Look Up
Look Up By Pastor Justin Cooper Years ago I read that D.L. Moody prayed God would not let a single day go by without giving him someone to witness to. That prayer got hold of me, and one night I prayed it too. Then I climbed into bed, and it hit me like conviction — […]
The Clock No One Watches
The Clock Nobody Watches By Pastor Justin Cooper I have watched a man punch a time clock in the morning and punch it out at night, and do the exact same thing the next day, and the day after that. Nobody wrote an article about him. No one built him a statue. He carried food […]
The Field Next Door
The Field Next Door By Pastor Justin Cooper I was in a parking lot last week when a truck pulled in beside me — new, spotless, the kind that costs more than my first house. And I felt it. That little tug in the chest that says, “Where did they get all that?” I did […]
Where the Fire Begins
Where the Fire Begins By Pastor Justin Cooper There is a moment every fall when I pull the truck into the driveway, and the whole yard is covered in leaves I know I have to deal with. And every year I have the same thought: I could stand at the window and complain about the […]
Under the Tent
The Thing in the Tent By Pastor Justin Cooper I drove past three churches on my way home the other evening, one right after another, their steeples catching the last of the light. And I found myself thinking about how blessed this country still is, and at the same time how uneasy I feel about […]
Familiar Isn’t the Same as Following
Familiar Isn’t the Same as Following By Pastor Justin Cooper I’ve known people all my life who could tell you exactly what their father believed — every opinion, every preference, every habit — and yet they didn’t follow him at all. They knew him. They just didn’t follow him. There’s a quiet, comfortable version of […]
Plant Your Flag
Plant Your Flag By Pastor Justin Cooper There comes a moment in every hard season where you have to make a decision. Not a feeling — a decision. A choice, made in the absence of certainty, to stay in it anyway. That moment is what separates the people who finish from the people who don’t. […]
The Weight of Staying
The Weight of Staying By Pastor Justin Cooper There was a man I knew who had every reason to walk away. His health was failing. The people he trusted had turned against him. The work he’d poured his life into was being questioned at every turn. And the one thing he kept asking God for […]
What the Enemy Doesn’t Want You to Think About
What the Enemy Doesn’t Want You to Think About By Pastor Justin Cooper I remember the first time I walked into a church that felt like something was off. I couldn’t name it right away. The music was loud, people were emotional, hands were raised. From the outside, it looked like worship. But something wasn’t […]
There Is Another Shore
There Is Another Shore By Pastor Justin Cooper I want to tell you about Miss Rebecca Richards. For 28 years, Miss Richards poured herself into Gospel Light Christian School. Twelve years teaching elementary school. Fifteen years as principal. And her final year as director of our Enrichment Center — the same center where she wrote […]