Our time in the Sex, Singleness, & Marriage series has been very fruitful and God has been very gracious to answer our prayers. Daily stories come in about all that He is doing in and among our people through these topics and through the Gospel. Read More…

I long to be married. I truly desire a godly husband who will lead me and our family well. And often, this desire becomes my ultimate. This idea that once I am married I will be satisfied, complete, fulfilled. And in these times it is impossible for me to view singleness as a gift. Instead it becomes punishment. Read More…

This Sunday, as we continue our series on Sex, Singleness & Marriage, we will cover “Singleness/Dating”. The church has done a disservice to singles, by and large, through poor teaching and segmenting singles from the rest of the church (singles-only groups, married-only groups, even with the ubiquitous Singles Ministry [usually named something very positive and effervescent] that all churches seem to have). Read More…

We are now well into our series, Sex, Singleness, & Marriage. Before we move to teaching on singleness, divorce, and the marriage roles, I think its important to outline some of what we have already covered. Read More…

Sex, singleness, and marriage. Each of those words carries a number of meanings that have been formed and fashioned out of various experiences in my life. And until recently none of those meanings were biblical. Each has carried weight as an idol, as an ultimate desire, as a way to find fulfillment or purpose. And each has failed. Each has been scarred by sin, both my own and others’, and often defined by the deep wounds and hurts that resulted.  Read More…

I am already broken over the stories of sin, pain, and suffering within our church as we begin our series Sex, Singleness, & Marriage. In our religious context I believe the enemy has used shame and our desire for a perfect image to keep habitual sexual sin, rape, pornography, sexless marriages, and much more in the dark. I believe the Spirit is going to bring many things to the surface. Read More…

Content on what the Lord provides in our lives.

It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “A gun gives you the body, not the bird.” Likewise,
in this context, materialism, and the fervid pursuit of it, can provide clutter…but never
contentment. Read More…

Content on who we are in Christ.

There is no greater characteristic that displays true Christian maturity than that of contentment. True and genuine contentment demands that we fully rest in the fact that God is sovereign over His creation and we are here for the purpose of glorifying Him. Period. Read More…

In 1985 the average new home price was $89,330.00, the very first .Com domain name,
symbolics.com, was registered, the average yearly income was $22,100.00, Microsoft
Corporation released the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0., the average monthly rent
was $375.00, the average price for a new car was $9,005.00, Read More…

Our lives do not belong to us. Even those who do not believe in a life lived for Christ have to admit they have no control over the length of time they are given in this life.  Which begs the question, what are you living for? How are you making your time here count? Read More…

When I was in the fourth grade I had the biggest crush on Alex. He was smart. He was funny. He was cute. And I was fairly certain that he was going to be my first boyfriend. Only, it didn’t happen like it does in the Disney movies. Actually I’m pretty sure Alex never even knew I liked him because I took myself off the radar before I could be rejected. See, I had told one of my classmates, a girl I was trying to be friends with, about my Alex+Tara sitting in a tree fantasy and was met with ridicule, laughter, and straight up “you must be crazy, because there is no way a boy like Alex likes a girl like you.” And I believed her. Read More…

I remember attending the Fort Worth Weekly music festival a few years ago before we had started planting The Paradox. God gave me a burden for all the people gathered – the majority of them being younger folks.  I wanted them to meet God, or, if they had met him, to really know him, not just about him. I saw a huge gathering of passionate, energetic, creative, people who – if they unified under one God, with one mission – could be a force in the city for the Glory of God. Read More…

My wife and I have date night pretty much every Friday – have for years.  She’s really pretty and I like her a lot so I keep asking her on dates and she keeps saying, “yes”.

This past Friday we went downtown to take pictures (for fun) and eat at PF Chang’s.  As we were walking around downtown we came across a street preacher at the corner of Main and 3rd – complete with bible and soapbox. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Read More…

I’m not worth fighting for. It’s a message I’ve been receiving my whole life, but never more painfully than the day my divorce was final. My husband wasn’t just signing his name to the divorce papers, he was signing a lifetime of hurt with one quick message: “You aren’t worth the trouble and I’m not going to fight for you.” Read More…

Yesterday a first happened for me. My neighbors left my back gate open and my three-year-old Brittany Spaniel mix got out. Naturally, I freaked. I was in the process of closing the gate when he squeezed through the opening. I was barefoot and carrying my new baby Zuzu yelling Dexter’s name as I chased him for blocks. After about 5 blocks of the “game” (for him, that’s exactly what it was) I finally conceded that I wouldn’t be able to catch him in my current state. So with a heavy heart I turned around and headed home to get shoes and my car. As I was walking I envisioned all the terrible things that could happen — from the worst case scenario of getting hit by a car, to being stolen by someone, to just not being found. Read More…

Over the past couple years there have been a multitude of events that impulsed the innate desire to ask: “Why did that happen like that?”

Examples:

“Why didn’t I ever attend DBU, as I had planned multiple times?”
“Why did I live in San Antonio for a year longer than I had initially planned?”
“Why did a close friend pass away from a routine heart stress test, seemingly too young?”
“Why did I struggle to find a job upon moving to the metroplex?”
“Why did that church do that to me?”
“Why did those people hurt me?”
“Why did I hurt those people?”
“Why, why, why?” Read More…

One of my biggest personal issues that I struggle with is this constant feeling that I just don’t belong. I’ve always thought I didn’t quite fit in with whatever group I was associated with…never “enough” of whatever I’m supposed to be to really be a part of the “in” crowd. This has created some major insecurity and self-esteem issues that I’ve had to fight my entire adult life. One way that I began coping with this issue was to isolate myself. If I chose not to be a part of the group then I wouldn’t have to face rejection (or what I perceived as rejection) later on. It was just easier to do it my way, or so I thought. I would often wallow in the self-pity of my isolation, much like that song from when I was a kid “nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms”, which only served to further isolate me from the few that I had built relationships with. Read More…

to say that God is convicting me of my sin lately is an understatement.

[SIN] in my terms:

lacks *complete* humility

is human nature

separates me from God’s peace

hurts those around me

opens a breeding ground for satan’s lies

etc…

why did i feel the need to put [SIN] in my terms? because this word sometimes lacks the thought-provoking depth it needs. Read More…