I love sledding in the winter. I also hate the work that goes into sledding.

Those few seconds of sliding down the hill with the cold wind in your face are exhilarating. The launch down the hill and picking up speed can feel like you are flying without ever leaving the ground. I can still feel the sensation and joy of a school snow day.

What I hated was reaching the bottom and having the sled come to a stop. The joy of the ride was over, and now I had to walk in the snow uphill. There were at least 15 minutes of challenging walking to reach the top before the few seconds of the slide.

This journey to the top was required to reach the height needed to develop speed. The higher the walk, the greater the momentum as you go down the hill.

Summer at Church is not always fun. For a Church leader, like me, it is a bit like walking up that hill. It is a long, slow process that requires putting one foot in front of the other when I would rather give up and go home. Late June and early July are not months when exciting things happen. They are months for preparation, planning, and prayer required for an amazing fall.

What does a pastor do in the summer? This might surprise you, but I keep preaching and leading worship every week (and we would love to have you join us). I also spend my summer doing the work that will get us ready for the ride down the mountain till Christmas. It is not exciting work, but it is necessary.

Young people dream big. College sports. Professional contracts. Wealth that buys whatever they want. The perfect body. The corner office. A life built around pleasure.

Nobody really talks them out of it. Why would they? Those dreams are everywhere: on screens, in stadiums, in the stories adults tell about what success looks like.

But here’s the question worth asking: Does any young person dream of becoming like Jesus?

More importantly, what are the adults in their lives dreaming about? Because whatever we treasure, we teach. The next generation doesn’t just hear our words. They’re watching our lives, and they’re taking notes.

If we want them to dream of Jesus, we must be people who do.

Over the past six months, I have been trying to follow Jesus more intentionally, not just with my mind, but with my heart as well.

The most important step a believer can take is to immerse themselves in Scripture. We need to read the words of Jesus, learn from Paul’s explanations, and allow God’s inspired word to shape our thinking. A Christian must fill their mind with the things of Christ.

At the same time, I have been paying closer attention to the impressions and promptings that come throughout the day. When someone comes to mind, I pray for them. If they remain on my heart, I send a note, text, or message to let them know I am thinking about them and praying for them. If I feel the need to contact someone, I do. If I cannot stop thinking about a situation, I pray and look for a way to help. When I notice someone standing outside the circle, I walk over and start a conversation.

Perhaps it is not really about following my feelings. Perhaps it is about responding to the nudges God gives through His Spirit.

What I am discovering is that God often places hurting people and difficult situations on my heart for a reason. Those promptings lead to a prayer, a phone call, a text, an email, or a conversation. And through those simple acts of obedience, God creates connections and opportunities to minister that I never could have planned myself.

I am not looking for some new truth about God. I am simply a man trying to use my life for His glory as I journey with Jesus.

And sometimes following Jesus is as simple as listening when He nudges you to act.

Someone recently described another person as “having very strong opinions.”

The problem is that I know many of those opinions are based on feelings, old experiences, half-truths, and social media reels. They have not sat in a church leadership meeting with me. They have never had a meaningful conversation with me as a pastor. Honestly, I am not even sure they read their Bible consistently.

They may have strong opinions, but those opinions are largely uninformed or misinformed.

An opinion is a personal conclusion that should remain open to new information. As we learn and grow, our opinions should become more refined and accurate.

A conviction is different. Convictions are deeply held beliefs that shape our identity and direct our actions. They are rooted in God’s Word, tested by experience, and grounded in truth.

If you have an opinion about something, especially about God, the Bible, or the Church, be willing to learn. Allow mature believers to challenge your thinking. Let Scripture shape your perspective. Then, over time, let those informed beliefs become convictions that guide your life.

The Church does not need more people with strong opinions. It needs more people with strong convictions.

He told me he enjoyed fishing and did it frequently as a kid, but had not been out in years. Honestly, he did not have to tell me.

He walked up carrying a Zebco 33 with a big red bobber, a weight, and an oversized hook. I watched for a couple of minutes as he set his depth at about two feet, pinched off a piece of nightcrawler, and flung it into the lake.

I knew his level of expertise just by looking.

People do the same thing with their faith. They tell me they have attended Church since childhood, enjoy a good sermon, and have been Christians for many years. Yet their words, actions, priorities, and lifestyle often reveal a very immature faith.

They do not have to tell me where they are spiritually. Most of the time, I can tell just by looking.

This is not about superficial judgment or profiling people. It is simply an observation. Just as there is a noticeable difference between a casual fisherman and a seasoned angler, there is also a noticeable difference between a shallow faith and a mature one.

You can know all the right Christian phrases. You can own all the right gear. You can even look the part. But a closer examination reveals the difference.

You may be able to convince some people with an appearance of faith, but you will never fool the Lord.

Mature faith is always visible.

The phrase “boots on the ground” is a military idiom referring to troops being deployed into a conflict zone. Brave soldiers will be physically present in areas where they will meet resistance and struggle.

Christians are called to be Christ’s boots on the ground. That means carrying our faith into places where it isn’t always welcome, and doing so with both courage and care. At some point, faith has to leave the classroom and step onto the battlefield.

That looks different depending on the day. Sometimes it’s helping a neighbor with a project. Sometimes it’s telling someone a hard truth. Sometimes it’s sitting with a person who’s hurting. Sometimes it’s just serving quietly, with no credit at all.

Jesus didn’t only teach about compassion; he touched lepers, fed the hungry, and welcomed the outcast. He put boots on the ground. We’re called to do the same.

So today: don’t just think about your faith, and don’t just talk about it. Act on it. Someone near you needs encouragement, help, hope, or simply to hear about Jesus.

No mission has ever been won from a distance. It takes boots on the ground.

One mysterious part of being a Christian is discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Most often, he speaks to us directly through his word in our Bibles. When someone reads the Bible, it is the “Sword of the Spirit” that cuts into our lives. Every person who follows Jesus believes this to some degree.

How else does the Holy Spirit speak to us? I believe he can speak through preachers and teachers who explain what the Bible says. He can also use books, podcasts, and even lowly blogs like this one.

How else can the Holy Spirit work? He can use circumstances and events to show us which doors are open and which are closed. He can nudge our conscience in prayer. Possibly even speak to us with a still, small voice.

I also believe the Holy Spirit can speak to us through other believers. This one is often the most complicated for people to believe.

While speaking with another pastor about getting people to step up as volunteers, he suggested, “I just ask the Holy Spirit to lay it on their heart to get involved.” It sounds noble and deeply spiritual. My response was much more basic: “I simply tell them that they need to be involved to be a part of our membership.”

You see, I have read the Bible, prayed, watched people grow in their faith, and seen the impact of serving in a Church community, and I am sure God desires to see them serve. So, I get to play the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I can speak and tell them what they need to do with their faith.

Amazingly enough, the Holy Spirit uses people to share his message and direction. In fact, in the Bible, he uses people more than anything else to further his work. As Christians, we rarely need to withdraw, go into nature, and sit quietly until we hear God speak. Instead, we need to read our Bibles, pray, and talk to mature believers. His voice is the clearest in community, but it is the easiest place to ignore it. Perhaps God is using the person challenging you to be the Holy Spirit’s voice in your life. Are you even listening?

Heroes are people who do that most counterintuitive thing: they run toward trouble.

When the planes hit the towers, they ran inside trying to help people. When the shots rang out, they moved toward the shooters to reduce the number of victims. When disaster hits a community, they drive into the chaos looking for people to help.

Recently, I showed my staff a clip of a sermon by a youth pastor. He used an illustration during his message of one of the girls who attended his youth group. She came to visit, then at the end of the night she grabbed him to say she would never return. He inquired about the reason for her disappointment. She explained how no one greeted her when she arrived. She was not made to feel welcome, and that was very important to her. 

This wise pastor responded, “Come back and next week you can be in charge of our greeters.” His words were received with a blank stare. He continued, “You know what it is like to be left out and now you can make sure no one else feels this way.”

In my experience, when someone encounters a problem in the Church or in its ministry, the natural tendency is to quit. The result is that the problem gets worse, and there are now fewer people to handle it.

What the Church needs is more people who see problems and then run toward them to help. There is always room for someone willing to act heroically.   

When my dad passed away, we started the process of going through all his stuff. One of the items he had on the shelf was a few Bibles with notes filling the blank front and back pages. There were underlines and words scribbled in margins. Some passages were highlighted with arrows and explanatory words. I took one, and it sits here in my office.

Like him, many other Christians take their Bibles and mark them up with notes. They highlight and underline passages as they read when they feel a connection to them.

Why do we do this? I know these little additions help us to understand what we are reading. The lines and marks help certain verses to jump out to us when we are flipping through its pages.

But I would suggest to you that they are also evidence. They are a sign that you are reading your Bible. They are little memories of God speaking to you through his word. Each note is a reminder of someone teaching you something new about faith. Every little mark is proof that God’s word is living and active in your life.

I keep father’s Bible because it shows me that he was a man who walked with Jesus. I wonder what your Bible will reveal about you?

One of the easiest mistakes in the Christian life is believing that because we have done something before, we can do it again by our own power. We think that we can breeze through life without God.

We have experience. We have knowledge. We have a plan. We know the routine. And then we move forward in our own strength.

Prayerful dependence is the continual recognition that we need God today just as much as we needed Him yesterday. It is admitting that our wisdom is limited, our strength is insufficient, and our plans are imperfect.

Prayer is not something we do when we run out of options. Prayer is how believers acknowledge that God is the source of every good thing in their life and work. It is a declaration that we trust him more than we trust ourselves.

The temptation is to depend on our abilities while asking God to bless them. As believers, we are called to seek His direction, rely on His strength, and trust His timing. We lean not on our own power, talent, or experience.

Today, before you rush into your responsibilities, spend a few moments in prayer. Dependence on God is not weakness. It is the pathway to strength.