Look Up, Look Out

What do you carry with you when you walk into a room? When you wake up in the morning, what’s on your mind? Are there burdens from your past that still weigh you down, shaping how you see others and how you interact? How often do you find yourself focusing on the things that areContinue reading “Look Up, Look Out”

Life of a Rebel

What trends do you remember it seemed like everyone wanted to do? Remember the man-bun? What about when tattoos became a big deal? Or piercing certain parts of the body? Do you ever find yourself asking how to make sure people will notice you? How about trying to figure out who you are, or who youContinue reading “Life of a Rebel”

Thoughts on Reformation Day

October 31, 1517 is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the doors of Castle Church at Wittenberg. It was the beginning of what we call the Protestant Reformation. Here we are, 506 years after this historic day and we still continue to be renewed and reformed in our faith. There is soContinue reading “Thoughts on Reformation Day”

Difficult Scriptures to Preach From

There are several scriptures that are challenging to preach from. How do we handle them? We take time. We study them. We attempt to understand the original audience and context. In short, we “wrestle” with them. Matthew 15: 21-28 is one of those scripture passages. How do we handle Jesus’ interactions with the Canaanite womanContinue reading “Difficult Scriptures to Preach From”

Is AI Technology Helping Us?

Chat GPT and all these other AI (artificial intelligence) tools are pretty cool. You can get incredible information and creative content based on the gazillion data stored online for many years. Combining your thoughts or prompts with the “genius” of brilliant people through the years can help you post great stories, blogs, essays, you nameContinue reading “Is AI Technology Helping Us?”

Wisdom for Today

Who can you trust? Where do you get the best, most accurate, information out there? How do you know if something/someone is credible? Recently I attended, as a proud parent, of all of my kids promotion/awards ceremonies in school. If I can be biased, I have some amazing and amazingly smart kids. As I wasContinue reading “Wisdom for Today”

CROSSROADS DEVOTIONAL IS AVAILABLE!

My name is Ryan Stratton and I wrote a book called “Crossroads.” It’s a forty day devotional and I am really excited about it! You’ve been in a position and situation where you have had to make a big decision. You may have felt an overwhelming sense of dread or anxiety because you keep tryingContinue reading “CROSSROADS DEVOTIONAL IS AVAILABLE!”

Leadership that Encourages

What makes a person a leader? This is the point where I would hear things like, “good role model, smart, think outside the box, knows how to get things done, etc. etc. etc.” But here’s the answer. A person is a leader when there are people following him/her. That’s it. You cannot lead if thereContinue reading “Leadership that Encourages”

God’s Story, Your Story: The New Testament

If you could sum up the Bible in one word, what would it be? This may be tricky for some. Some may be thinking we can’t sum up the Bible in one word. I think we can sum up the Bible with the word, JESUS. After all, in Luke 24, Jesus tells the disciples onContinue reading “God’s Story, Your Story: The New Testament”

Noah: Nobody’s Perfect

There are movies and books and stories that we allow to speak to our hearts. We fall in love with the characters and root for them, or want what’s coming to them to happen. The stories we seem to pay more attention to add to our notion that life is all about us. One ofContinue reading “Noah: Nobody’s Perfect”