There is a particular kind of heartbreak that does not come from betrayal or cruelty, but from loving someone who truly cares, yet cannot love you in the way your heart needs. This is the love that stays for a while. The love that returns. The love that feels real… but never becomes safe. I … More Why God Allows Us to Love Someone Who Can’t Love Us the Same Way
January 1st carries a strange pressure. We’re told it’s a reset, a clean slate, a moment where the past is supposed to disappear and everything ahead is somehow brand new. But real growth doesn’t work that way. New beginnings are not about erasing what mattered before. They are about building on it. The past year, … More New Beginnings Don’t Erase the Past
There are moments when effort feels meaningless. When work goes unnoticed, love goes unreturned, and faithfulness produces no visible reward. Not because it was done poorly, but because it was never wanted. Scripture does not deny this reality. In fact, it names it plainly. Solomon, a man who possessed wisdom, wealth, power, and achievement beyond … More Everything Is Vanity, And Sometimes That’s All There Is
People sometimes ask why I write so often. Why I blog. Why I coach, speak, teach, and keep returning to the same themes of growth, discipline, faith, leadership, and becoming whole. The honest answer is simple: I write because silence would be dishonest. Writing has always been the place where clarity forms. Before ideas are … More Why I Write, and Why I Keep Showing Up
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”— Proverbs 4:23 The people others turn to in moments of collapse rarely think of themselves as “safe spaces.” They are not offering shelter out of detachment or neutrality. What they offer is born of something far deeper, love, protection, and a willingness … More Love Without Pressure
There are three types of men in this world. Most people don’t like this kind of statement. It feels too absolute, too uncomfortable, too revealing. But after decades of watching people under pressure, watching how they react when things go wrong, when fear shows up, when temptation whispers, and when responsibility is required, this distinction … More The Three Types of Men: And Why the Peaceful Man Is Rare
There is something different about Christmas Eve. It is quieter than Christmas Day.Less certain. Less complete. Christmas Eve lives in the space before fulfillment, when the light has not yet fully arrived, but the darkness knows it cannot last. And for many people, that space feels familiar. Hope Is Born in the Dark Hope does … More Christmas Eve and the Power of Hope
This series has traced the story of Jesus’ birth as Scripture records it, first by presenting the narrative itself, then by gently distinguishing it from the traditions and images that have grown around it. The purpose has not been to diminish the story, but to slow it down, listen more carefully, and allow the biblical … More Part 7: Nazareth and the Long Silence
The story of Jesus’ birth does not move from wonder to peace. It moves from worship to danger. Not long after the wise men depart, the narrative takes a sharp turn. The child who has drawn worship from shepherds and seekers now draws fear from power. A Threat Without a Voice Jesus does not speak. … More Part 6: Out of Egypt I Called My Son
The setting of Jesus’ birth is one of the most familiar images in Christian memory. It appears on greeting cards, church stages, paintings, and films. Yet Scripture describes it with remarkable restraint. There is no grandeur. No spectacle. No attempt to impress. The humility of Jesus’ arrival is not accidental, it is intentional. A Manger, … More Part 4: The Humility of the Arrival
Troy P Zehnder 