What It Means to be an Adult

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.—1 Corinthians 13:11

A young woman told me in a slightly panicked voice that she was about to turn 18. “I don’t know how to adult!” she exclaimed.

“Of course you do!” I assured (more…)

Filtering Your Thoughts

I sat on a bench next to our lake as I prayed this morning and admired the beautiful day, the kind that helps me endure our brutal summers. Water lilies flapped lightly against the water in the cool breeze; ospreys glided overhead. And then I found myself fixing on one ominous pinkish-gray cloud that alternately coalesced and fragmented against the otherwise serene (more…)

The Importance of Purity: A Second Message to Young Women

Some of the worst decisions I’ve seen young women make (or women of any age, for that matter) involve men. That’s because so many of us find our worth in men. We find our validation in men. We seek our fulfillment in men.

My sweet young friends, you are worth so much more than that. You are indescribably precious in the sight (more…)

Don’t Go Breaking Their Hearts: A Message to Young Women

As a young woman, I transitioned from awkward and geeky to what some men considered attractive without noticing the transition myself. Ungrounded in my faith and uninstructed about my conduct, I naively pursued friendships with men without a second thought about whether those men could have had feelings for me. It took advice from a man to open my eyes to (more…)

How We Lost the Culture War

This is a message exclusively directed at my fellow Christ-followers. If you’re not quite there yet, just look over to the right-hand column where it says “How You Can Know Jesus,” and tune back in next time.

Now for those of you who remain, let’s have a family chat.

As long as I can remember, Christians have been fighting what they have thought (more…)