Christ Like People

Faithful Invention

I was recently invited to the ATX Hackerspace in Austin, TX for an event, and I happened to be in town for it. If you consider “geek” a term of endearment, head to your local hackerspace or makerspace posthaste! You will feel warm and fuzzy inside. While I was touring the space and meeting the…

What Is Prayer…and Am I Any Good At It?

Those who work with me have undoubtedly heard me say that prayer is one of my lowest spiritual gifts. I am 100% sure about this, but I regularly get surprised reactions from people when I tell them. What Is A Spiritual Gift? To me, a spiritual gift is something you do that brings you and…

Can You Be More Specific?

I was meeting with a dear friend recently, and I end our times together by asking what I should pray for him over the next few months. He told me the first thing that came to mind, I gave him a look he knows all too well, and he replied, “Yeah, that’s not specific enough,…

Really? Really? OK!

Late one weekday evening, almost everyone I knew found themselves at the same viewing before a very hard funeral. The line stretched outside. As I approached the dearly departed, I felt an all-too-familiar nudge. It’s something different every time, but this time the nudge said: “Tell that man that this is his chance to be…

God Please Derail Me

I recently pre-ordered the new book by Chip and Dan Heath called Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. One of the main points in the book goes like this: Prepare to Be Wrong: we are overconfident, thinking we know how the future will unfold when we really don’t. We should prepare for…

Salt of the Earth

I read a fascinating interview (link to article) with Michael Moss about his new book Salt, Sugar, Fat that delves into the food processing industry. In the interview he unveils a fascinating fact about salt: When it comes to salt, what was really staggering to me is that the industry itself is totally hooked on salt….

Lord, Keep Me Alert, Safe, and Legal

I was driving from Austin to Dallas recently, and I prayed my standard road trip prayer: Lord, keep me alert, keep me safe, and keep me legal. All three of those petitions have a back story. Keep Me Alert I was driving from Port Aransas to Austin, ready to move in to my dorm at…

How Do You Know?

My devotions took me to Exodus today, and I noticed this little snippet from God’s words to Pharaoh: “Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord…’” – Exodus 7:17a While Pharaoh got smacked in the face by God’s power and presence, we normally have to look a little more…

Thankfulness

I have been using the Life Journal for my personal devotional lately, and I have seen immense spiritual growth from the process. I recently read Psalm 8, and I was especially drawn to v3-4: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in…

The Tree of Spiritual Growth

What does Christian life look like? How have you tried to answer this question? I remember how I tried to answer this question in high school. I believed Christian life was all about following the rules – not sinning. I think I got this idea from Benjamin Franklin, but I thought every Christian should naturally…