Tag: Promises

What News Are Your Feet Bringing?

In the New Testament, there is a section of the book of Romans traditionally understood as a letter written by the apostle Paul to followers of Jesus gathered in house churches in first-century Rome.

Paul is talking about the importance of sharing the Gospel—the “good news.” And near the end of this section, he quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ~Romans 10:15

Think about that for a moment.

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

What a beautiful picture.

Paul wasn’t talking about beautiful shoes. He wasn’t talking about polished feet or perfect appearances. He was talking about people who carry good news with them wherever they go.

And I wonder:

What kind of news are my feet bringing?

What happens when I walk into a room?

What happens when I sit down beside someone who is hurting?

What happens when I encounter someone who sees the world differently than I do?

What happens when I open my phone and start typing?

Because our feet don’t just take us from one physical location to another.

In a very real sense, we carry something with us.

We carry our words.

We carry our attitudes.

We carry our encouragement—or our discouragement.

We carry compassion—or judgment.

We carry hope—or fear.

And today, we carry all of that into the world through our social-media feeds.

We live in an age where bad news is available 24 hours a day.

Another alarming headline.

Another disturbing video.

Another political argument.

Another tragedy.

Another outrage.

Another reason to be angry.

Another reason to be afraid.

Another reason to divide ourselves into “us” and “them.”

And yes, we should pay attention to what is happening in the world. Ignoring suffering doesn’t make it disappear. We should care about injustice. We should care about our communities. We should care about people who are hurting.

But there is something else we should remember:

We are not powerless.

Take away the trending stories.

Take away the alarming updates.

Take away the endless arguments.

Take away the disturbing realities that fill our screens.

We are still sentient human beings with choices to make.

We still have time.

We still have resources.

We still have energy.

We still have words.

We still have opportunities.

We still have people around us who need someone to remind them that they matter.

And we still get to decide what kind of news our feet bring.

Maybe the good news today is a phone call to someone who feels forgotten.

Maybe it’s buying groceries for a neighbor who is struggling.

Maybe it’s sitting quietly with someone who doesn’t need an answer—they just need someone to stay.

Maybe it’s forgiving someone.

Maybe it’s listening before responding.

Maybe it’s choosing not to share that inflammatory post.

Maybe it’s encouraging someone who is ready to give up.

Maybe it’s welcoming the person everyone else has overlooked.

Maybe it’s being kind to the cashier, the server, the stranger, the immigrant, the lonely neighbor, the person sitting alone at church, or the person who doesn’t believe what you believe.

Maybe the good news isn’t something we post.

Maybe it’s something we become.

Our world doesn’t need more people adding gasoline to every fire.

It needs people willing to carry water.

It needs people willing to walk into difficult places and bring compassion.

It needs people willing to speak truth without losing love.

It needs people willing to disagree without dehumanizing.

It needs people who can look at the person in front of them and remember:

There is a human being here.

And for those of us who follow Jesus, perhaps this is part of what it means to live out the Gospel.

Not merely talking about good news.

Bringing good news.

Not merely posting Scripture.

Living Scripture.

Not merely telling people that God loves them.

Showing them what love looks like.

Romans 10:15 asks us to imagine beautiful feet—the feet of people who carry good news into the world.

So before we ask what the world is bringing to us today, perhaps we should ask a different question:

What are we bringing to the world?

What news will our feet carry into our homes?

What news will they carry into our workplaces?

What news will they carry into our churches?

What news will they carry into our neighborhoods?

And what news will they carry onto our social-media pages?

We may not be able to control every headline.

We may not be able to fix every problem.

We may not be able to change the entire world.

But we can choose what we carry into the little corner of the world where God has placed us today.

So go.

Walk into someone’s darkness carrying a little light.

Walk into someone’s loneliness carrying companionship.

Walk into someone’s fear carrying courage.

Walk into someone’s grief carrying presence.

Walk into someone’s anger carrying peace.

Walk into someone’s hopelessness carrying hope.

And if you follow Jesus, carry His love with you.

Because perhaps the question isn’t simply whether our feet are beautiful.

Perhaps the real question is:

What kind of news are our feet carrying?

May our feet carry good news.

May our words carry grace.

May our hands carry compassion.

May our lives carry hope.

And may the people we encounter today be able to say:

“I am glad you showed up.” ~OC

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A Prayer For Healing

Dear Jesus,

Be near to the person walking through this cancer battle today. Give them strength when they feel weak, peace when they are afraid, and hope when the road feels too long.

We declare in faith that cancer does not have the final word—Jesus does. We speak life, healing, strength, and restoration over their body. We ask You to touch every cell, strengthen every organ, calm every fear, and bring healing where healing is needed.

Guide every doctor, nurse, treatment, and decision. Give wisdom to those providing care and courage to the one receiving it.

Lord, let Your healing power move through this body. Let every treatment accomplish what it is intended to do, and let there be strength where there has been weakness and renewed hope where there has been exhaustion.

We believe You are still the Healer. We believe miracles are still possible. We believe this battle is not the end of the story.

Surround them with Your presence and remind them that they never walk alone.

In the mighty, powerful and healing name of Jesus, Amen.

~OC

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I’m Curious

In a Facebook post, one of my friends poised the following questions.

The questions peaked my curiosity.

Can we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God while serving under the banner of the American government?

Can we claim to be a nation founded on freedom while ignoring the freedom, dignity, and humanity of our neighbors?

Can we call ourselves a Christian nation while forgetting that Jesus never told us to love only the people who look like us, vote like us, worship like us, or were born where we were born?

Is our country poised to encourage us to love our neighbors as ourselves?

I’m curious.

Because Micah 6:8 doesn’t say:

Act justly when it’s politically convenient.

Love mercy when the person deserves it.

Walk humbly when everyone agrees with you.

It simply says:

“Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”

And Jesus didn’t give us a list of exceptions when He said:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Our allegiance to Jesus must always be greater than our allegiance to a political party, a government, an ideology, or even our own comfort.

America has laws.

America has leaders.

America has political parties.

But Jesus has disciples.

And disciples are called to something higher.

We are called to feed the hungry.

Welcome the stranger.

Defend the vulnerable.

Care for the forgotten.

Stand with the oppressed.

Speak truth when truth costs us something.

Love our enemies.

And treat every human being as someone created in the image of God.

So maybe the question isn’t simply:

“Is America doing enough?”

Maybe the harder question is:

“Am I?”

Am I loving my neighbor?

Am I showing mercy?

Am I pursuing justice?

Am I walking humbly?

Am I willing to speak when silence would be easier?

Am I willing to stand with people Jesus would have stood beside—even when standing there costs me friends, followers, comfort, or approval?

Because before I am an American…

I am a follower of Jesus.

And when the values of my government, my political party, or my culture collide with the teachings of Christ, I don’t get to rewrite Jesus.

I have to follow Him.

That’s not anti-American.

That’s discipleship.

Jesus first.
Neighbor second.
Politics somewhere far behind.

So yes…

I’m curious.

What would America look like if Christians actually took Jesus seriously?

Not just on Sunday.

Not just in our churches.

Not just when it benefits us.

But everywhere.

Maybe that’s where the real change begins. ~OC

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Dear Christian, Please Stand Up

Dear Christian, please stand up.

I think it’s time for Good Trouble and to start flipping some tables.

For too long we’ve confused being nice with being faithful. We’ve stayed seated. Stayed quiet. Stayed polite while the temple filled with money changers.

Jesus wasn’t crucified for being nice. He was crucified for flipping tables.

He walked into the house of God, saw exploitation, saw corruption, saw people using the name of God for profit and power, and He didn’t write a polite letter. He made a whip. He turned over tables. He drove it out. John 2:15.

John Lewis called it Good Trouble. Necessary trouble. The kind of trouble that says love is not passive. Love protects. Love confronts. Love refuses to look away.

So I’m asking you, brother and sister in Christ:

Stand up when it’s easier to sit down.
Speak up when it’s safer to stay silent.
Flip the table of injustice in your part of the world.
Flip the table of corruption in your church, your neighborhood and politics.
Flip the table of lies in our political system. Regardless of party affiliation.

We were never called to fit in with this world. We were called to shake it.

My Friend, it’s time. ~OC

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Our Neighbors Face

I BELIEVE THAT IN THE FACE OF EVERY NEIGHBOR, WE CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE FACE OF GOD.

Not just the neighbor who looks like us.

Not just the neighbor who agrees with us.

Not just the neighbor who votes like us, worships like us, speaks like us, or comes from the same place we do.

Every neighbor.

The hurting neighbor.
The lonely neighbor.
The immigrant neighbor.
The poor neighbor.
The forgotten neighbor.
The neighbor who is struggling.
The neighbor who doesn’t believe what we believe.

Jesus didn’t tell us to love only the people who were easy to love.

He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
— Matthew 22:39

And when Jesus described the Good Samaritan, He shattered the walls people had built between “us” and “them.”

Maybe that’s the challenge for the Church today:

Stop looking for reasons to separate people and start looking for opportunities to love them.

Because every person we encounter is someone made in the image of God.

So before you judge them, see them.

Before you condemn them, listen to them.

Before you walk past them, love them.

Before you ask, “What do they deserve?”
ask, “What would Jesus do?”

Because sometimes the person standing in front of us isn’t an interruption to our ministry.

They ARE the ministry.

Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
— Matthew 25:40

So today, look a little closer.

You may discover that in the face of your neighbor…

you are seeing a glimpse of the face of God.

Love your neighbor.
See the person.
Serve the hurting.
Welcome the stranger.
Feed the hungry.
Lift the broken.
And let the world see Jesus through the way we love.

Because the Gospel isn’t just something we preach.

It’s something we live. ~OC

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Twenty-Five Years Later…We Remember

Today marks 25 years since September 11, 2001.

Twenty-five years.

And yet for those who lived through that day, it can still feel like yesterday.

We remember where we were.

We remember watching the first plane hit.

Then the second.

We remember the towers falling.

We remember the Pentagon.

We remember Flight 93.

We remember the confusion.

The fear.

The unanswered questions.

The phone calls.

The tears.

And the overwhelming realization that America had changed forever.

Before 9/11, we worried about ordinary things.

After 9/11, we looked at the sky differently.

We looked at airports differently.

We looked at strangers differently.

We hugged our families a little tighter.

We prayed a little harder.

And for a brief moment, something happened in America that we desperately need to remember.

We came together.

Political parties didn’t matter as much.

Arguments didn’t matter as much.

Our differences didn’t matter as much.

We were Americans.

We stood together.

We mourned together.

We prayed together.

We served together.

And we discovered an incredible truth:

When evil tries to divide us, love can still bring us together.

But 9/11 also taught us something else.

Freedom isn’t free.

Peace isn’t guaranteed.

Evil is real.

Life is fragile.

And tomorrow is never promised.

We learned that heroes don’t always wear uniforms.

Some ran toward the burning buildings while everyone else was running away.

Firefighters.

Police officers.

Paramedics.

First Responders.

Military personnel.

Flight attendants.

Ordinary citizens who made extraordinary choices.

Some gave their lives trying to save complete strangers.

That is courage.

Twenty-five years later, we should ask ourselves:

What have we learned?

Have we learned to love our neighbors?

Have we learned to appreciate the people sitting beside us?

Have we learned that hatred only creates more hatred?

Have we learned that our disagreements don’t have to make us enemies?

Have we learned that our time with the people we love is precious?

Have we learned that America is stronger when we stand together rather than tear one another apart?

Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:

We cannot change what happened on September 11, 2001.

But we can decide what September 11, 2001 will continue to teach us.

We can remember the innocent lives stolen.

We can honor the heroes who ran toward danger.

We can pray for the families who still carry empty chairs at their tables.

We can remember the survivors.

We can remember those who spent years battling the physical and emotional consequences of that day.

And we can refuse to allow hatred, division, bitterness and political tribalism to destroy the unity we discovered in the ashes.

Twenty-five years later, don’t just remember the buildings that fell.

Remember the people.

Remember the sacrifice.

Remember the courage.

Remember the unity.

Remember the prayers.

Remember the heroes.

Remember how quickly life can change.

And most importantly…

REMEMBER THAT WE ARE STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE DO WITH THE LIFE WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.

Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

The next breath isn’t guaranteed.

The next conversation isn’t guaranteed.

So call somebody.

Forgive somebody.

Hug your family.

Tell someone you love them.

Help somebody who is hurting.

Stand up for somebody who cannot stand for themselves.

And when the world tries to convince us that we have to hate one another because we disagree…

REFUSE.

We can remember September 11 without living in fear.

We can remember September 11 without surrendering to hatred.

We can remember September 11 by choosing courage over cowardice, love over hate, unity over division, and service over selfishness.

25 years later, we remember.

25 years later, we mourn.

25 years later, we honor.

25 years later, we still stand.

And may we never forget.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 — NEVER FORGET. 

God bless the families who lost loved ones.
God bless those who served.
God bless those who continue to carry the scars.
And God bless America. ~OC

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The Day Before

SEPTEMBER 10, 2001.

Twenty-five years ago today, America went to bed believing tomorrow would look pretty much like today.

People went to work.

Parents kissed their children goodbye.

Kids went to school.

Planes crossed the skies.

People walked through airports without knowing that the world they knew was about to change forever.

Businesses opened.

Restaurants served dinner.

Families laughed around kitchen tables.

Friends talked about ordinary things.

Sports were played.

Life happened.

And nobody knew.

Nobody woke up that morning thinking, “This is the last normal day America will ever have.”

Nobody went to sleep thinking, “Tomorrow, thousands of families will receive the worst phone call of their lives.”

Nobody knew that the next morning would bring images that would forever be burned into our memories.

Nobody knew that the words September 11th would become more than a date on a calendar.

It would become a scar.

A memorial.

A reminder.

A day we would never forget.

That is what makes September 10th so haunting.

It was ordinary.

And sometimes we don’t realize how precious ordinary is until ordinary is gone.

So today, September 10, 2026, let’s remember something:

Don’t take today for granted.

Call the person you’ve been meaning to call.

Hug your spouse.

Tell your children you love them.

Forgive somebody.

Put down the phone and look someone in the eyes.

Thank God for another morning.

Because none of us are promised tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we will remember September 11th.

But today, let’s remember September 10th.

The last ordinary day.

The day America didn’t know.

The day thousands of people went about their lives completely unaware that history was waiting just beyond midnight.

Cherish today.

Love deeply.

Forgive quickly.

Live purposefully.

And never forget how quickly an ordinary day can become a moment that changes everything.

🇺🇸 God bless America.

🇺🇸 Never forget.

9/10/2001 — The day before. ~OC

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When The Argument Runs Out…

Today’s a new day!

Watch what happens when a political party has nothing left to stand on.

The conversation changes.

Facts become insults.
Debate becomes name-calling.
Ideas are replaced with attacks.
Leadership becomes fear.
And when persuasion isn’t enough, suddenly there are promises, favors, and bribes designed to buy your loyalty instead of earning your trust.

That’s not leadership.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:

If your position is strong, you don’t need to destroy the person who disagrees with you.

You should be able to defend your ideas without calling someone stupid.

You should be able to debate without demonizing.

You should be able to disagree without treating your neighbor like an enemy.

And you should never have to buy someone’s vote to convince them your ideas are worth believing in.

I don’t care what letter is beside your name—D, R, or anything else.

Hold them ALL accountable.

Don’t worship a party.
Don’t surrender your conscience to a politician.
Don’t let fear manipulate you.
Don’t let anger become your identity.

Think. Question. Research. Listen. Then decide.

Because America doesn’t need more political tribalism.

We need people willing to stand on truth, integrity, character, and principle—even when doing so costs them something.

And as a Christian, my ultimate allegiance isn’t to a political party, politician, ideology, or government.

My allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ.

So I’m going to love my neighbor—even when we disagree.

I’m going to speak truth—even when it’s uncomfortable.

And I’m going to refuse to be manipulated by insults, fear, division, or political bribery.

Don’t let a political party tell you who to hate.
Don’t let a politician buy your loyalty.
And don’t surrender your God-given ability to think for yourself.

Stand on truth.
Stand on principle.
Stand on Christ.

Everything else is temporary. ~OC

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The Valley’s

The valley doesn’t get to name you.
The valley doesn’t get to break you.
The valley doesn’t get to bury you.

YOU ARE COMING THROUGH!

Because the Shepherd is with you in the darkness, beside you in the battle, and ahead of you in the victory.

SO GET UP!
LIFT YOUR HEAD!
TAKE THE NEXT STEP!

THE DEVIL DIDN’T WRITE YOUR STORY.
YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES DON’T WRITE YOUR STORY.
THE VALLEY DOESN’T WRITE YOUR STORY.

JESUS DOES!

And if the Shepherd says KEEP WALKING—THEN KEEP WALKING!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ~ Psalm 23:4

Did you hear that?

THOUGH I WALK THROUGH.

Not stay in.

Not die in.

WALK THROUGH!

YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DIE IN THE VALLEY.
YOU’RE GOING TO WALK THROUGH IT!

Because the God who brought you this far will not abandon you now.

THE SHEPHERD IS STILL WITH YOU.
AND THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

So lift your head.
Strengthen your faith.
Take the next step.

THE VALLEY IS NOT THE END OF YOUR STORY.
THE SHEPHERD IS LEADING YOU THROUGH!

NOW… KEEP WALKING! ~OC

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After the Amen

What happens after I say Amen?

Because the truth is, sometimes the pain is still there.

The diagnosis doesn’t disappear.
The bill is still sitting on the table.
The relationship is still broken.
The grief is still heavy.
The questions are still unanswered.
And sometimes, I still wake up tired of fighting.

Amen doesn’t mean everything suddenly gets easy.

Sometimes faith looks like saying,
“Jesus, I still don’t understand… but I’m still here.”

Sometimes hope looks like getting out of bed when your heart doesn’t want to.

Sometimes courage looks like taking one more step when you have no idea how many steps are left.

And sometimes the greatest miracle isn’t that God immediately changes the circumstance…

It’s that He changes something inside of you while you’re walking through it.

I’ve learned that real faith isn’t pretending everything is okay.

Real faith says:

“This hurts.”
“I’m scared.”
“I’m tired.”
“I don’t have all the answers.”
“But Jesus, I’m not letting go of You.”

That’s honesty.

That’s faith without the religious mask.

That’s hope that has been tested in the fire and still refuses to die.

So when I say Amen, I’m not saying the battle is over.

I’m saying:

Jesus, I trust You in the battle.

I’m going to keep walking.
Keep believing.
Keep praying.
Keep loving.
Keep getting back up.

Because my circumstances may tell me “it’s over,” but Jesus still gets the final word.

And if all I can do today is take one more step…

Then one more step is enough.

Tomorrow can take care of tomorrow.

Today, I’m choosing Jesus.

After I say Amen, I’m going to live like I believe the God I just prayed to is still walking with me.

Because He is.

Amen

~OC

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