The cost of obedience is not only what we leave behind. Sometimes it is following God when we cannot see what our obedience accomplished. In Soul Weathered, I write about the cost of obedience. I talk about being abandoned to God. About following Him when following costs us something. About times when I have questioned Him, wrestled with Him, and found myself at odds with Him because what was happening didn't look anything like what I thought would happen. I wish I could say

What happens after the excitement of God's call wears off—and you're still there? Recently, someone asked me about a question in Soul Weathered. It comes out of one of the devotions dealing with staying with God when He calls us into something. The question was: How do you stay present with God in the middle of it? He wanted to know what I meant by that. I've been thinking about the question again, because I know exactly why I wrote it. There have been things in my life that

Why the world needs the unique person God created you to be. One of the devotions in Soul Weathered is called A Role Only You Can Play. It's built on a truth that has shaped the way I've looked at people for years. Long before you were born... before anyone knew your name... before your parents held you... God knew you. He wasn't surprised by your personality. He wasn't surprised by your gifts. He wasn't surprised by your struggles. He designed you with intention. He created

Everything abandoned to God will be returned to us, either in this lifetime or in eternity. One of the devotions in Soul Weathered is called Abandoned to God. In it, I make a statement that someone recently asked me about. I wrote: "Everything abandoned to God will be returned to us, either in this lifetime or in eternity." Do I really believe that? Absolutely. Recently I had lunch with a friend I've known for several years. Twenty-six months ago, he made a decision that most

There is a place where the life of Christ begins to flow effortlessly through you. One of the recurring themes throughout Soul Weathered is becoming the man God created you to be. Not the man the world tells you to become. Not the man your fears have shaped. Not even the man you think you ought to be. The man God imagined when He created you. For years, I wondered what that really looked like. How do you become that man? How do you move beyond simply believing in Christ to ac

"Jesus died for you. God calls you. And eventually, there are steps of obedience only you can take." Jesus told a story about a shepherd who left ninety-nine sheep to go after one that was lost. I've heard that story most of my life. Usually, I heard it from the perspective of evangelism. The lost person. The person far from God. The one who needs rescuing. And that's true. But recently I've been wondering something else. What if the one is you? Not you as part of a crowd. No

One of the devotions in Soul Weathered is called Immortals. And if I'm honest, most of my Christian life I didn't think much about eternity. I believed in it. I believed heaven was real. I believed that through Christ I would spend eternity with God. But I didn't spend much time thinking about what eternity actually meant. Like many Christians, I think I viewed life as a bell curve. You are born. You grow. You reach some kind of peak. Then your body declines. And eventually y

One of the things I hear most from men today is this: “I feel behind.” Behind financially. Behind spiritually. Behind professionally. They look around at other men and quietly wonder: Am I where I’m supposed to be by now? And the older I get, the more I question the timelines we’ve accepted. Because our culture has a script for men. In your 20s, you’re supposed to figure life out. In your 30s, build your career and family. In your 40s and 50s, accumulate and secure things. In

As I’ve been rereading parts of Soul Weathered, I’ve found myself unexpectedly convicted by my own words. That may sound strange coming from the author of the book, but the truth is, those devotions came out of decades of journals, reflections, failures, prayers, and moments where God met me in real life. When I started putting the book together, I had hundreds of pages I could have included. Narrowing it down to 52 devotionals honestly came down to trust. Trusting the Holy S

In my last post, I shared the moment when I realized something simple: If I wanted to be the man my family needed…I needed to follow God. But what I didn’t share is what that actually looked like. The picture I had at the time has stayed with me ever since. It was as if God had always been right behind me. Close.Present.Faithful. Almost like He was tapping me on the shoulder. And every once in a while, I would turn just enough to notice.Just enough to respond.Just enough to s

These weren’t polished sermons or big lessons—they were just me, trying to figure out life with God one step at a time.