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“Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?” The man wants the fire.
The man wants the fire close to his heart.
The man knows the fire will burn him.
Yet the man doesn’t want his flesh or clothes to be burned. Ah, decisions, decisions!
Can I take the fire (sinful desire) without being burned (bodily harm, mental anguish, legal trouble, or God’s discipline)? I find myself at these crossroads often—thanks to my flesh. Do you? I truly believe we’ll keep faci

I’ve never had a job where I couldn’t pinpoint the least desirable part. For example, in lawn care, weed eating takes the crown (for my out-of-town readers, that’s trimming around trees, shrubs, sidewalks, and such). Every job or task has a “weed-eating” aspect. Those undesirable tasks tend to mess with our eyeballs. They make us start looking up and around, paying way too much attention to what everyone else is doing. Before long, we’re wondering why we have to do the hard s

Now, I’ve been known to complain and am just as prone to do it as y’all. However, it’s one of my least favorite topics of conversation to listen to. Yesterday, I was blessed with the chance to poison all the lovely weeds that pop up this time of year for my uncle, who’s been facing battle after battle with his health. As I was finishing the spraying, he came out with one more little request. He wanted me to grab a hoe and a shovel real quick to fill in the holes in his yard l

Yesterday was awesome. After climbing the steps to the stage and turning around, my eyes met double the souls that typically attend Sunday worship. Familiar families sitting together. Many I had never met before sprinkled throughout. My heart was full. The Holy Spirit answered our prayer and met us yesterday. He filled the building and the believers, reminding us that we weren’t celebrating a fairy tale but a risen Savior who gave His life for us I hope the worship service ma

Back in elementary school, my class took a field trip to Rickwood Caverns, a state park in Hayden, Alabama built around a big cave in the ground. The point of the trip was to explore the cave, learn about underground life, and see the stalagmites. I don’t remember much about the facts or formations, but I’ll never forget one moment. We had been walking down, down, down when the tour guide stopped. After everyone gathered in this large, cool, damp room, he turned off the light

I’m tired of missing out on incredible experiences simply because I refuse to pay attention or listen. Can you imagine being born blind and never seeing all the beautiful things we get to enjoy every day? I can’t either. John 9 tells the story of Jesus meeting a man who was born blind and giving him sight. That had never happened before—no one who’d been born blind had ever received their sight. But Jesus did it. He performed this miracle on the Sabbath, showing that He has a

The most common excuses I hear from people who refuse to regularly read God’s Word. I write today with the hope of giving you some motivation to toss those excuses like an empty drive-thru sack into a gas station garbage can. I took my oldest to Birmingham for a doctor’s appointment this week. Pure excitement—I know. We park, walk, check in, and sit in the waiting room. The scene is quiet. One other man accompanies us in the stale room of weathered, black pleather chairs. Mom

You usually don’t fall into sin overnight…you get used to it. At first, it bothers you. Then you live around it. Next thing you know, you get comfortable with it. That’s Lot in Genesis 19. Ol’ Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom, which is a place of position. He didn’t just visit sin… he positioned himself in it. As it often does, one night, sin showed up. A mob at his door—loud, violent, out of control.
 The same sin he lived around… now staring him in the face. And now he want

Likely, you had a childhood hero who played on the silver screen. I had several: He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Popeye the Sailor Man. The first two remain heroes of mine, but not that Sailor Man—he lied to me. I still remember the day. I had been watching him and those enormous forearms save the day time and time again after he ate his spinach. Moreover, he seemed to love the way it tasted. Well, I wanted to save the day and enjoy good food. My family had never served me spinach at t

I learned this the hard way standing under a towering tree that was seconds away from taking out a power line. The saw was screaming and wood chips were flying out the bottom and showering my legs and feet. I looked up and was comforted by the rope tied to the tree and tethered to my truck but unsettled by the tree’s stubborn lean toward the power line. About 10 minutes prior to this, my helper and I tied a rope half-way up the tree and tied the other end to my truck and put

I love to travel, but I wasn’t sure a museum was what I had in mind for a family trip. My mom found a place in Georgia that recreated moments from biblical history, and the experience helped me see the historical setting of the Bible in a way I never had before. It obviously wasn’t the same as going to Israel or Rome, but it helped you picture what you are reading. Although I was a little apprehensive before the trip, it gave me a perspective that has stuck with me ever since

You know what we can do? We can humiliate em’!—and that thought flashed through my mind. Do unto others, right…he tried to humiliate me, so maybe he wants the same in return. (fleshly temptation) Yesterday, someone left a comment on my confession video about me misusing Scripture to prove my point. Basically, the comment said, “Be careful, you never want to misquote your myth.” I didn’t ask the guy, but I figure he was trying to humiliate me by calling the Bible a myth. It di

I was passionately defending the Bible to a coworker who didn’t believe it. She had been speaking against Jesus and the Bible in general, and even though I wasn’t following Jesus very closely at the time, it flew all over me. So I inserted myself into the conversation and started defending Jesus from the Bible the best I could. She let me know she didn’t believe the Bible. Well… I knew exactly how to win her over. I quoted a verse from Proverbs with passion. I really brought

I know better than to think and say that we will all agree on anything. But, I do think we all want peace and safety for our homes. I was reading Genesis 12 this morning and noticed that ol’ Abram was real interested in it too. The irony is that the chapter begins with God's promise to bless him and bless others through him. Next thing you know, Abram is having Sarai, his wife, lie to the Egyptians and tell them that Abram is really her brother. I am not throwing rocks at Abr

I went to the gym yesterday to prepare for a heavy supper, but I ended up coming face-to-face with a version of myself I haven’t thought about in twenty years. At my gym, the music bumps from a huge floor speaker. Yesterday’s playlist could have been titled “Phillip’s Sophomore Through Senior Years of College.” To top it off, one of my old college buddies—someone I rarely see—walked in right as the music started digging up memories I had buried deep. Looking at my friend and

Lately I’ve seen how powerful my expectations are—what I quietly assume about how my day “should” go. If I expect a medium steak and get a medium steak, I’m content. If I get a well‑done steak instead, my mood tanks and I start complaining. Same small thing, totally different response—because of expectations. If expectations shape me that much, I don’t just need “better vibes”; I need my expectations shaped by Jesus. Look at His words in Luke 17:7–10. He describes a servant w

I was 7 years old when I learned that some things don’t hunt you—they just wait for you. I came home from school that Spring day and went straight to the front porch to check on a mason jar full of tadpoles which I had caught the day before. After seeing that they were still enjoying their stay in my AirBNB, I turned around to head inside, and there he was. A Copperhead. He wasn’t chasing me. He wasn’t rattling a warning. He was just... crouched. He’d been tucked into the gap

Many people have made this statement to me over the years. I have a hard time hearing it every time. Why? I am concerned about the beliefs that cause people to say it. In Luke 15, The Pharisees and scribes are mad at Jesus for receiving and eating with sinners. So, Jesus tells 3 parables in response: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son. The Shepherd celebrates when He finds the sheep that was lost. The woman celebrates when she finds the lost coin. The Father

In Luke 14, Jesus doesn't use "marketing speak" to grow His following. He does the opposite. He talks about "hating" your own life, carrying a cross, and giving up every possession. The heading for this section in my Bible actually says, “Discipleship Tested.” Jesus uses the examples of a builder and a king to make one point: Don’t start what you aren’t willing to finish. Following Jesus isn't a hobby or a weekend addition to our lives. It’s a total renovation. He wants more

Bigger is better, right? At least that’s what we’re told. Have y’all noticed how much bigger cars and houses have gotten since the 1980s? Pay attention today; it’s actually wild. I think our obsession with “bigness” shows how much we believe size equals importance. But should we? Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed—something tiny, almost microscopic. It didn’t look like much at the start, but once planted, it grew into a tree big enough for birds to come and r