This past weekend was one of the most rewarding weekends of my life.  It all started with my birthday on Friday.  I turned the big 40.  Its true and I am no longer in denial—I’m getting older but I felt special the entire day.

We all face challenges in life.  These challenges can be overwhelming and leave us feeling discouraged and fatigued.  This is one reason the Body of Christ is so essential to us all.  We help each other through connection and encouragement.

When things seem to worsen we must not only be at our best we must also trust God’s sovereignty.   As a young man God gave Joseph a dream of making an impact with his life.  For 30 years his life seemed to head straight downhill at breakneck speed.

What do you do when things in your life seem to be going from bad to worse?  Its simple−you do what you are supposed to do.  You do the best job you can with the hand you are dealt.  That is what Joseph did and he keeps getting promoted.

When you turn over a new leaf you expect things to get better.  That is not always the case when it comes to our faith.  Sometimes things get worse before they get better.  That was certainly the case with Joseph.

Christmas is a time when many people have to deal with rejection. You may be traveling home for Christmas to face a situation where you have never been accepted for who you are. I don’t have any personal experience of rejection from my family but I know someone who has.

Man I appreciate all the prayer and encouragement my family has received from the Body of Christ.   Last Thursday my dad lost feeling in his legs and collapsed.

In Acts 9 Luke tells us that Ananias is a key player in Saul’s conversion.   Can you imagine the courage required for Ananias to go visit this guy who was breathing out murderous threats against anyone who claimed to follow Christ.  There is no doubt that he was nervous about the visit.

There is so much incredible stuff happening in Acts chapter five that I have never caught verse 12-14.   The believers were gathering but no one else dared to join them even though they were highly regarded.

Acts 4 says so much to me personally about my own life that its hard to choose one thing to write about.  But I love verses 13 & 20.  13When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these [...]