My husband’s family gathered at our house one summer for a Fourth of July cookout. When it got dark, we went outside for sparklers and fireworks in the driveway. As we lit some sparklers for the kids, my father-in-law’s phone beeped and he said, “I have a phone call. Go ahead—I’ll be right back.”

The concept of “God’s plan” can be nebulous. The platitude, “This was just God’s plan,” rings hollow—or even hurtful—in times of pain or terrible events in history. While we cannot always pin down God’s plan for our individual lives, we can observe, straight from Scripture, God’s ultimate plan for salvation.

When I taught an English as a Second Language class at my church, I often ran into a challenge. A student would ask me what a particular word meant, and even though I knew the word, I struggled to describe its meaning without using the same word. The word itself embodied the meaning for me; I could feel and know the meaning but could not put it into different words. It was just … itself. (Luckily for my students, online dictionaries came to my rescue!)

Read Christian hip hop artist FLAME’s powerful first experience with Confession and Absolution and the comfort it provides. The following has been adapted from Extra Nos: Discovering Grace outside Myself.

We all like the idea of reading. Think about those cozy autumn-themed paintings featuring a little wood cabin with a figure in a rocking chair cradling a book by the warm fireplace glow. Or maybe you think of those whip-smart characters in a TV show who always seems to find the clever solution to a bind through a book that they’ve read. The idea of reading is commonly compelling, but the follow-through occurs far less frequently. People with a successful daily reading habit are even more rare. Continue reading to be encouraged with five reasons why you should read every day.

Did you know that October is Pastor Appreciation Month? Pastors do so much beyond what we see on Sunday mornings— they visit the sick and dying, provide counseling, and are leaders for church or school staff, for example. Take a moment to give thanks for your pastor and pray for his ministry.

Our world is a sinful, broken mess. Yet God uses people and things around us to deliver His grace. Is it weird that God uses lowly parts of His creation for His perfect purposes? Christian hip hop artist FLAME explains how God uses physical elements to deliver His good gifts. The following has been adapted from FLAME’s book, Extra Nos: Discovering Grace outside Myself.