February 18, 2026

Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful!

The True

Ashes and Affection

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13).

It is Ash Wednesday, a day on which many celebrate the beginning of Lent. “Celebrate” seems at first like a strange word to use, because the Lenten season is one of intentional lament. We are remembering—and even intentionally associating with—the suffering and death of our Jesus. The ashes you will see today are a reminder of death and the reality that we are all creatures of dust on our own accord (Ecc. 3:20).

So why would creatures of dust and ash celebrate? Why especially would we intentionally celebrate in this prolonged way around a conversation of death? Certainly, a major part of it is that it helps us fully revel in the truth that life conquered death when Jesus rose on the third day! This is the foundational truth that changed world history and your eternal reality—death couldn’t hold Jesus! He broke the chains of death that were previously undefeated!

So, yes, life conquering death is the primary reason we celebrate. But there is a layer of “why” embedded in this truth we sometimes forget to fully consider, and it is the one that adds vivid color to our celebration.

It is the truth that the ashes of Jesus’ death speak to the reality of great affection! Why did Jesus suffer and die? Yes, it was to give you life, both eternal and abundant (Jn. 10:10). But, as if that were not enough, He also bled and died because of His great affection for you (Eph. 2:4-5)!

Yes, the crucifixion of Jesus was the central component of God’s eternal plan. But it was not only that. It was also an act infused by great love and affection! The God of the universe was—and is—passionate about and for you! You are the object of His affection, and it is you with whom He longs to have relationship and from whom He desires praise (Is. 43:21)!

It is so outlandish it feels as though it cannot be true, especially in a world where true affection is so constantly defrauded. Earthly affection is increasingly inauthentic—and even artificial. It is truly a crisis of our times.

And yet, the affection born out of ashes is white hot and as genuine today as the day on which it motivated the ultimate act of sacrificial love!

God’s affection burns for you, my friend! How do I know? The evidence is in the ashes!

World

Deadly Shootings

At least 13 people are dead and several more injured after a pair of shootings this week. Ten people were killed—three in a home and seven at a nearby school—after an 18-year-old shooter attacked in Tumbler Ridge, a small community in British Columbia, Canada. Meanwhile, three people were killed and at least three more critically injured after a 56-year-old shooter opened fire in a crowded hockey rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The attacks are unrelated but both shooters are biological males who identify and live as females, and who authorities say have a history of mental struggles.

Analysis and eternal perspective: First, we pause to mourn with those who are mourning (Rom. 12:15). The grief from these events is enormous. God, we pray your presence and your comfort would pour over these families as only it can. You are the only way forward for those in the midst of such grief. You love each of those involved, and you desire to bind up their wounds.

Next, it is so incredibly heartbreaking to witness the brokenness of individuals and society lead to horrible actions like these two shootings. To be clear, there are many forms of brokenness that lead to violence in our world, and a number of them have been on display in recent days. But the brokenness that stems from a fractured identity is particularly grievous. Both of these shooters were intentionally formed in their mother’s womb and known by God from before their first breath (Ps. 139:13, Jer. 1:5). Both were called by name—a proof of identity—by a loving God (Is. 43:1).

Even so, the forces at work in this world were able to get between God’s stated love and purpose for these individuals and their surrender to it. The results are catastrophic in human terms.

What do we do with all these layers? According to scripture, we love deeply (1 Pet. 4:8), we speak identity over each other (Eph. 2:10, Jn. 1:12, Gen. 1:27), and we continually renew our minds in God (Rom. 12:2).

Brokenness is a reality of life on Earth. But we do not have to acquiesce to it. Our God sent His son to the cross to make a way of healing and restoration. It is the only way for a brokenness like that on display in these stories to be made whole again. A loving God created each of us with intentional design, and He did so for the specific purpose of bringing glory to His name (Is. 43:21). It is a glorious truth that lends purpose and meaning to each of us. Let us resolve as The Equipped family to offer this wondrous truth anew into the brokenness around us.

U.S.

ICE Drawdown in Minnesota

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minnesota is coming to an end, according to border czar Tom Homan. The drawdown, which Homan said is happening at the direction of President Donald Trump, will take a couple of weeks, and “a small footprint of personnel” will temporarily stay behind to oversee the transition. Over the course of ICE’s deployment to Minnesota, thousands of arrests were made and two protestors were killed in clashes with agents.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses ICE, is now technically in a partial government shutdown. However, the vast majority of DHS employees—including ICE agents and TSA officials—are deemed essential and will remain on the job. Many of them, however, will not be paid until the funding dispute is resolved.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Minnesota has been in the thick of it lately! Not a week has gone by in recent months without a controversial story involving the surge in ICE agents deployed to Minnesota. There is now at least some consensus that a period of calm is needed, and that tensions must ease. It remains to be seen if this drawdown will help achieve those goals.

As The Equipped community, we should continue to pray for both law enforcement as they put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities, and for the people of the Minneapolis area. We should pray for a sustained peace and calm (Ps. 34:14), and that love for neighbors would “cover a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

The drawdown may be underway, but the wounds are deep and the potential for entrenched bitterness great. Pray this week for love and peace to take the place of division and chaos. Pray also for those who are working without a paycheck, that they would have provision in this period of waiting.

U.S.

Jesse Jackson Dies

Jesse Jackson, famed civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, has died at the age of 84. Jackson, who is survived by his wife and five children, is perhaps best known for being a leader of the “Greenville Eight,” a group protesting racial segregation in the 1960s. He was also with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when King was assassinated and was one of the more prominent figures who continued the civil rights work after King’s death.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Death is coming for us all. It is not a flippant statement nearly so much as it is the simple truth. Men and women of notoriety—such as Jackson—will stand in front of their Creator just as surely as those of us whose names will not be recorded in history books. It is a sobering reality in a sense, but it is also a glorious one! There could be no greater comfort from the travails of this world than an ironclad assurance that God will set it all right in the end!

As we pray for the Jackson family during their time of loss, we should also reflect on our own upcoming entrance into eternity. Are you prepared for that certain eventuality? You can be! Left to your own accord, your life will be deemed to have fallen short of the required standard (Rom. 3:23). But all that is required to change that fact is that you believe in Jesus and state that belief to those around you (Rom. 10:9, Matt. 10:32-33).

It is a wonderous and free gift, offered to you through the finished work of Jesus! Your date with death is coming, but it carries with it the eternal gift of life! Make whatever amount of earthly life you have left count toward the goal of making Him known! It is the only work that will matter on that day!

The Beautiful

Unmatched

These flowers are the remnant of the annual Galentine’s party our daughters threw this past weekend. Twenty-two young women ranging in age from 9 to 17 crossed the threshold of our home to be celebrated and loved. No two alike, each one uniquely and intentionally formed, and each one a beautiful soul deeply loved and sought by their Creator!

You live in a world of rich beauty. Even so, the Creator’s love for you is unmatched!