"The gates of Hades will not overcome it." – Matthew 16:18Here's something easy to miss. Gates are defensive structures. They don't charge. They don't attack. They hold ground and keep things out. So ...  Read More

"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." – Matthew 16:16Notice where Peter made this declaration. He was standing in front of a rock wall covered in shrines to dead gods — carved stone that c...  Read More

"This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." – Matthew 16:17Most people have opinions about Jesus. But here's the uncomfortable truth, most of those opinions were for...  Read More

"But what about you? Who do you say I am?" – Matthew 16:15Jesus asked this question standing in one of the darkest, most spiritually chaotic places imaginable, a region literally covered in shrines to...  Read More

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9It didn't matter who got to the tomb first. John outran Pe...  Read More

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesu...  Read More

 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). - John 20:16Mary was standing outside the tomb, devastated. She didn't recognize the ris...  Read More

Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) - John 20:8-9Her...  Read More

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. - John 20:1The first Easter morning didn't begin...  Read More

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." — John 10:10This is what it all comes down to. Jesus didn't come to give you more rules or more guilt or more religious obligations to manage....  Read More

"There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." — Romans 8:1The battle is real. Temptation is real. Discouragement is real. The enemy is not a metaphor; he is actively trying to steal...  Read More

"You are God's masterpiece." — Ephesians 2:10You carry something unique. Your personality, your story, your gifts, your perspective; nobody else has the exact combination that you have. And God didn't...  Read More