Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a police department that is changing things up during the holiday season in order to even better serve its community. The Bay Village Police Department in Ohio is following the lead of the Lexington, KY P.D. in accepting food donations in lieu of parking ticket fines. Partnering with the Bay Food Ministry, the police are accepting up to $25 in non-perishable food donations instead of the usual fines associated with parking tickets. Th

Happy Thanksgiving! Whether we are fortunate to spend this day with family and friends or not, we each have much to be thankful for. However, it can be hard sometimes to identify all the good in our lives when we are enduring a season of hardship. But God does not allow us to endure hardship needlessly; he is building a better us and a more faithful servant if we can endure it faithfully. The Bible says, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it

As Thanksgiving is approaching, we all are prompted to remember our blessings and give thanks for them. But whom should we be thanking? Giving thanks to the people who have blessed us is important but giving thanks to God is the most important. It is only by His hand that any of us can live, breath, work, and love. The Bible says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Give thanks because God’s love for us endures forever. Today, give thanks beca

Thankfulness, for some, can be hard to consider when all that the world is giving them at the moment is suffering, abandonment, and sadness. No one could blame them for feeling forgotten. But what the world cannot give, Jesus does. In Jesus there is hope, love, a brighter future and a peaceful life. For no matter what the world gives or withholds, the promises of God will never change and the love of Jesus will always be accessible. The Bible says, “Let the peace of Christ ru

As we begin the Thanksgiving week, we all should reflect upon the many, many blessings that God has given each of us. Thankfulness is an incredibly important quality to exercise each day, so much so that even secular “self-help” and “mindset coaches” espouse it’s importance. Thankfulness is Biblically important though because the honoring of God begins with it. Thankfulness also recognizes Jesus’ sacrifice that allows each of us to have everlasting life. But thankfulness does

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story that takes the term “customer service” to a new level. In Birmingham, Alabama, because of a scheduling mistake, Ethan Crispo was the only employee on duty for the night shift at the Waffle House he worked and was faced with 30 hungry customers. Ethan was working frantically to do everything from taking orders to cooking to serving, ringing up payments, bussing tables, and cleaning dishes. It was overwhelming to say the least.

The political warfare in Washington is continuing to fray the edges of our nation’s bonds. But should we be surprised that those seeking power in this world would sometimes use what is wrong with the world to attain it? Human nature is to sin and we all have done it. It would seem that a world lost in and divided by sin is hopeless, would it not? Fortunately for us all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ overcame the world and saved us all from the hopelessness it guarantees. H

The political division in this country is only growing due to the impeachment inquiry. With it, countless people are discussing it and posting about it online. Often, the same people who post espousing the freedom and love of Jesus are in the same breath cursing whatever political figures they disagree with. James confronted this exact conundrum of human nature, saying, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in Go

There is no doubt that there are far too many people in this world who do not know Jesus. However, equally important are those who claim to know Jesus but do not behave as though they do. Jesus came to save everyone but to be saved we must declare Jesus as Lord and surrender ourselves to him. Surrendering is more than just a declaration; it is living each day according to the example Jesus set for us. While we all will fail from time to time, in order for Jesus to shine throu

Our nation is going through a period of upheaval and change driven by what people believe to be right, just, and good. Doing the right thing, just as doing the wrong thing, can take any number of forms; and sometimes, we can be trying to do the right thing, but because we are trying to do it the wrong way, it does not end up being right. Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that there are certainly people who do the wrong things for the wrong reasons — fully knowing that w