Hope can be a desperate wish for some impossible results. Hope can be the wondering about some improbable outcome. But real hope is the confident anticipation of the positive consequences of my faith. Even that hope fades. So what do we do? How do we hold on to the Hope? 1. Read the promises. 2. Rehearse the blessings. 3. Recite your faith. 4. Remember the source. Isaiah 40:31. “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles…” Make your hopes, not your hurts, be the predictors of your future.

"What is man that Thou art mindful of him? The son of man that You care for Him?" Even the Psalmist struggled with the basic questions of the nature of man. This is the second half of the Systematic Theology lesson on The Nature of Man.

What do we believe about the nature of man? How is our personality, our temperament, our character, shaped by the person God made us to be? And, how does all of that shape our relationship with God? This is a two-week segment from a longer Systematic Theology teaching that I did at my local church this spring. I do not profess to be a scholar. I do claim to be a man that loves God and loves to talk about God, especially in ways that are easy to understand. I hope I've done that here. Welcome to "What Difference Does That Make?" with Dr. Mike Courtney.

It’s not easy staying in touch with our adult children, but with a little work and a little sensitivity, it can be done.

Day 36 of 40 days finds us in the begging of the Passion Week. Each day as we conclude our adventure, we will meditate on what Jesus was doing that day, 2000 years ago. Today, the day after His triumphal entry, He engaging the crowd with one more invitation to know Him. And Andrew responds by bringing people to Him. I want to be an Andrew.

When there is nothing else to look to, we look to the hands and feet of Jesus.

Take a minute to day and look out on that moment when God came to you for the first time as your Lord and Savior. Wesley said, “My heart was strangely warmed.” At that moment you became a priest.

We enter in to week leading up to Palm Sunday. Today is my son, Jacob’s, birthday. It is also day 29 of our 40 days. The theme for this week is Look Out, trouble is going to come. But, we can be made better and stronger for it.

What you do matters. Our walk with God is as much about our hands as it is our heart. Wake-up and live as God would have you live.

Wake up to the cities, the mountains, and the stories that God has given you.