As a young boy, I loved to play pretend. I would clothe myself in a warrior’s armor — usually made from my dad’s oversized sweatshirts and hats — and valiantly face an imaginary foe. Something in my heart longed to be a soldier, bravely marching into battle.

The action movies popular with men today suggest we retain this innate longing to fight with honor for a noble cause or king. Yet many Christian men forget that they are fighting in a war as they live in this fallen world every day.

We all have things we’re believing for. We may be believing that one day we’re going to get well, one day we’re going to break an addiction, or one day we’re going to meet the right person. We prayed, and we’re standing in faith, waiting for it to happen. But Jesus gives us an important principle about prayer: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). He doesn’t say, “Believe that it’s going to happen.”

Father’s Day is when we celebrate and honor all the father’s in our lives. From those that hold the title “new dad” to “grandpa,” – we acknowledge you! The God-fearing men that faithfully serve the Lord and lead their families with perseverance, strength, and dignity.

However, while this holiday may be a joyful occasion for some, it conjures up mixed emotions for others. Whether it is a reminder of the missing physical presence that triggers a wave of grief or a wounded heart that resurfaces due to a painful or strained relationship, this day can be difficult.

I was the healthiest sick person you could’ve met. From my grade school years, I mastered perfect attendance, never missing a minute of school unless I was truly too sick to be in the classroom. Once we moved up to letter grades, the only letter I was satisfied with was “A.” Anything less brought deep disappointment and a strong will to push harder.

In track and field, I studied the technique of the world’s greatest triple jumpers and ferociously hunted down the state records, even with a torn quadriceps muscle.

As my counselor welcomed me and sought to understand my depression, I felt the worn, oversized seat beneath me. I rested my arm on its soft leather and thought of two metaphorical chairs.

One chair was comfort and safety. The other was vulnerability and faith. There’s always a story behind how depression creeps into someone’s life, and I was about to share mine.

There’s a battle taking place inside each of us. It’s a battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh represents our carnal nature that shows out in ways such as jealousy, pride, and compromise. It’s the easy way to live. You just do whatever you feel and don’t have to be disciplined. If someone’s rude to you, you’re rude back to them. If you don’t feel like having a good attitude, you go through the day sour. You don’t think twice about eating your fourth piece of coconut cream pie. The flesh wants to rule and have control.

We have collected some of our favorite Mother’s Day prayers to honor your own mother, as well as prayers for moms to use as they seek God’s goodness and grace in their motherhood journey. May God bless all mothers and give them strength and faith!

Mother’s Day can bring a mix of emotions for many women. There are those anticipating the birth of their first child, step-moms wondering what their place is, those who have lost their mother and are faced with grieving on Mother’s Day, there are moms who encounter feelings of hurt because their children have turned from God, and those overwhelmed with pain from the loss of a child. 

The recent swell of concern for truth, at least as a word choice, is an interesting development. Even voices that recently declared with seeming delight the dawning of a “post-truth” age now find themselves reaching for this ancient word. Freshly sensitive to the lies of perceived foes on “the other side” of the political divide, amateur politicians, conservative and progressive, with smartphone in hand, represent themselves as bearers of the real truth.

When it comes to your relationship with God, it can be overwhelming knowing what to do or how to navigate the next step. Here are five spiritual disciplines to help grow your walk with God. 

Read Your Bible.

The Bible is compelling, isn’t it? It’s hard to determine where to start, what to read next, how much you should read at one time, whether to read the Old Testament or the New — the list can go on. There is an acronym that could help you when it comes to opening up your Bible: O.I.A. This stands for observation, interpretation and application.

This past weekend we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, and while you celebrate I want to encourage you to also live the resurrection life He came to give us. I’m so glad that Jesus didn’t come to make us religious but rather to bring us into a relationship with Himself and give us an abundant life (John 10:10). He is the living God, and because He lives, He wants to walk with us, to talk with us, and to live in us. To bring us into a relationship with Himself, He died and He rose again in our place. He took our sin and shame, everything that would ever try to separate us from His love, and He paid our debt in full. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). We don’t have to walk in guilt and condemnation. He freed us to live the resurrection life.