For a very brief time my freshman year, I was an economics major. One of the mantras of the economist is “there is no such thing as a free lunch”, meaning that every decision has a cost. For everythin...  Read More

The concept of being a new creation sounds great, but in reality, it can be such a painful process. Stepping into your identity is a lifelong process, and it is one of the most important journeys of y...  Read More

Whether you like to admit it or not, we all have pasts. We all used to be someone who we are not currently. Just for an example, in the not-so-distant past I was a nerd who did two things: played on N...  Read More

Picture this: you’re standing on the beach waiting for the sun to rise. You’re wearing your shorts and hoodie, and you’re wrapped in a blanket because the breeze is blowing and the sky is beginning to...  Read More

A couple weeks ago I was in an Encounter staff meeting when Blake Wiggins asked us to dream with God for a few minutes about what our semester could look like. The word that came to mind for me was “h...  Read More

 I always thought that being brave meant saying YES to everything that was presented to you. I thought it meant never backing down from a challenge (enneagram 8 here). I thought it meant pushing throu...  Read More

Continuing through 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” I want to focus in on the last phrase “training in righte...  Read More

When I think of Paul, who he was and his influence on the world, two of the first things I think of are courage and wisdom. Courage for the leader he was among the first generations of Christians, and...  Read More

When I really think about the gospel spilling out into the world, I think of the dusty feet walking miles of roads and the only thing the early Christians surely carried was a powerful message. And I ...  Read More

In this moment, I firmly believe that Jesus is handing His heart to the church. He trusts us more than ever, because He sees a generation that is only wanting Him— a generation that will risk everythi...  Read More

“Before I knew you, I thought brave was not being afraid. You've taught me that bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway” – Laurell K. Hamilton  What constitutes bravery to you? Is it showing fe...  Read More

Decisions can be paralyzing. Especially the decisions being made now- colleges, majors, and career paths all loom before us, a million different options that all feel like they dictate the rest of our...  Read More