Today is launch day for Hosanna Wong's new book You Are More Than You've Been Told! I received an early copy to review. Hosanna is known for her spoken word poetry and the book is based on a popular video of her spoken word poem called "I Have A New Name." You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A_uXO3CgwY The video is clearly about the power of identity that comes from the gospel. Hosanna passionately shows the new names that God calls us and where they come from. Throughout the book Hosanna shares on specific parts of our identity that we receive from God. In the begin ..read more

When Jesus came and walked the earth His disciples were continually waiting on him to take radical action that would lead to overcoming the oppression they were facing by the romans. He did take radical action to overcome but his focus wasn’t on the roman empire. It was on the curse of sin over all of mankind and how to free anyone who would hear His message from that curse so they could share the good news, change the world forever, and spend eternity reconciled to God. Many of Jesus’ teachings came in confusing parables and often were the exact opposite of what people at the time were expec ..read more

When you first become a Christian there is usually a natural desire that quickly follows to want to go and tell anyone and everyone about the goodness and power of God. It can be irresistible to want to share your story about how God has transformed your life with anyone who will listen. Recently in pop culture a young celebrity who was struggling with depression, anxiety, and the pressure of life in the spotlight found a new life in Christ and was publicly baptized. After posting about his baptism and beginning to share about his love for God, he started one of his concerts by saying “I’m no ..read more

Many Christians remember their first prayer asking for God's forgiveness. This is taught in vacation Bible school and often a major step in a person's walk in faith as they "ask Jesus into their heart." You likely remember your own first prayer where you made an admission of sin and asked for forgiveness from God so that you could come into right relationship with Him. After this, have you made praying for forgiveness a regular part of your faith journey? Forgiveness is an essential part of the Christian life and yet I don't think most of us pray for forgiveness enough. There is a profound pr ..read more

The first time I was in the room when someone experienced healing from God I was completely amazed. In my experience at the church I had been attending I hadn't heard these kinds of prayers yet. When someone was praying for healing I usually heard phrases that invited God's peace over the situation no matter the outcome - a great thing to pray for. But I remember feeling a deeper sense of faith in this person's prayer as they reached out their hand to touch someone in need of healing. There was a declaration of God as healer, there was an invitation for God to heal, there was a powerful, ofte ..read more

Once the Easter Sunday church service is over, your Easter table is empty, and the leftovers are in the fridge and you are ready to return to a normal Monday morning, what is different? Every year Christians repeat and celebrate the message that Jesus has risen on Easter Sunday. Easter gives us the opportunity to rejoice in the beautiful gospel story, to share the power of our faith and to testify of all that God has done for us. Instead of letting Easter come and go like any other holiday, it can also be an opportunity to reflect on how we can live differently because of the resurrection eve ..read more

My husband and I just hit the milestone of five years of marriage in early March. We love our little yellow house in Franklin, TN. Our sweet pup always brings smiles to our faces even when she's bringing mud in the house from the backyard. We both feel so fulfilled in our careers. The things we talked about and dreamt about as college kids when we met all seem to be happening, so naturally, we started talking about one other thing that we used to talk about as something that we'd do "someday." A few weeks later, I was waking up on a Sunday morning saying, "what's that awful smell?" before rush ..read more

I'm so thrilled to pass the mic to Sarah Irene for this week's newsletter. Sarah Irene is a Michigan native who moved to Nashville, TN in the summer of 2021. Sarah is passionate about seeing her generation (shout out to the 1998 zellenial kids) and the next generation step fully into what the Lord has before them. She does this through writing relatable posts, supporting teen mommas with community initiatives, keeping it real on social media, training youth volunteers in discipleship, and speaking as much life as possible into the girls in front of her. You can find her blog full of life givi ..read more

Alongside reading God's Word, prayer is something we know we should be doing as Christians. But when your faith isn't on fire and you aren't coming off of a mountaintop experience with God, what do you pray for? Do you simply go through your day only to pause and bless your food or do you announce your laundry list to God each morning and hope for the best? If you're longing for a prayer life full of power and persistence instead of feeling like it's lukewarm here are 5 prayers to pray to thrive in your faith: Prayers of Supplication God is a giver of good gifts! He loves when we go to Him ..read more

This week we are going to explore 5 ways to spend your time to thrive in your faith. Our time on earth is limited, so as Mary Oliver writes, "what are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?" Here are 5 ways to spend your time to thrive in your faith this year: In the Word This should be obvious! One of the best ways to grow as a Christian is to spend time in the Word of God. If you've been a Christian for many years, you likely have a Bible reading routine that works for you. This year, I challenge you to ask God to empower you to increase in this area. It might not be more t ..read more