Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story of people changing their behavior in this challenging time to support their neighbors. We’ve all felt some sort of pain during this COVID era, but one group who has felt the pain most acutely are small business owners and employees. With so many being forced to close indefinitely or operate on diminished capacity, times have been tough. But a new survey shows that Americans have changed their behavior to support these small bu

We often worry about things that, if we took a step back and assessed our situation, we would realize we do not really need. Life is about more than just material gain, or even, political triumph. It certainly feels good to have our preferences validated and is a good thing to have good leaders elected, but to latch our hopes, dreams, and very identity onto a political cause, leader, or outcome will only leave us adrift to the changing tides of what is popular. Jesus said, “D

Information and opinions of that information has never been easier to access and internalize. What we see, hear, and read makes up the thoughts we think each day. What we think about each day determines much of our life. Proverbs puts it simply, saying, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” If we want a better relationship with Jesus and more Christ-like thoughts through our day, we must prioritize reading his word, seeking his face, and hearing hi

Politics has become a religion for many these days, with their favorite politicians becoming the ones they serve first and derive their righteousness from. But politics isn’t alone in this; too many, even professed Christians, still worship things like money, fame, or power more than the Lord. God gave us a commandment, saying, “You shall have no other gods before me.” The god we worship is the thing that rules our life, that we serve first, and that we make our decisions bec

Being a presidential election year, politics is on the minds of most people to some extent. In the past years, our country has been roughly split 50/50 towards each candidate, with the winner winning by a few percentage points or with a slight Electoral College victory. The amount of anger between the two sides is growing with each year and this year seems no different. We all have a voice in politics and the outcomes of our elections, but to spend the time between elections

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight an incredible story of humility and perseverance that is sure to inspire. Rehan Staton is a 24-year-old student who was just accepted into Harvard Law School, the premier law school in the nation. What makes this story inspiring is not what he achieved though, but how he did it and what he overcame to achieve it. Rehan came from a broken family, his mother deserting the family when he was 8. He learned what hard work meant from a youn

We’ve all always had opinions on what is going on in our nation, but unlike generations before, we have online outlets to publish those opinions and debate others. While discourse is not a bad thing, when we approach it with the idea that what we believe is 100% correct and righteous, we can’t avoid arguments that turn bitter and sometimes, hateful. Add the fact that our posts can get likes and shares and our opinions of ourselves can’t help but be inflated. The world today s

Political ads, political news, and political demonstrations are most of what we hear on the TV and see on the internet these days because it is a presidential election year. Presidential elections have a way of dividing our entire country along clear cut lines and invading our thoughts far more often than they should throughout each day. Because of this, our hearts can all get a little harder and spirits a little more bitter towards each other. But God specifically told us th

We all have said or posted things that we regret afterwards; often it is because our minds produced words quicker than our hearts. The reason we feel bad about certain things we have said in the past is because those words do not reflect what we truly feel in our heart, they are just a reaction to something that angered, confused, or irritated us in the moment. When we allow Jesus to work in our hearts, we may not always say the right thing or post thoughts reflective of him,

So much happens every week in the news and with so much up in the air these days, it is hard not to worry over the future. But what can worry do for us? Jesus posed this question, saying, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Worry erodes confidence in the Lord; when worry creeps in, focus your mind on the promises of the Lord. Today, if you are dealing with worry, read the pro