Denzel Washington just gave an incredible commencement speech at New Orleans' Dillard University. His main advice for the graduates? "Put God first in everything you do."
In this modern age of perpetual consumption—news, entertainment, food, and endless digital stimulation—the idea of voluntarily going without feels almost...radical. Yet for the earliest...
"I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face. I sat and cried silently... I was scrunching myself up against the wall as far as I could. All of a sudden, someone from behind us taps on the guy’s shoulder..."
In churches across America, a quiet but consequential conversation is unfolding. It often begins with a question—sometimes whispered, sometimes posted publicly on social media....
"I’m genuinely losing my faith, and it doesn’t bother me. Like, what bothers me now is nothing. I am so happy now, so at peace with the world. It’s crazy."
A good friend said to me, “But just think, God is using you for His glory." In that moment, I simply shook my head and agreed but what I felt welling up inside me was something much different. Using me? Quite frankly, I thought, I don’t want to be used. Not if it means this. Quite frankly, He can use someone else because this—THIS is not working for me.
"Spiritual conversations haven’t always been easy for me. This might seem like an odd confession from a Bible teacher and pastor’s wife. But it’s true."
"And it happens again. You see the news reports. You feign shock. I mean, you are shocked, but not really, really shocked. Does that make sense?...'Oh, my goodness! Another mass shooting!! Could you pass the milk?'"
Why are we missing it? Why are we so focused on ourselves that even in times where we should be consumed by nothing but awestruck wonder, we miss the wonder altogether and instead replace it with the cheap thrill of another self-glorifying photo?
“Brittni is a former porn star we met while she was still in the industry, and we fostered a relationship with her as she began hers with Christ. What God has done in her life in the last seven years is nothing short of a beautiful miracle.”
