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Are you overwhelmed by the news? Do you want to be informed about but not inundated by world events? Join The Equipped community, and together we will consider a portion-controlled dose of headline news, but always through the lens of the True and the beautiful, and with an eye toward how you can make a eternal difference!

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Strength and Honor - March 19, 2025

March 19, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Strength and Honor It is a serious movie scene that spawned countless humorous Internet memes and is now an inside parenting joke between my wife, Brooke, and me. The scene from the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator depicts two Roman warriors about to enter a battle that will very likely end in their deaths. The two briefly embrace and remind each other...

March 12, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Handiwork for Good Works You are God’s handiwork. You are also the way in which God actively works in your tangible world (Eph. 2:10). I have a fascination—and even maybe a holy obsession—with the biblical concepts of being both fashioned by God and fashioned for God’s good works. Would you take a moment to inform our brief contemplation of these...

March 5, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True On That Day On that day. Those three words denote a dramatic change in perspective and destiny. They provide a window into why and how you should have hope about your future. Those words appear in Zephaniah 3:16, just a verse before the familiar words telling of a God who takes “great delight in you” and “rejoice[s] over you with singing” (Zeph....

February 26, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Perfectly Imperfect “But you have given us one another in all shapes and sizes. We do not fit together all that well, but we pray the puzzles of our lives may please you and entertain you, so that in the end we add up to be your kingdom.” – Stanley Hauerwas We are an unusual lot, we humans. Perhaps even more to the point, we are an unusual lot,...

February 19, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True A Satisfied Life It reads like a Hollywood thriller: Terror at night . . . armies attacking . . . a stalking enemy . . . plagues . . . pestilence . . . wild animals . . . Those are all descriptors found in Psalm 91 of the dangers you and I face in this world. It paints a pretty bleak picture! In fact, if reading merely from the perspective of...

February 12, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True A Thin Line Less than two hours after swimming the best race of her life, she was in tears of disappointment. You can likely relate. Perhaps it is because of having competed in athletics, or maybe due to something that occurred in your professional career, or possibly even a personal ambition or goal. Regardless of the context, you almost...

February 5, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Blockbuster Trade “Maybe it’s an April Fools’ Day joke in February.” That was my first though when I saw the news. But no, it wasn’t April Fools’ Day, and it wasn’t a joke. One of the most significant trades in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) had been completed, the centerpiece of which sent superstar Luka Doncic from the...

January 29, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Playing for Keeps Friend, this life isn’t for the faint of heart. You were born on a battlefield, and the enemy is playing for keeps. It is no use pulling punches: He aims to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you (Jn. 10:10a). It is not enough for him to take what the Father has promised you, and it is even not enough to take your physical...

January 22, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True Ruminate or Restore You have wounds. I have wounds. Everyone we encounter has wounds. These are hardly trifling affairs, either. In many cases, they are deep, gaping injuries with the capacity to derail and destroy our destiny. To refuse to acknowledge or take them seriously is to acquiesce to them. Because you and I are designed as vessels...

January 15, 2025 Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful! Subscribe for FREE! Pay if you want--or don't! Podcast The True I Was Watching “I was watching.” Those were the central words proclaimed by my brother-in-law this week as he eulogized his mother. He shared how his mom had left him an inheritance far more meaningful than money or possessions, and that when she, along with his dad, had consistently and faithfully prioritized service to those around him, it had...