Life

For most people, witches only exist in the Wizard of Oz; but, it’s actually a serious bona fide religious affiliation. Here in Minneapolis / St. Paul, there are allegedly over 20,000 witches (or Neo-pagans as many of them prefer), And in the Twin Cities alone, there are around 234 active covens. Strangely, we even have…

Did you know, research shows that only “10% of happiness is based on circumstantial things like, income, marital status, jobs, good looks, or geographical location!” Wealth, jobs, cars and great looks do not affect happiness as much as we’d like to imagine. In fact, wealth actually decreases a person’s happiness above a certain point. Or,…

Substance has had thousands of college students come through our community at some point. In fact, many of our best leaders were going to college when they first found Substance. But as many of these same students entered the “real world” I’ve heard them voice a lot of regrets. Over time, I started hearing several…

Have you ever wondered: Of all the spiritual disciplines, which of them affects us the most? Or here’s another question for you: We all like to imagine that we are “growing spiritually.” But, how do we really know? What if there was a way to find out? And what if we could put our spiritual…

As many of you know, Substance has had thousands of college students come through our community at some point. In fact, many of our best leaders were going to college when they first found Substance. But as many of these same students entered the “real world” I’ve heard them voice a lot of regrets. Over…

(A Perennial Repost…by popular demand) There are Six Things I love about the Fall… (1). The Pretense of loving Hot Apple Cider & Pumpkin Spice Lattes: Do we actually like these drinks? Heck no. That’s why we only tolerate them once a year. Imagine if you had a friend and you could only stand to…

Very few things are as euphoric as having your own kid. To be honest, I was kind of a “baby hater” until I had kids of my own. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I “punched them” or anything… It’s just that I never thought they were cute… And I never wanted to hold…

When you pastor a church that has a huge number of twenty-somethings, almost every month you get asked the question: “How do I know if he/she is ‘the One?’” Well, before I dive into the specific details, I want to make sure that the foundations of your marital worldview are solid. To be specific, it’s critical…

Strangely, the Bible suggests that God actually has a “happiness switch” that he can turn on and off in our lives. One of the wealthiest men who’s ever walked the planet said: “God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the…

By popular demand, I wanted to repost a prior blog on how to survive the Fall Rat-Race! As I sat outside my kid’s school last week, it was amazing to see all of the parents scurry here and there.  Everyone looked exhausted… like I was watching the finish line of a super-marathon.  Kids fumbled in…