How do you view your position? How do you see your platform? Is your platform your purpose? Or is your platform a way to carry out your purpose? I remember sitting in the floor of my bedroom one day and my dad walked in. He told me, “Emma, imagine that all of your titles were taken away. All of your platforms—gone. Take away the title, ‘daughter,’ ‘student,’ ‘girlfriend,’ ‘author,’ ‘YouTuber,’...
Christian truth is about as welcome in today’s culture as a wet shaggy dog shaking himself at the Miss America Pageant. Truth does not matter, but intolerance does. If the subject is salvation, Christian truth suggests that there are those who are saved and those who are not. If the truth is about sin, then some things are right and others are wrong. If it is about hell and heaven, it means that...
Are you ever a mystery to yourself? Do you sometimes wonder who you are? You’re not alone. It’s an age-old dilemma. Even the apostle Paul saw himself as a bundle of paradoxes, acknowledging, “I don’t really understand myself” (see Romans 7:14–25). One of the most consequential blind spots we can ignore or confront is how we see ourselves. A story in the gospel of Mark illustrates the point. You...
We were out on a walk. I was frustrated. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. My son had been bullied, again. I wanted to show him that I cared, that God cared, and justice needed to be done. But I also wanted to show him there is hope for him. That his life is not going to constantly be filled with sadness and bullying. Talking with your son can be hard. You may not know what you should...
Whenever trouble is afoot, kids love to play the Blame Game. As a parent, trying to figure out who did what first can seem impossible and feel like it requires a degree in law—or at least some serious experience as a union negotiator or police detective to figure things out. You know the routine: an argument breaks out in an adjacent room, followed by screams or a loud cry. As soon as the kids...
