Ash To Altar

The world has a way of making compromise look harmless.

Just blur the line.
Just stay quiet.
Just go along with it.

One small compromise at a time, people trade conviction for acceptance and holiness for applause.

But Jesus never promised His followers they would fit in.

In fact, He said the road is narrow.

The truth is, everyone wants to belong somewhere. The question is whether you’re willing to belong to Christ even when it costs you belonging with the crowd.

The approval of people is temporary but the approval of God is eternal.

A generation obsessed with being accepted has forgotten that faithfulness often looks like standing alone.

The same crowd that praises compromise today won’t stand beside you when you face eternity.

Don’t trade your soul for a seat at their table.

Don’t trade conviction for comfort.

Don’t trade heaven for fitting in.

The narrow road is lonely at times, but it leads home.

Matthew 7:13-14

Death will try to have the last word in your story. It speaks through seasons of grief, through diagnosis, through goodbye. But Jesus didn’t just overcome death for humanity in general, He overcame it for you, personally. Your pain is heard, your loss is real and the One who conquered the grave is the same One walking through it with you.

Sunday reminder

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
ROMANS 6:23 - ES

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” - Proverbs 27:17

Real strength isn’t carrying it alone. It’s having brothers around you who make you sharper, stronger, and more whole.

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Check on your homies. Have the hard conversations and let someone check on you too.

Your mind deserves the same work you put into everything else.

The Bible distinguishes between two types of pride.

There is a difference between the kind of pride God hates (Proverbs 8:13) and the kind of legitimate pride we can feel about a job well done (Galatians 6:4) or over the accomplishments of loved ones (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The sinful form of pride, however, is treated very seriously. Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something God has accomplished. Taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. It is essentially self-worship.

Pride, proud, and haughty.

3 words used at least 103 times in Scripture and are never used in a positive way when referring to this sinful form. They are always found in reference to sin and evil.

In 2 Corinthians 7:4, Paul writes, “I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.”

Here Paul expresses pride in the Corinthian church for their faith and spiritual growth. This isn’t arrogance, it’s the deep satisfaction of a mentor watching those he loves flourish. Paul felt this same form of pride for the spiritual well-being of the churches he helped establish, referring to the Thessalonians as his “glory and joy” in 1 Thessalonians 2:20.

Galatians 6:4 says, “Let each person examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else.” Paul is referring to the kind of godly self-examination by which we are meant to judge ourselves and in which we should live with a clear conscience. The key distinction here is that this pride is inward-looking in a healthy way, it’s about integrity and honest self-assessment, not superiority over others.

At the end of the day, godly pride has nothing to do with ourselves. In every example above, the pride is directed outward - toward God, toward the growth of others, or toward work that was accomplished through God’s grace rather than by personal greatness. The moment pride turns inward and self-serving, it crosses into the sinful territory the Bible so strongly warns against.

The Fallen Tee is now live on the site - have a blessed week, friends.

Behold The Fallen Tee goes live June 1st - get some 👊

The older I get, the more I realize growing with God usually starts with letting something die.

Old habits.
Old pride.
Old versions of yourself that were built around survival instead of surrender.

A new year doesn’t mean much if you carry the same dead weight into it.

Real growth with God is uncomfortable.
It’s letting Him cut away what no longer serves the person He’s calling you to become.
It’s walking into a new season with open hands instead of clenched fists.

Leave the old year behind.
Not just the calendar, the mindset.