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Jesus in Matthew 9 calls Matthew to be one of disciples, to follow him and learn from him. When Jesus calls him, Matthew immediately leaves his very lucrative position as a tax collector to follow this strange Rabbi. That evening, Jesus dines in Matthew’s house with many “tax collectors and ’sinners.’” This would be akin to [...]

In the summer of 2006, I had the opportunity to lead a mission trip to New Orleans as the spiritual leader for nearly 90 people from a handful of churches and the high school from which I had just graduated. It was a hard, tiring, emotional trip that for me is marked by the amount of [...]

Creation is not about mankind. As much as I truly hate to admit it (and let my mom know she was right) the world really isn’t all about Rusty. The very essence of sin is that of self-idolatry, the idea that we are to worship and make much of ourselves. Upon the fall in the garden [...]

I’m so tired of pretending… When I was young all I used to do was pretend. I would imagine fighting ninjas and dragons in my back yard. I pretended that I could move things with my mind, and sometimes I would even dream that I could. I was always so disappointed when I woke up and [...]

What do you long for? When you find yourself in that brief moment where reality seems to stop spinning for just a second of clarity, what is it that you wish for? Do you long to be free, feeling the warm wind flow through your fingers out the window of a van on a cross country [...]

I have recently gone through some things in my life that have brought me to a new appreciation of God’s provision as well as his presence. I have felt pains in my heart that seemed to make the simple act of breathing feel like one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I fought through sadness, [...]

I’ve recently found myself completely broken and weak at the work of my own hands. At some point in my arrogance and pride I began living as if I could walk on my own, away from the strength and provision of God. I drifted away from God’s word and truth and honestly lived without a fear [...]

I have lived my entire life behind walls I constructed in order to protect myself from the pains of this world. At a young age I came to believe that it was better to keep everyone as far away from my heart as possible rather than letting them get the chance to hurt me. I made [...]

One of my mentors recently said to me, ” Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is rest .” I don’t know about you, but I’m the kind of person that needs to have something going on every hour of every day. There are so many people that God has given me the wonderful opportunity of [...]

A while back I was in a book store and I came across this book entitled the “Bro Code.” Based off of a character from a prime time TV show, the Bro Code lists tons of rules to be followed by all men who consider themselves, “bros.” The code has rules on the topics of everything [...]

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be [...]

In 1936 the phrase, “total war” was coined by General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff in his memoir of World War I called, Der Totale Krieg . The phrase referred to the instance in which an entire nation would make the war at hand their number one priority. Every person, every policy, every single thing worked towards victory in [...]

I have recently found a great deal of meaning in the seemingly small word: joy. This small but significant three letter word is terribly easy to overlook, and minimize to simple happiness or glee. However, I find that joy means so much more and is actually integral to our faith in a loving God.

Be glad in [...]

When I look back on my short life and try to figure out how I got to where I am, to be who I am, and how I got through the things I did, I cannot help but see God working throughout my story. My life has been rocky to say the least and to say [...]

I often wonder, underneath the clothes, within the life, behind the titles, who am I? I believe that I have been called to share this message of God’s love for the world and to me that’s the most fulfilling thing I could ever do. When it comes down to it, thats who I am, its who [...]

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and people all across our great land will celebrate by preparing too much food, eating until it hurts, and then laying down to take one of the best naps of the year while watching college football. And in one unison sigh they’ll groan, “Uhhhh…. I shouldn’t have eaten so much…” [...]

I’m exahusted. I haven’t really gotten any substantial amount of sleep in the last couple of days because of school work and such. Now in the small moments I have to actually rest, I find myself focusing on all of the things awaiting me on the other side of my pillow. Staying awake at this point [...]

When you think about your life, where you’ve been, what you’ve done, what you’ve poured your heart into, do you feel like it was worth it? The last couple of weeks I have been challenged by my mentor to think about what I want do, what I want to have, and who I want to be [...]