A Moment of Hope

The life change of Peter is the next proof of the resurrection of Jesus. My hope is that these proofs give you evidence for the Resurrection. And reasons to give to skeptics in your life who doubt Jesus's claim to be God and Lord over our lives. In  Matthew 4:18-22 , Jesus called Peter to be one of his 12 apostles. Peter was a fisherman when Jesus gave him the famous invitation to follow him. He s...

One of the most significant proofs of the Resurrection is the life change that took place in those who were initially skeptics. The life change of Paul might be the most profound of them all.  He persecuted and killed Christians for a living. In  Acts 7 , Paul was the one who oversaw Stephen's martyrdom. Stephen was brutally and mercilessly stoned. And as it was happening, he fell to his knees and...

I am going over proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. These proofs are evidence that Jesus is Lord. They should also help make you stand firm against the messaging that wants to convince this world that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is not real. There were many persecutors and critics of Jesus during his earthly ministry who experienced radical life change after they had seen hi...

We are looking at 10 proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus to help you stand against the lies of the enemy. Today's proof is that women were eyewitnesses to an empty tomb! In those days, women were second class citizens. They were not even granted the opportunity to be eyewitnesses at a trial. They were seen as less than. Their perspectives were rarely validated and often overlooked. Why is this sig...

Have you ever looked up the definition of the word proof? One definition is "the evidence or argument establishing or helping to establish a fact or the truth of a statement." When used as an adjective it is defined as "able to withstand something damaging; resistant." I am going to share ten proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. For without the Resurrection, Christians are people most to be...

We are wrapping up our time of learning different leadership principles that I learned while playing under Coach Dean Smith. He was such a man of character, integrity, wisdom, and strength. The final principle I want to share with you is this: know who really is in control. After Coach Smith was hung in effigy the second time, he wondered about his future. Would he be fired? Would he ever see a su...

We have two more days of leadership principles that I want to share with you. I learned these while playing under Coach Dean Smith at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Coach Smith would regularly tell us, "Make failure your friend." He knew that we would only be failures if, after messing up, we never tried again. This is especially true in our culture when so many practice what is...

While playing for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Coach Smith always led his teams with a deep commitment to character. He knew the importance of being the same in public and in private. At the beginning of his coaching tenure at UNC, Coach Smith was hung in effigy not once, but twice, by the student body. If you don't know what this means, the student body took a large life-size...

Proverbs 18:21  says that  "life and death is in the tongue."   Words are powerful in general. But there is a power in positive words that can lift someone out of the darkest pit and set them on a trajectory of hope. My college basketball coach, Dean Smith, knew the power of encouraging words. How many games he would encourage us to victory through his words! Even in the most dire of situations, h...

Coach Dean Smith instilled many significant leadership principles into my life. I am sharing some of them with you over these two weeks. I hope they are especially meaningful as we experience March Madness. One of his principles was, "As individuals improve, the team improves." I went into Coach Smith's office after my sophomore year for my annual interview. I wanted to know how I could get more p...

It is so important that leaders develop immutable principles to live by as they lead, love, and serve those around them. I gleaned many of these priceless principles from Coach Dean Smith while playing for him at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today's principle is this: Success requires a flexible vision. Proverbs 29:18 says vision is so important that without it, people perish....

The team before the individual. This leadership principle was ingrained from Coach Dean Smith to every member of the UNC basketball team. In fact, if I had to choose one mantra that drove Coach Smith, this would be it. It was always about the team. About unity. Being of one mind together. Coach Smith knew that if the team wasn't strong, it did not matter the success of individual players. This sim...

Friends are forever. This is the next leadership principle I learned playing under Coach Dean Smith. When I first arrived on the campus of UNC as a freshman, there was a tremendous awe surrounding Coach Smith and the program. I will never forget the emotions I felt stepping onto that basketball court for the first time, hearing him blow that first whistle, and watching him lead a perfectly timed t...

Over the next two weeks, as the nation enjoys March Madness, I am sharing some of the leadership principles I learned while playing basketball for Coach Dean Smith. I took so much of what he taught me and put it in a book called  "It's How You Play the Game: The 12 Leadership Principles of Dean Smith." Today's leadership principle is this: Loyalty best prospers in a family environment. In so many...

Our Leadership Principles blog series is inspired by David's book "It's How You Play the Game: The 12 Leadership Principles of Dean Smith." If you would like to receive this book, please  go here . Loyalty. Defined as "a strong feeling of support or allegiance." Synonymous with words like faithfulness, devotion, dedication, commitment. The law of reciprocity says whatever you give out, you get bac...

by Marilynn Chadwick Honor is not a subject you hear much about these days. If anything, we've become much more accustomed to disrespect and dishonor. The urban slang for disrespect, or "dis," has made its way into everyday language. Most any child can tell you what it means to "dis" someone. Or worse, to be "dissed." Honor.  Simply put, the word means to treat someone with respect or admiration....

by Marilynn Chadwick "I don't enjoy going to lunch with my work friends anymore," my young friend confided over coffee. "The conversation always turns into husband bashing." Her own marriage wasn't perfect, she admitted. "I'm a very transparent person," she smiled. "So I try to be real. But I don't want to dishonor my husband. And I want my friends to know I truly love being married to him." As we...

by Marilynn Chadwick Dream big together! It's the next tip for learning to honor our husbands. I honor my husband when I share his dreams. When I work to help him accomplish his dreams, my dreams are also fulfilled. Not too long into our marriage, I realized that God's economy is different from mine. When doing things God's way, I often get back the very thing I give away. I help David reach his g...

by Marilynn Chadwick Peace is a priority in our home. A peaceful home refreshes and blesses the family. Today's world is busy and noisy. How can I lighten my husband's load and his heart? Help him have fun? I've learned that simple habits, like taking a day off together each week, honor him by allowing him to be refreshed. We're also intentional about family vacations. Doing so has allowed us to s...

by Marilynn Chadwick If you were to ask me what's the single most important thing you can do to honor your husband, I would simply say:  Pray for him. Pray like you mean it. Pray like you believe God works through your prayers. And make prayer for your husband a priority. I have seen many wives' prayers encourage husbands who are already following Jesus. And I have seen prayer soften the hearts of...

by Marilynn Chadwick Deep within the heart of every good woman lives a warrior. Her fierce love can make even the most timid woman do courageous things.  Watch out for a woman who is fighting for someone she loves. I have discovered that honoring my husband in today's culture requires me to fight for him. We have an enemy. Not just of our soul, but also of our marriage. In addition to waging a war...

by Marilynn Chadwick "Let the wife see that she respects her husband"  ( Ephesians 5:33 ). I have been inspired by what the Bible teaches us about honor. As a result, I have tried to be more intentional about showing honor to David. However, I've come face to face with an important realization:  Honor demands far  more from me than simply submission. Please understand. I fully appreciate submissio...

by Marilynn Chadwick Honor may be best expressed through word and deed, but it begins in my mind. What I think about my husband determines whether my words and actions will honor him. In fact, what we believe about our husbands can make or break our marriages. We must believe the best. For me, this means that as a wife, I value and respect David, believing in him even more than he believes in hims...

by Marilynn Chadwick It's important to understand honor as a biblical concept, shedding light on our God-given roles as husband and wife. In college, I was an atheist with strong feminist leanings. After I became a follower of Christ, it was God's Word which opened my eyes to His beautiful and somewhat mysterious plan for marriage. Everything God created was good. But He looked at Adam and said, ...

by Marilynn Chadwick What is honor and why is it important? To honor someone is to treat them with admiration or respect. Honor conveys dignity, honesty, and integrity. Several years ago my husband's beloved college basketball coach, North Carolina's legendary Dean Smith, passed away. Next to his own father, David says Coach Smith was the most significant man in his life. Even superstar Michael Jo...