Afternoons with Sonny

Maybe you can relate to this: I've had this belief in the back of my head that because God saved me and Jesus paid for my sins on the cross, I owed him. How that manifested itself is I felt like I needed to do my best to pay him back. As Christians, we all kind of know that it's just not possible to fully pay him back for his sacrifice, but that didn't mean I shouldn't try. But as I've gotten olde...

I am a grateful grandpa today as I announce that baby Katherine is finally here! After lots and lots of prayer, my 3rd grandbaby made her way into this world yesterday at 5:05pm! She's healthy, happy (most of the time), and mom is doing well! Thank you for again for all of your prayer leading up to this time.

We probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about this, but how much do you think the enemy is lying to you today? My guess: a lot.

Have you ever tried to figure out what God's will for your life is? You are not alone in wonder. Chad Bird, one of my favorite Old Testament scholars, has a perspective on this important question that I think could help steer you in the right direction. He says, "Look around you and see those people in your life, love them. Care for them. Pray for them." I can't say for certain what God has in sto...

They say that time heal all wounds, but how much truth is there to that saying?

Maybe you're feeling like you need to wait till you've got ducks in row before you can really do what God has called you to, but can I just say from experience, don't wait. Life doesn't get less messy and there won't be a perfect time. God doesn't wait to love us till we look like how we want to look, God loves us exact how we are. Messy and all. So don't wait till you feel like your ready, step o...

To anybody that is somehow believing the lie that you're too broken for God to choose you, I'm here to tell you that you are chosen and you're never too broken for God to make something beautiful out of your life. I know this because God has done it with me. We have a God who loves to breath life and make life out of the shattered and the broken. He can take your mess and make a masterpiece, all y...

Texas Pride is unlike any other and in true Texas form, the Lone Star State has an official fungus.

For anyone who has a loved one who has seemed to wander from God, I have encouragement for you today: God loves our loved ones more than we could ever imagine. He want to see them find peace and freedom even more than we do, which can be hard to wrap our brains around but it's true! God is inviting you today to entrust them to him, not only because he wants to but because he's capable of loving th...

As you are celebrating this Father's Day weekend, here is how you can be praying for Doug and his family!

I'm more and more grateful each and everyday that our identity, our security is found in the love and kindness of the Lord. Always has been true, always will be true.

Life can be the best teacher and our lesson is either learning for others or our own mess ups. That's why I'm here. The thing that has taken me a long time to learn due to my knuckle-headedness is that God can infinitely more with our surrender than we could ever do with our control.

Are you believing a lie today? I bet you a lot of us are. One of the most common lies I think we tend to believe is that everyone else has is better than we do. We think we're somehow missing out on something that everyone else is getting to be apart of and it's simply not true! God is a good and faithful father to you, to me, to everyone that calls him savior. Even when things aren't going as we...

If you're a parent, I want you to take a moment to think about your kiddos. Your kids will probably never fully know all the things you have done for them to care for them, to protect them, to provide for them. As you think about your kids, how much more do you think your heavenly father is doing to protect you and your kids? Like our children, we can't even to begin to grasp all the ways he worki...

There are multiple studies that shows that 4 to 5 cups of an 8 oz. coffee each day is associated with reduced death rates. Coffee drinkers are in agreement that this is true: daily coffee will indeed make them less likely to kill someone.

You may have read this or heard this before: "The Lord is near to the broken-hearted." It comes from the Psalms and it's true. God isn't in the business of recruiting strictly those with a background of winning. Actually, God's heart is drawn to those who have nothing to offer but need, regret, shame, fear. You name it, God wants it. If that's you, may the Lord be yours today because he's there fo...

It's kind of stunning to think about it, but your prayers don't have an expiration date. Our prayers don't spoil or go bad. There's no "best if used by" date to your prayers. God can and most likely will use the prayers we offer to him to impact our lives for years to come!

The older I get, I look back on my life and realize I only have one regret: I should have trusted God more. We spend too much of our lives worried about situations that aren't ours to worry about. God has always been faithful and he'll always be faithful. It's like the old saying goes, "Worry is just interest paid on trouble before it's due."

Everything in the world today is filled with hype: commercials, movies, social media. It's almost a sure bet that what you experience has been doctored and curated. We're kind of used to being lied to. But that's why God's approach is refreshing. Not a single one of his words is distorted by flattery or fake hype. So you can be encouraged that when God tells us about our salvation and gives us his...

I don't know if you've heard this verse or not, but I've found that it's never not been true to my life. It's Isaiah14:24 "The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen."" That's never not true. It's true for you and it's true for me. God is always making plans and when he makes those plans, he keeps them. That's something we can...

Do you think it's wrong to question God? The Psalmist in Psalm 13 doesn't seem to think so. We have a lot of questions for God that we'd like an answered, but what good would it do if we had all the answers? God know what we need: Not more information, but more love. Not a timetable, but his presence. Not all the answers, but all the grace.

Just a word of advice from experience: If a child happens to ask you how old you are, you may want to think long and hard before you just answer "guess!" Because chances are, you're not going to like their answer.

Generally speaking, we feel like when we're praying for someone, we're doing them a favor. Though that may be true, praying for others not only benefits the person we're praying for, but it can bless us too!

Are you a fan of pie like me? Then I might just see you at the Texas Pie Fest. Yes it's actually a thing and it's happening this Saturday from 10-4 in Rockwall at Tate Farms. There will Pie Eating Contests, A Car Show, and you might even be able to snag yourself a Fletcher's Corn Dog!