rebelling against low expectations

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Stars in Mordor: Discovering Hope in The Lord of The Rings

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A company of twinkling stars do battle against an ever-growing darkness. A clash of glittering hope and ravaging despair that does not even spare its own servants. While an army of starlit souls press on the black tides, two lone stars have crossed the line of shadows to thrust the light into its ever-darkening heart. Within this pair a different battle wages, it is one thing to press against a...

When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll: The Story Behind the Hymn

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Allow me to unfold the incredible story behind the beloved hymn, It Is Well, so that you may know, just like the Spafford family, that your soul can be well, even though sorrows high as sea billows roll through your life. This story is both heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. The reality that one man and wife could experience so much heartache and loss, while still glorifying God is an...

Revelation: Finding Hope in The Bible’s Strangest Book

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A beautiful yet deadly woman sits poised upon the back of a dragon. Both are covered with the blood of innocents. Both sparkle like black fire. Both smell of smoke and strong perfume. Dark clouds boil in the sky, unleashing bolts of crackling lightning. The woman’s nostrils flare as if she can smell the children and saints hidden among her followers. She reaches down, stroking the scaley beast...

When Death Takes Someone You Love

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My heart ached as I stared down into the freshly dug grave. Oh, how dark the muddy, cold earth looked around the little box that held my cousin’s stillborn baby girl. Death had come to our family again and in a crushing defeat. No joy would come, no hopeful celebration of a new little life. It was all taken away from a family who would have loved and cherished her. Death. The separator of close...

Lessons Jesus Taught Me While Dancing in the Rain

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A couple of years ago, a struggling friend told me, “Everyone always leaves.” Around that time, whenever she and I talked, we would pretend we were sitting on a bench in a park, just the two of us. Because somehow the world felt a little lighter that way. When she mentioned her fear of my leaving, I told her I would stay and, without hesitation, she asked, “What if it rains?” A couple weeks ago...

Suffering and the Hope of Heaven with Randy Alcorn

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Is it possible to have hope when your world feels like it’s crumbling around you? What can you practically do to stay grounded in times of loss, suffering, and pain? Randy Alcorn joins the podcast today to talk about the reality of the hope we have in Heaven (and what Heaven is really going to be like) and how this hope has sustained him through his own seasons of loss and suffering. If...

Seasons: Finding Hope and Patience to Endure the Januarys of Life

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Trees stand cold and bare like great brown skeletons. Grass lays brown and crunches with frost. The earth is hard like stone. Snow and ice lay in freezing, crusty piles. The days are short and dark. Your breath leaves your mouth in clouds, and it feels as if you are exhaling your soul as frigid air makes your lungs ache. The wind stings your face and causes your eyes to water. January. Christmas...

What Advent Means to the Life in Crisis

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“I feel like a tornado just ripped through our lives. We all survived, but it still caused devastation. There are still piles of wreckage to be dealt with. Still evidence of the tornado’s presence. And it didn’t just cause new pain, it tore the doors off rooms where old pain lay dormant and scattered it everywhere.” I penned these words a few weeks after my momma came home from the hospital. On...

How the Christmas Story Shows God’s Desire to Be Near Us

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If you have been a Christian for a long time, I’m sure you have heard the Christmas Story a dozen times. We hear it so much that we’ve become blind to the goodness of it. We forget to take in what it really means. The Christmas story about God becoming man to build His kingdom here on Earth is very intriguing, but I think we miss the reason Christmas is such a sweet time. God was unable to be...

Spiritual Gloom and Psalm 42

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If you’re like me, you may recall seasons of vibrancy and zeal in your Christian life. Spiritual disciplines come easy: time in God’s Word is fruitful, prayer is often, the gap between each journal entry is minimal, and fellowship brings glee. The streams of God’s endless love and grace flowing from the fount of Christ are delightful to drink. But if you’re like me, you may also recall seasons of...

rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →