to begin attending a new church. For several months, we talked and prayed about how to best maneuver through a myriad of obstacles related to our son Isaac’s disability, which prevented our family from flourishing in our church community. As Isaac moved from baby to toddler to preschooler, the impacts of his Down syndrome diagnosis made it increasingly difficult for him to thrive in a typical children’s ministry worship setting. And with those challenges came the inevitable negative impacts on our family.

Attending worship on Sundays became more of a burden than a blessing and we didn’t know how to change it. We met multiple times with staff and leaders from our church, and they were gracious in the ways they listened as we shared about our struggles and offered them feedback on possible solutions to help Isaac and our family. However, the barriers that prevented us from experiencing Christ-centered worship and authentic community on a consistent basis remained and eventually, the heaviness of that reality led us to a crossroads as a family and a conversation during a road trip to Tennessee for Thanksgiving.

The conversation centered on what options we had, which of those options was best for our family and how to discern which option God desired for us. Becky and I believed the Lord was pushing us to begin attending Southeast Christian Church, where we had visited on multiple occasions earlier that year and had seen firsthand how the church’s disabilities ministry was positively impacting families like ours. We had no idea in that moment where our decision would ultimately lead us, but we were certain we had to be obedient in going all in on Southeast.

As our family was navigating those church life hurdles, God was simultaneously stirring in a powerful way in my professional life, where I sensed him leading me out of my job working in college athletics and into a world of full-time vocational ministry. At 40 years old and nearly 20 years into a media relations career, I wasn’t sure what God was doing with the ministry calling but I knew the Holy Spirit was moving and our family wanted to follow him. God used various people in my world during that season to challenge me, encourage me and support me as I sought to understand where God wanted me to take steps of faith and to trust him in the trajectory towards ministry.

That was the context for our family and my professional life six years ago as Becky and I talked in the front seats of our van while our kids were distracted by their movies during our 200-mile trek across Kentucky and into Tennessee. In that moment, we had an opportunity to not only believe the words of the Lord as shared by his prophet in Jeremiah 29:11, but to experience God’s faithfulness in that promise as we chose the path we believed God was leading us down. “For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Six years removed from that road trip conversation, our family has been blessed to experience the truth of God’s declaration in Jeremiah 29 and we praise him for his ways! Today, I am honored to serve in my role as the connections minister with Shine Disabilities Ministry and I do that from the perspective of a husband and a father in a family not only impacted by disability, but also blessed by the love, care and community shared by our Shine friends, families, volunteers and staff. We are truly grateful for Southeast Christian Church, and we praise God for this journey, where he continues to pour out his blessings amid so many storms and valleys in this broken world. We have hope, even in the face of trouble, because God is faithful to keep his promises and we’re thankful for the people he has placed around us. It is truly incredible to reflect on God’s plan and the love and hope he has shared with us along the way.

To our Shine friends and families, we’re blessed to be with you in this life impacted by disability and we’re thankful for the ways God has brought us together. To our Shine volunteers, this ministry would not exist without you and my family is immensely grateful for your love and support for each of us. To our Shine staff team, you’re simply the best and I’m thankful to be on mission for Jesus alongside side each of you. And to our elders, pastors, leaders and staff throughout Southeast Christian Church, thank you for not only investing in Shine Ministry but also for creating pathways for our friends and families in the disability community to experience the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of his church.

I never could have imagined during our road trip conversation six years ago where God would lead our family, but I am forever thankful for the purpose and plans he has shared with us. And while I will certainly praise him this Thanksgiving week for his goodness and his blessings, I will also move with eager anticipation into the days, weeks and months ahead as God continues to do what only he can do through my family, our ministry and our church.

Thank you Jesus for the hope we have in you and for the calling to share and celebrate that hope with others. And thank you to our crew at Shine and our church family at Southeast for your unwavering commitment to loving all people the way Christ does!

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“Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.” | Art Buchwald

It’s been a minute since I’ve written anything here or anywhere else and there’s a story to help explain that so let’s discuss it and see where this takes us.

My relationship with writing has been complicated, at best, for many years now. With a background in public relations and training in newswriting, I’ve personally never experienced writing as the creative expression I’ve seen it become for other people. For a lengthy span of my life, I’ve carried a mostly unspoken but very real desire to one day use writing as a pathway to encourage and even inspire others. Whether it’s through blog posts like this, articles for other websites and organizations or even in book form, that hope has existed long enough to evolve into what more closely resembles an unattainable fantasy than a daring dream. For whatever the reason, be it doubt, fear, insecurity, or something else, I’ve never seemed to find the mechanism needed to successfully harness the boldness and courage required to charge full speed into writing.

I’ve longed for that to change, and I’ve even taken some baby steps over the years towards change. I’ve authored some articles, hosted a podcast for a season and created this Substack last fall all in pursuit of finding the missing pieces in my writing puzzle. There have been instances when I experienced short-lived momentum and the relationship with writing started to change, but one thing after another seemed to extinguish whatever writing fire had started to burn. And that’s where I found myself in January of this year.

Having shared a pair of blog posts to open 2024, my writing suddenly stopped. In a rather abrupt transition, my urge to write dried up, which led me on an exploration to determine next steps for not only this blog, but also for the Key Ministry Podcast I had been hosting each month since last April. As I prayed and considered all the options, it was clear that stepping away from hosting the podcast was the best choice for me, so I let it go with zero regrets. And in doing so, I expected my writing for this blog would quickly refire, but that didn’t happen.

What began as a brief break from writing stretched to one month, then two months and three months before eventually reaching more than four months. I still thought about writing often and I continued to make notes and save ideas for future messages, but the writing itself wasn’t happening. It was a full stop that left me questioning what to do with my on again, off again relationship with writing.

And then something changed. After more than four months of being idle with my writing and finding no movement to validate my desire for writing, God helped me see a very simple solution: Open my laptop and start writing. It seemed so obvious, but was it really was that easy? Yep, it was and despite the simplicity of the answer, it’s exactly what I needed to discover for myself.

Nobody was going to beg me to write. And there was no magical formula for making writing easy. And the process of writing itself was never going to be as glamorous or romantic as I’d like to think it is. But if I wanted to chase my desire to write, I simply needed to start writing and let the process go where it goes. The simplicity of the answer and what I needed to learn about myself may not be true for you, but it was for me.

So, here I am. Writing about writing.

One of the most powerful realities in me taking this needed step to resume writing was to be transparent about my own desire to write and to create accountability. Even as I type this paragraph, I’m not certain it’s wise to use crowdsourcing to create accountability but the hay is in the barn now, so we’ll trust the process and see what happens. What could possibly go wrong, right?

While on this path to discern what to do with my awkward but hopeful relationship with writing, I found some unexpected motivation in a quote from longtime American humorist and Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald, who once said, “Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.”

Whether I’m walking through a good day or a bad day in my own life, this is the only day I have in front of me, so I want to chase this opportunity to write and dare God to use it in whatever ways he wants. I can tell you with great confidence that writing is good for me because it drives me closer to Jesus and deeper into Scripture. And if, by chance, along the way, at least one person reads what I’ve written and finds encouragement in knowing there’s hope in this life through a friendship with Jesus Christ, who gives us a greater purpose than anything this world has to offer, then it’s all worth it.

In the end, I know God doesn’t need me to accomplish anything he desires to do but he has been gracious enough to invite into his mission. And because I believe the purpose of my life is to glorify Jesus Christ, I want to follow the Holy Spirit wherever he wants to take me on this adventure in writing.

Echoing Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:16-17 where he writes “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil,” I too want to make the best use of my time in this life, and in doing so, I know God will use me in a way that points to his love, grace, and goodness. The days are certainly evil, and the world absolutely needs to hear about the hope of Jesus, so if writing is another way I can share that hope, then let’s go for it and we’ll let God work out the details.

And while we’re at it, perhaps I’ll even find some clarity in my own complicated relationship with writing.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” | Matthew 9:36-38

I have found myself reading and studying through Matthew’s Gospel recently. As the new year began, I didn’t have a specific Bible reading plan in mind for 2024 so I landed at the opening pages of the New Testament. It seemed, in my mind, to be a logical starting point for the new year that quickly carried me to a larger goal of reading all the way through the New Testament in the weeks and months ahead. While I do appreciate and enjoy my share of organization and structure, my Bible reading “plan” can be a bit more spontaneous and otherwise unplanned much of the time. But I love seeing how the Holy Spirit moves in that and the ways God connects his Word to what he is teaching me in those moments.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve camped in Matthew 9, where we read about the teaching, preaching, and healing mission of Jesus. From the Sermon on the Mount at the beginning of chapter five through the end of chapter nine, we journey alongside Jesus as he moved with urgency during his earthly ministry. In chapter nine alone, Jesus healed a paralyzed man, called Matthew to follow him as a disciple, answered a question about fasting, brought the daughter of a ruler back to life, healed a woman from a bleeding condition, healed two men from blindness and healed another man who was unable to speak. Jesus was on the move and on mission!

That takes us to verse 35 where Matthew writes “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” This verse is almost identical to what Matthew wrote in 4:23, which reinforces the teaching, preaching, and healing ministry of Jesus. We know that Jesus’s earthly ministry covered about three years and throughout the span, he hustled and moved with purpose among the people. And the people he often embraced the most were those on the fringes of society impacted by sickness and affliction.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The message of verse 36 is powerful as Matthew points us to the compassion of Jesus for the crowds because they were harassed, helpless and like sheep without a shepherd. That sheep and shepherd metaphor is one we see in other places in Scripture, including John 10, where Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd. In John 10, Jesus highlights the importance of caring for his sheep in the aftermath of his healing of the blind man, who had experienced a significant lack of shepherding from the Pharisees as he also lived his life on the fringe of society. The compassion of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is the example we’re called to mirror as followers of Jesus and the opportunities for us to carry out that calling are abundant.

We move from one metaphor in verse 36 (sheep without a shepherd) to another metaphor in verses 37 and 38 where Jesus said to the disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” The imagery of a field ripe for harvest without enough laborers to do the work is powerful in the context of Jesus’s message to his disciples in that moment and to his church today. There is an opportunity for each of us to faithfully follow the example of Jesus by compassionately loving people through action. This is God’s mission, not ours, but he has called us to join him in it by loving and caring for people.

Whether it’s from Matthew 9 or the numerous other examples throughout his earthly ministry, Scripture is clear to show us Jesus loved and cared deeply for all people, including those on the fringes of culture, society and even the church. In my own life and journey today, I’m encouraged by the ways Jesus lived out his compassionate love for people impacted by disability by inviting them in and including them in his mission to teach, preach and heal. That truth from God’s Word is one of the ways the Holy Spirit guides me into action to love and shepherd my own family and to love and shepherd the Shine Ministry friends and families at our church.

The final few verses of Matthew 9 provide us with a look back at the ministry of Jesus in the previous chapters as well as a look ahead to the ministry doors that would open for the disciples in chapter 10 and beyond. And those same doors are open for believers and followers of Jesus today. There are sheep without shepherds and fields ready for harvest all around us and we have the hope of the Good Shepherd and the Lord of the harvest to share. I pray for the Holy Spirit to move in such a way in me and in you that we will overflow with the compassionate love of Jesus for all people and that we will move with a Christ-like urgency and purpose!

“Be thankful for the thorns and thistles which keep you from being in love with this world...”| Charles Spurgeon

Sometimes, life just isn’t what we want it to be. There are some days where life throws you curve balls you simply can’t hit. You know how that goes, right? We’ve all experienced those moments and seasons in life when happiness and contentment seem as elusive as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. No matter how hard we try and no matter how much we pray, we can’t seem to find a solution.

For my wife Becky and I, our journey through life as parents of a kiddo with special needs has presented plenty of curve balls and we’ve had more than our fair share of strikeouts along the way. However, there are some days that are just different. While the circumstances for our family are often very different than we ever expected or wanted, every now and then, we’re presented with tests and trials we not only don’t understand but also seem completely unnecessary in a world where God is ultimately in control.

We were recently in one of those multi-day stretches with our son Isaac where the realities and the impacts of how God made him were heavier and more exhausting than usual. When those moments with him occur, we’re forced to adjust our family schedules and our work schedules while also experiencing stress, anxiety, sadness and frustration that we tend to translate into actions that may not always be as graceful as we’d want.

Seeking to care well for Isaac and our family in those moments, we attempt all the tactics and tools and tricks we’ve learned to reverse whatever is prompting the challenge. But when things are at their worst, we rarely find the answers we’re seeking in the timeframe we want and that can lead us down a path of so many questions and so few answers. Even on the best of days, we find ourselves asking plenty of “why” questions to God but in those more difficult moments, finding the faith to believe God’s promises can truly be a test.

Does that resonate with you? Have you ever found yourself feeling so defeated and so exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that you’ve questioned God and challenged him on his motives? Oh yeah, me neither (this would be a great place for a sarcasm font)!

But, hypothetically speaking, if we ever find ourselves in that place, there is peace for us in knowing and believing that God is big enough and loving enough and gracious enough to handle our questions, challenges, and emotions because his desire is to be glorified by bringing us closer to him. The more I read Paul’s letters to the early church (especially Philippians), the more I’m reminded of the peace, joy, and contentment he experienced by embracing God’s plan to use the most difficult moments in his life as pathways for him to experience God’s loving presence more fully. I want that for you, and I want that for me.

As Becky and I found ourselves entangled in the most recent set of struggles for Isaac, a close family friend sent us a quote from Charles Spurgeon, the world-renowned English pastor and preacher from the 1800’s, and the quote is a beautiful reminder that God doesn’t want us to love anything in this world more than him.

“Be thankful for the thorns and thistles which keep you from being in love with this world,” is a line from a sermon preached by Spurgeon that centered on Genesis 3:18 and God’s words to Adam, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” The words from Spurgeon echo God’s words while serving as a reminder to me that God does his best work in the most difficult circumstances.

The discouragement we encounter in this life is heavier than we want it to be. There are some days when it seems no matter what we try, we can’t and won’t overcome the weight of the opposition. The truth of it is we’re not enough to overcome it, but despite that defeat, we do have hope because Christ has already conquered it for us. Jesus speaks of that reality in John 16:33 when he says “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” And though he has defeated sin and death, Jesus does not back down from the inevitability that we will encounter difficulties and challenges in this life.

That reality takes us back to not only the words of Spurgeon in his sermon on thorns and thistles, but also to the words of Paul in Romans 8:18 where he writes “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” God calls us to be so in love with Him that we embrace the sufferings of this temporary world as a path to know Him more, both in this life and in the glory that is to come. And when we do that, we can be thankful for those thorns and thistles because we see God’s love for us revealed through them.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. | Ephesians 2:8-10

Last Sunday afternoon, our family spent some time with my brother’s family for a little Christmas fun for our kids. Crafts were painted, cookies were decorated, and fun was had by all in celebration of the holiday season! The joy of the moment culminated with a healthy sampling of those decorated cookies and plenty of sugar and energy to burn for everyone. Who needs visions of sugar plums dancing in your head when you have sugar cookies, icing and sprinkles dancing in your belly… am I right?

These types of gatherings for our family can be a little tricky to navigate because of Isaac’s special needs. Whether it’s the impacts of Down syndrome, autism, sensory processing disorder or many other factors, the recipe of several kids, paints, crafts, cookies, icing and noise can produce unique challenges under the best of circumstances. But on this day, we found a happy place for Isaac, who later described the experience as “fun” while asking for “more” of everything, especially his gluten-free and dairy-free cookies.

He enjoyed his time spent painting his very own large snowflake craft. We chose a light blue paint for his snowflake and like he does with many other substances of a similar texture, he successfully managed to spread the paint with his paintbrush in his right hand while simultaneously enjoying the feel of the paint between his fingers on his left hand. It’s a temptation driven by a very specific sensory need that is difficult for him to avoid whether it’s paint, ketchup, salsa, applesauce, or anything else with a similar texture. It’s an interesting and sometimes entertaining sensory-driven world for Isaac and for all of us.

Nonetheless, his painting experience was time well spent despite him reaching his “all done” stage without completely covering the entire snowflake with paint. Most of the middle section of the snowflake had been painted and repainted and painted again. And there were some areas along the outside of the snowflake that were painted thoroughly but there were also outer portions that were untouched by the blue paint. No matter how strong the suggestions and encouragement from me for him to continue painting in those uncovered areas, his artist’s eye told him he was finished. And so, he was.

I gave the unfinished snowflake to Becky as I helped Isaac clean his hands, arms, and face from the blue paint. And I suggested to Becky that we should finish painting the snowflake for Isaac. Though she initially agreed, upon further reflection, she pushed back on that suggestion. She countered that the unfinished snowflake was Isaac’s craft and she reminded me that he painted it the way he preferred so we should leave it as it was. I didn’t give it much thought in that moment, so the snowflake was left in that unfinished state to reflect Isaac’s vision for it.

It wasn’t until a day later that I began to appreciate the imagery of that unfinished snowflake and was reminded by the Holy Spirit that in the same way it wasn’t my job to finish what Isaac had started, God also hasn’t called me to step in and add my final brush strokes to whatever He’s doing. That’s not my job.

The imagery of that snowflake as unfinished and very much in progress is a perfect view of my life. Though I’m absolutely saved by grace through faith in Christ, the process of sanctification for me is a daily journey of dying to self and hopefully, becoming a little more like Jesus with each day. But my life can often look and feel like that snowflake, with a lot of extra paint in some areas and little to no paint in others. But that’s the beauty of the Gospel. None of us are good enough painters to cover the sin in our lives on our own. And none of us are good enough in our own strength to live up to the standards of a perfectly painted life. We can’t do that job and we were never created for that job. And though I don’t always love the unfinished realities in this life, it doesn’t change who God is and the good he wants to do through those imperfections.

That’s why the message of Ephesians 2:8-10 is so powerful for me and you. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

My imperfect and unpainted life is fully restored and expertly painted through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Regardless of how much paint I add to my brush and how thorough I am with my effort and abilities, my snowflake will always have imperfections because I’m simply not a good enough artist. But God, the creator of the greatest beauty ever conceived, is more than good enough to accomplish it perfectly for us through Christ.  

What’s amazing about his plan for the unpainted and unfinished areas of our lives is that as God adds all the paint that is needed to our snowflakes, he’s also calling us to the purpose of displaying his beauty and goodness for others to see as we accomplish good things in this life for his glory. We belong to God and as followers of Jesus, we’re created for the works of this life prepared by God so that we can grow in our faith and bring attention to the name of Christ. From God’s perspective, which is the only perspective that really matters, my life has never been about me but instead is all about Him, the creator and sustainer of life.

In the same way that it wasn’t my job to complete what I viewed as incomplete in Isaac’s snowflake, it’s also not my job to overstep God or to move around Him to be the god of my life. My job is to faithfully follow him in accomplishing the things he has set aside for me because my life is about Him.

It is an ongoing process for me to be reminded of that truth and that purpose. And whether it’s through the reading of Scripture, through prayer, through the encouraging words of other followers of Jesus or through the imagery of an unfinished snowflake, I’m thankful for the numerous ways God reminds me of his love and his purpose for my life. And I’m thankful for the peace in knowing that my job isn’t be the god of my life. That’s God’s job.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. | John 11:33-35

Jesus wept. How often do you think about the reality of those two words?

Can you envision Jesus, God in the flesh, weeping alongside Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and the many family members and friends as they mourned the loss of someone special? Can you see it? The tears streaming down the face of the most powerful, influential, loving, caring and compassionate person to ever live as he grieved death. Have you ever taken a moment to meditate on the impact of that moment as Jesus came alongside this family and their friends as they lamented the loss of Lazarus?

The reality of that moment when Jesus joined Mary and the others in shedding tears of sadness and sorrow carries powerful impact in all facets of my life. Whether it’s my role as a husband, father, or minister, I want to be so invested and so present in the lives of the people around me that I too can feel the weight of the emotions they feel as they journey through both the lows and highs of this life. I want to follow the example set by Jesus in allowing myself to be vulnerable enough to share tears and mourn alongside everyone in my family, ministry, and life circles.

This story of Jesus and Lazarus leads me to consider the roles of sympathy, empathy, and compassion in life and in ministry. God often uses the most challenging experiences and deepest valleys of our lives to equip us for the work he will do in us and through us for his glory. For me, God has used my son’s special needs and the impact of his life on our family to better equip me for the type of ministry he’s called me into. I don’t have formal Bible college or seminary training, but I have many years of life training that God has been gracious enough to use to help me to be more sympathetic, empathetic, and compassionate to the friends, families, and volunteers in our ministry. I never want to take that for granted or overlook the importance of my life experience in the hands of God.  

So, what does it mean to have sympathy, empathy, and compassion and what are the differences in each of those? According to our friends at Merriam-Webster, sympathy is a feeling of sincere concern for someone who is experiencing something difficult or painful, while empathy involves actively sharing in the person’s emotional experience. Both compassion and empathy refer to a caring response to someone else’s distress. However, empathy refers to an active sharing in the emotional experience of the other person, while compassion adds to that emotional experience a desire to alleviate the person’s distress.

An even simpler set of descriptions could go something like this: Sympathy means you can understand what the person is feeling. Empathy means that you feel what a person is feeling. And compassion is the willingness to relieve the suffering of another. Understanding, feeling and action. In life and in ministry, there is a time and place for each of these and I believe that to be true because we see it in the life of Jesus.

Going back to the Scripture and the events around the death and resurrection of Lazarus, I’m struck by the impact of the moment on Jesus just before and just after he weeps. We read in verse 33 that Jesus was “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” and we read in verse 38 that he was “deeply moved again” signaling an emotional response that focuses on his humanity. The message of verse 33 points to Jesus’s ability to understand and feel through his human spirit what Mary, Martha and those closest to Lazarus were feeling in those moments. And he was greatly troubled by the harsh realities of suffering and death in this life. Because of the humanity of Jesus, he understands the emotions we feel and experience in life. And as he did that day, he can and will sympathize and empathize for us today. But it doesn’t end there with Jesus.

After he was moved to tears by the pain and hurt for his friends, we’re reminded once more in verse 38 that he was “deeply moved again” as he went to the tomb to eventually resurrect Lazarus. Despite Mary, Martha and many of others questioning why he waited so long to respond, Jesus moved compassionately as he brought Lazarus back to life. This miraculous moment fulfilled Jesus’s own words in John 11:4 when, in response to the news that Lazarus was ill, he said “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

While the resurrection of Lazarus was certainly a good thing for him and those around him, it also served as another example of the supremacy of Jesus while foreshadowing the ultimate and eternal victory Christ would deliver through his own death and resurrection a short time later. But before he completed that mission on the cross, he was faithful to his mission to love people by being present, especially when life was most difficult.

Though we’re not likely to move in the same miraculous ways today as Jesus did in his earthly ministry, we are called to share the same sympathy, empathy, and compassion for others we see in Jesus. As we love others the way Jesus loves them, that love grows more abundantly for the people in our circles. We’re reminded in John 11:5 that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and it was through his love for them that he could be so deeply moved in his spirit that he went to them, cried with them, and took action on their behalf in their darkest moments. As we believe and follow Jesus in our lives, we have an opportunity to love others the way he does through sympathy, empathy, and compassion.

God, I pray you will give each of us the clarity and discernment to know when and how to best share sympathy, empathy, and compassion for the people in our circles. Father, Help us to be more understanding of the challenges and hardships in life for those we may not otherwise appreciate. Lord, help us to weep alongside those who need us to share our tears with them in their deepest valleys of life. And Holy Spirit, help us to know when to move on behalf and in support of those who need your church to fight alongside them. We praise you God for the ways you’re glorified in every area of our lives. Amen!

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” | Luke 22:31-32

Last weekend, my wife Becky and I were able to sneak away from Louisville for a night without our kids. (Ok, so we didn’t really sneak away but it sounds mysterious so let’s go with it!) We adore both of our kids, and we love time with each of them but before we were a family of four, we were a family of two. We appreciate and understand the importance of investing in our marriage.

Here’s the thing -- marriage is always impacted when kids are added to the equation and the formula for maintaining a healthy marriage for both husband and wife inevitably becomes more complex with kids. But that formula really changes and can feel more like advanced calculus when a child with special needs joins the party. That is a reality for most families impacted by special needs and with that comes additional challenges, barriers, and limits on not only what the entire family can and can’t do, but it also restricts what the husband and wife can and can’t do as they strive to invest in one another and their marriage. That reality is no different for our family and for me and my bride so when we’re blessed with an open door to escape sneak away for 29 hours, we’re eager to take it!

Even the details of getting away for only 29 hours probably sounds silly to many but going away for longer just isn’t realistic for us in this season of life. We hope to one day go away for longer than 29 hours but in this case, God was gracious to not only bless those 29 hours but to provide a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable moment away from the day-to-day routine for us. We disconnected from “real life” and focused on enjoying one another. It was glorious!

And then we returned home. And the honeymoon (so to speak) was very much over. I won’t get into the weeds of the details of everything that went sideways because this isn’t the forum for that, but I will say that from shortly after our return home on Saturday afternoon until both kids had arrived at school on Tuesday morning, we felt like we were paying taxes on the joy we experienced for those 29 hours away. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it felt like more than 48 hours of attacks on each of us and the joy we wanted to hold onto.

To follow such a sweet and refreshing time away as a couple with an almost immediate series of exhausting and discouraging interactions could have easily robbed us of that joy. And if those circumstances outside of our control didn’t rob us of that joy, our own flesh and sin in those moments were more than enough to snatch that joy away. And if I’m being honest, there were times during those 48 hours that both of us felt deflated and defeated.

However, during it all, God was kind enough to remind me of Luke 22:31-32 when Jesus shared with Peter that Satan had demanded to have him and sift him like wheat. Rather than shield Peter from Satan’s advances, Jesus told him that he prayed that his faith wouldn’t fail. He then urged Peter to strengthen his brothers when he turned from it. And what is it that Peter would need to turn from? In verse 33, Jesus said “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

If the story of Peter and his faith (or lack of faith) in Jesus ended there or even just a few verses later when we read the details of how Jesus did in fact deny Jesus three times, it would appear that Jesus’s decision to pray for Peter rather than intervene in a more aggressive way allowed for a sad and dark conclusion. But we know the story took a remarkable turn from there and Peter not only grew in his faith in Jesus, but the Holy Spirit equipped him with such a powerful boldness that God used Peter as the rock to build his earthly church.  

When wheat is sifted, the grain is separated from the chaff by force and in that process, the purest form of the wheat is all that remains. Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat to tear him down and God allowed it so that he could use it as a means of refinement and sanctification in Peter’s life that would draw him closer to the Lord and allow him to share the hope of Jesus with more people. Satan also wanted to tempt Jesus immediately after he was baptized, and God allowed that as well. After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Satan tempted Jesus three times only to be thwarted in each attempt. And as Jesus moved on from that moment and maintained his perfection on earth, he eventually gave up his life for the sin of the world before defeating death three days later and is at the right hand of God today.

Understanding those attacks by Satan on our perfect Savior as well as the disciple God used to build and grow his church should be a clear indication to us today that Satan will absolutely attack me and family and you and your family as we strive to faithfully follow Jesus. But we can hold firmly to the truth that God will use what Satan schemes for death to bring forth life as we too are sifted and refined and sanctified in this life.

Don’t allow the sifting and the refinement in your life or any level of spiritual warfare you may encounter to do anything other than draw you closer to Jesus. Hold fast to the truth of God’s Word and know that even when Satan comes after you, God has already defeated him. Like you, I don’t love those moments of sifting and refinement but I’m thankful to know, like he did for Peter, Jesus is interceding for you and me so that we too can be better equipped through the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen those around us and to share the good news of the hope we have in Christ.

“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” | John 17:4

Some of the most encouraging and inspiring verses from Scripture for me are found in chapter 17 of the Gospel of John, which centers on the final prayer of Jesus prior to his betrayal and shortly before his death on the cross. As we read the 26 verses in that chapter, we’re invited into a conversation between Jesus and God the Father where we’re provided with a sweet glimpse into the heart of Christ as he prepared for the pain that was to follow.

John 17 is not just a prayer but it’s Christ’s prayer where he prays for himself and where he prays for his followers – those who were following him during his earthly ministry and all of us who would follow him hundreds of years later. The prayer from Jesus essentially closed a sermon to his disciples found in John 16. And after talking with his disciples, Jesus then talks to God in a prayer the disciples almost certainly could hear for themselves.

Everything about John 17 is powerful for believers and followers of Jesus because of the ways he acknowledged to God the Father that he had completed the work that was necessary ahead of the next chapter of his earthly life – his own death. But the power of this prayer doesn’t stop there because Jesus then petitions on behalf of those who are his. After asking God to take him back in his presence in the same glory he had before the world existed (v. 5), Jesus then prays that his followers would be kept (v. 11-16), sanctified (v. 17-19), united (v. 11, 20-23) and glorified (v. 24-26) in the days after his death and resurrection. Praying in a way his disciples on that day could hear and in a way that his followers today can read, Jesus shares his desires for each of us and his church.

And that reality always takes me back to his words in verse 4 where he tells God the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” Through his works and actions on earth, Jesus Christ brought glory to God. It was more than just his words but also his actions and deeds that delivered the full message to the world that he is different. Those actions – his perfect life, his death on the cross, his resurrection three days later and his ascension to the right hand of God the Father – are what give us hope in a sinful and fallen world in this life. This is the good news we’re called to take to all the nations.

As I reflect on the words of Jesus in verse 4, I’m reminded that he is the earthly example to follow in my own life. By surrendering my life to him and receiving his saving grace for my sin, I have accepted his call for me to follow him faithfully. And when I meditate on what that means in the context of my life as a husband, father and minister, I’m drawn to a place where my desire and goal in this life is to live in such a way that, if given the opportunity before my own death, I too could confidently say to God, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do.”

Though Jesus defeated death and sin with his life, death, and resurrection more than 2,000 years ago, God still has unfinished work on earth, and he’s called on us, believers, and followers of Jesus, to help finish that work. As we fight the good fight of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12), we do so by following the earthly life of Jesus as our example. I urge you to take action and follow Jesus in such a way in your life that you too will glorify God by accomplishing the work he’s given you to do.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. | 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

On a cool December day nearly 11 years ago, my wife Becky and I were inside a delivery room at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. We were there to welcome the arrival of our second child, Isaac. Two years earlier, we became parents for the first time when God gave us our sweet daughter Lily and there we were, back at the same hospital preparing to become a family of four.

The weeks leading up to that day were similar in many ways to what we had experienced during the first pregnancy with Lily, but there were also some notable differences as doctors found a few concerning markers along the way. The list of potential causes for the red flags that were discovered was lengthy and impossible to process without creating fear and anxiety.

As Isaac’s due date moved closer, some of those concerning markers had leveled off and Becky’s doctor was optimistic we’d experience a typical and otherwise uneventful delivery. However, to be safe, the doctor suggested that we induce labor at 39 weeks (rather than waiting until 40 weeks) and she also believed it would be wise to have a neonatal specialist on call to examine Isaac after he was born. We followed her guidance and moved forward with both suggestions.

While in the delivery room prior to Isaac’s birth, everything seemed very similar to what we experienced with Lily. And though the process of delivering a child is never the exact same from one kid to the next, the countdown to Isaac’s arrival didn’t bring any noticeable moments of concern or fear that wasn’t present two years earlier. However, all of that changed after he was born.

Soon after he breathed his first breath and joined us outside of his mother’s womb, Isaac was carried across the room by the medical team, where he was examined by the neonatal specialist. As I sat next to Becky, my focus in those moments was divided between the love I felt for my strong and courageous wife, who had beautifully delivered a second child for us, and my love for our newborn son, who was laying on a table just a few feet from us while a doctor we had never met examined him.

A short time passed before the doctor asked me to join him, so I walked across the room to the table where our son was laying. The doctor then shared with me each of the physical characteristics associated with Down syndrome he had found during Isaac’s exam. The doctor reminded me that a Down syndrome diagnosis could only be confirmed through a blood test, but he also noted that with so many physical characteristics present, there was a very high likelihood Isaac would receive that diagnosis. In that moment, I tried with everything I had to hear all of what the doctor was saying while simultaneously keeping a close grasp on my emotions because I knew Becky was watching intently from across the room.

To my credit, I didn’t start crying until I began to share with Becky the reality of what I had just learned, but the emotions were raw and heavy for both of us. To be clear, we love our son, and we know God loves him even more that we do, but in that moment, Down syndrome was not what we wanted for Isaac or our family. As I sat on the bed next to Becky in that delivery room, the weight of the diagnosis and all the fears of what might follow were overwhelming.

As we tried to understand this new reality, I’m so appreciative of the actions of Becky’s doctor, who cleared everyone out of the room and told us to take all the time we needed to process the diagnosis and be alone together. We cried helpless tears as we held each other in the delivery room bed and even today, thinking about those moments can create a tearful, emotional response for me. But something else happened while we were in that room grieving a reality we didn’t want to face. The Holy Spirit moved in a way neither of us expected.

We both knew that prayer was pivotal in that moment and that our best course of action was to place our fears and sadness at the feet of Christ. But the Holy Spirit also prompted us to begin our prayer with praise. In those moments of raw emotion and vulnerability with the Lord, He led us on a path of thankfulness that carried incredible power for our faith and peace in the storm. And though we weren’t thinking of a specific verse or section of Scripture while we sat in that hospital room, it’s easy to reflect on it now and see the ways God guided us to experience and live out the message inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 where he reminds us to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Those words from Paul near the end of his first letter to the church in Thessalonica carry more impact for me today than ever before. God has used not only those experiences in that delivery room but the many moments since then to grow the faith of our family while allowing us to be in his presence in powerful ways. Life in a world impacted by disability is challenging in all facets – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Many times, there are far more questions than answers and as a family, we’re learning to be okay with that. Day to day life is impacted in so many tangible ways, not only for the person with the disability, but also for the inner circle of caregivers, family and friends who journey alongside that person. But I’m thankful for my God, who never waivers in his love and goodness along the way.

As we move through this holiday season and reflect on all the blessings shared by God with each of us, I’m truly thankful for the ways He has used disabilities and special needs in our family for his glory. I don’t always love the storms we find ourselves navigating through but I’m thankful to have faith and hope in a Savior who not only controls those storms, but calls us to rejoice, pray and give thanks during the storms because that’s where we most often find his presence and his love to be the most powerful.

God, we thank you for the storms of this life and the ways you use those storms to allow us to experience your love and presence. It’s during those moments in your presence in this broken world that we’re reminded of the glory that awaits us and the everlasting joy that will come when we find ourselves with you forever! Amen!

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. | Luke 5:16

As I thought about where to go with today’s conversation, I was reminded of the verse in the Gospel of Luke that immediately precedes the story of the four men who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Just after Jesus had cleansed and healed a man from leprosy in Luke 5:13 and as people learned of his ministry and great crowds began to follow to hear his message and experience his healing power, we read in verse 16 that Jesus would withdraw to desolate places and pray. As the crowds grew and the ministry reached more people, Jesus paused to find himself a desolate place to be alone with God the Father.

The Greek word for desolate in the New Testament also means solitary, wilderness, and desert. The word desolate is found several times in the New Testament and it is often used to describe the place where Jesus and his disciples would go for rest and to be alone with God. As Jesus was leading his earthly ministry and guiding the disciples, he valued the importance and the impact of finding a quiet, undistracted place to talk with God.

In Mark 1:35, Scripture says “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” While Jesus was praying, Simon and many others were searching for him and after they found him, Jesus replied “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” In the verses preceding his time of prayer in that desolate place, we learn that the whole city had gathered at the door of Jesus where he healed many and cast out demons. He then went alone to pray before moving on to the next town for more ministry.  

In both Luke 5 and Mark 1, we see Jesus finding a desolate place to be alone with God before moving forward with the next chapter in his ministry. I can’t help but assume that it was that time with God the Father that helped Jesus have the clarity and discernment and energy needed to complete the ministry he was called to. In Luke 5:16, the time alone with God in a desolate place immediately followed the healing of a man with leprosy. And it set the stage for the spiritual and physical healing he performed as he honored the faith of the four friends and the paralyzed man.

Jesus modeled for all those who would follow him, including Christians today, the importance of finding our desolate place to be alone with God. If Jesus, in all his perfection and sinlessness, found it necessary to escape the crowds and the expectations and the demands of his life by finding a spot in the desert and the wilderness to be undistracted with his Father, then how much more important is it for you and me in all of our brokenness and sinfulness to also make it a priority to find our desolate place to meet God? It doesn’t matter if you’re a pastor or a volunteer, a parent or a child or someone with Down syndrome or autism, God desires for each of us to be alone with Him.  

So where is your desolate place? Where is the wilderness or desert in your world where you can be alone with God? Where in your daily life can you follow the example set by Jesus to find an undistracted, solitary place where you can talk to God, read Scripture, and allow enough space for Him to whisper and speak to you through the Holy Spirit?

For me, it’s a comfy chair in the corner of our bedroom while everyone else is either asleep or away from the house. It’s a place where I can sit with my Bible, another book I may also be reading at the time, my neon highlighter (because I love to highlight text) and be alone with God. That’s where I spent a lot of time 5 years ago while seeking and listening to God as He was leading me out of a career in college sports and into full-time vocational ministry. I needed that space to absorb his Word and to listen for Him for discernment, clarity, peace and direction.

If you have that place, then I encourage you to go there as often as you can to be in the presence of God. He desires that for you and for himself. And if you don’t have that place, I urge you to find one now and to make it a priority to spend extended amounts of time alone with the God, who not only loves you but also wants to spend time with you. We’re called to know God and make Him known to others. For us to do that most effectively, let us follow the lead of Jesus by finding our desolate place and meeting God there.

This is my first venture into sharing a blog so thank you for joining me on this ride! Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect but I’m praying God will use whatever words He gives me to encourage and bless anyone who finds their way to Faith Through the Roof. The name of the blog is inspired by one of my favorite Biblical accounts, found in each of the three synoptic Gospels (Luke 5, Mark 2 and Matthew 9). This Bible story centers on a group of four men who overcome all obstacles to carry their paralyzed friend to Jesus Christ.

While Jesus was teaching to a large gathering of people at a home, the four men arrived with their friend but they were unable to get through the crowd. Determined to find a way to take their friend with a disability to Jesus, the men removed the roof of the house to create an opening and then lowered the man down. When Jesus saw their faith, he said “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

After being questioned by some in the crowd for what he said, Jesus responded by healing the man physically and sharing these words, “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” The man stood, picked up his mat and went home while amazement seized all who were there, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

I love this Bible story for a number of reasons but in my world as a husband and a dad in a family directly impacted by special needs and as a minister to the disability community, I believe there are three key points that we in the church can take from what we read in Scripture about this account. As we examine each of the key figures in this story, we in the church should see the three ways we can better follow the Holy Spirit with faith in action that fights through all obstacles, including the roof, to love God and love people!

1. Like the four friends, our churches should be doing whatever it takes to carry people to Jesus. As believers and followers of Jesus, no obstacles or road blocks or barriers should stop us from faithfully taking people to the feet of our Savior.

2. Like Jesus, our churches should be the places where a group of people would want to take their friend to find the hope and love of Christ. We should love people in such a radical way that our friends and families in the special needs community know they are welcomed and wanted in our churches.

3. Following the lead of Jesus, our churches should be loving people in such a Christ-centered way that leaves anyone who is watching amazed and filled with awe. That radical love for the special needs community should be so powerful that all who witness it would describe it as extraordinary.

We’ll dig a little deeper into each of those in the days ahead but for now, that will serve as the starting point for our future conversations. Like Jesus did throughout his earthly ministry, we in the church have an opportunity to welcome our friends and families in the special needs community into Christ’s church. We have an opportunity to journey alongside our friends and families in the special needs community and share in the blessings as God moves and works through all of us for his glory. We have an opportunity to open Scripture together and better understand what the Bible says about disability because God desires to use disability and special needs to draw us closer to Him and to allow others to see his love and goodness. My prayer is that this platform will serve as another way I can help foster that conversation and spur progress in our churches for families like mine.

Have a blessed day and we look forward to chatting again soon!