Behind the Storm
On February 26, 2020, a little over two weeks before the severity of the Coronavirus became common knowledge in North America, my wife and I boarded a plane with our two boys—one nine years old and the other six. We were flying from Minneapolis to Orlando on a family...
The Porn Problem
I remember the first time I saw pornography. I was sitting in the back seat on my way to an event with some buddies. With a sly grin on his face, my friend riding shotgun turned around, opened up the magazine he had been reading, and let the centerfold fall out: “What...
Leaving the Island of Porn Addiction
Dark experiences have spawned my hatred for silence. I think of silence as an invitation to dine at a table of cold spoilage from the fridge of my memory. Even more, it is from this fridge that all my unresolved life pains present themselves only to be digested...
Hate and Violence
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1980s and 90s meant that I was no stranger to violence. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots on my street. I remember being given instructions to avoid walking down certain blocks due to the...
Cross-Cultural Neighboring
The world has come to North America… and that includes Red Deer, Alberta. We believe this is much more than coincidental. Our God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. He desires that the nations hear the gospel—nations that he brought to the world, into...
New Neighbors
Each Tuesday I serve as an adult literacy volunteer, helping a man I’ll call Ivan learn to read English. Ivan came to the United States during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. Though his family was Orthodox Christian, they lived very peaceably in the dominantly Muslim...
The CLB Sent
In Luke 10:2-4, Jesus gave this instruction to missionary teams as he sent them out: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among...
Fix Your Eyes on Christ
I grew up in a tight-knit Christian home. I was a very energetic, giggly little girl, because everything to me seemed perfect… until eighth grade. I had a big group of friends, but after a misunderstanding within my friend group, I began to be bullied. At first, I...
Lord Over the Coronavirus
As I sat in my office on Thursday, March 12, the news was coming fast and furious. I could visit traditional news sites, but I didn’t have to. Scrolling through Facebook, nearly every post was related to the coronavirus. Link after link to various news sources, videos...
Editors Note: Chasing After the Wind
The Bible tells us the story of a king who was blessed with wisdom, wealth, and power. The king was admired and loved by his people, and rulers throughout the world came to seek his counsel. Yet, the king was unhappy. The Bible tells us that he sought to...
Making All Thing New
Danny Isaac states. His smile beams as the glaring sunlight bounces off his face. He sits tall in his wheelchair as he continues. “The past few years I’ve thought in my head, ‘Would I give up my wheelchair to walk again?’”At eight months old Danny’s life...
Turned Upside Down
It was my freshman year of college and it was less than I’d imagined it to be. I had met God when I was fifteen at a conference in Minneapolis, and while I had hoped everything would change, I had found a competing love still living in my heart.Writing...
Having an Epiphany
All my life I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a bad guy. A drug dealer. I carried it through and through.I started that life in eighth grade. I have been addicted to every drug there ever was, and I’ve tried everything there is to try. I sold...
Disarming Depression
I had driven to the campus one morning but turned around and drove home without even going to class. I blew off my parents’ concerned questions and headed for my room. They followed and found me lying with my face buried in my pillow. After more of their...
Were Safe Spaces Grow
“We never really talked about it,” the young girl stated as we sat down. “Our school basically said you can’t because you might offend someone.”I grabbed my burger a little tighter and shifted in my chair. We had watched a movie about abortion before going...
Facing Anxiety
It started subtly with me: a headache, stomachache, diarrhea all night, just when we started an intense Chadian Arabic class. I was able to get through class Thursday and Friday, but then my two-year-old got a fever, wasn’t eating well, became very crabby…...
Editor’s Note: Created in His Image
I was 28 years old when I came to faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not the path I would choose if I could do it all again. I would prefer to live my entire life as a follower of Christ, yet I can see how coming to faith as an adult has given me a unique...
Life After Attempting Suicide
I vividly remember the night I made an attempt on my own life. My mind flashes back to March, three years ago. I had just gulped down several bottles of cough syrup and taken a wide array of painkillers straight up my nose. I was numb. I was bored with...
On Suicide
Research suggests that up to 5% of the population (1 of every 20 people) may at least be thinking about the possibility of suicide.The good news: For most, suicidal thoughts ease as their situation changes, as they learn to cope, or as they develop new...
Living with Abortion
I had an abortion nine years ago. It still haunts me to this day.The abortion providers convinced me that abortion would fix my situation. They convinced me that it would open up doors to great opportunities. But really, it tore me apart to my core.Before...