This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | Have you ever had the thought, “What’s the point?” “What am I doing here?” “Is what I’m doing even making a difference?” I have to imagine you said yes. Who hasn’t wrestled with those thoughts? We can look back in time and find such questions being asked over two thousand ...

A lady in my church once told me, “Pastor Tod shouldn’t get upset if he sees us fall asleep in church. Some of us live in such chaos that we just can’t help but nod off in the peace and presence of God.” I laughed when she said this, but then realized how true it really was. Our world has become ...

I hope the title caught your attention! It did mine. I was recently meditating on Philippians 3 where Paul talks about counting everything as loss “for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8). And as I usually do, I read these passages in the Amplified, the Message, the New Living, and then opened the Passion Translation. I ...

Let’s talk about fruit. Can you imagine, if you were a fruit tree, what it must feel like to have your branches trimmed back or cut off altogether? Doesn’t sound like fun. But wait… the Bible says God’s children are designed to bear fruit, which means we can relate. But this also means when our branches aren’t producing as they should, the ...

People pay big money to attend seminars on how to be successful. It’s in the heart of every person to succeed (at something). It’s our heart because God wired us that way. And although I could go down a proven list of steps for success, I want to highlight one that can be overlooked– but is no less crucial than ...

With flashlight in hand, I carefully made my way down the uneven dirt path. As I walked, I prayed. I poured my heart out to God in the stillness of the night. It was cold, yet my heart was warmed by His abiding presence. “O God, you have placed a dream in my heart that I cannot run from…” As ...

You may or may not have heard this story before, but I want to look at two men who both did something honorable. Remember, righteousness isn’t only what Christ has done for us, but what we now do for Him. Righteousness is an action as well as a position. In the Second Book of Samuel, we find that King David ...

Here’s a quick lesson in reconciling: Most of you have some type of bank account, and every month you receive a statement from the bank showing the pluses and minuses for the month. Now whether you do it or not, the bank sends you that statement so you can reconcile your information with what they have on file. Reconciling is ...

In my humble opinion, I believe there’s an attack on identity like never before. It may be more prominent in the United States, but I believe it’s world-wide. It’s an outright attack on people made in the image of God. For example, June is recognized as PRIDE month. First instituted by President Clinton in 1999 in response to riots in ...

This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network Funny story: my stepdad doesn’t like tomatoes but he planted 120 tomato plants this year. He’s not a farmer. He’s a retired plumber. He doesn’t grow anything else but tomatoes. Why? First because his wife loved them and ate at least 2 a day before she passed away. But secondly, because ...