Month: November 2025

There is a new sound in American emergency rooms, a sound so disturbing that physicians had to invent a word for it.

They call it scromiting.

It is a violent blend of screaming + vomiting, seen in patients suffering from cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). It’s a condition that barely registered in medical textbooks fifteen years ago but is now exploding across the country as ultra-high-THC products flood the market. People who use marijuana to escape their anxiety are now stumbling into ERs at 3 AM, curled on bathroom floors, drenched in sweat, retching uncontrollably, begging for help. And the paradox? The comfort they trusted becomes the force that torments them.

Hosea’s ancient warning suddenly feels modern:

They sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 8:7 (ESV)

What we sow into our minds and bodies eventually becomes the harvest we must face. 

Marijuana has been marketed as the gentle escape — natural, soothing, safe.

But THC in the 1990s was 4%. THC in modern vape cartridges is 80–90%.

CHS patients present with:relentless nausea, searing abdominal pain, uncontrollable vomiting, panic, agitation, confusion, and temporary relief only in scalding hot showers It’s so paradoxical that emergency doctors now use the same phrase for nearly every case, “The drug causing your suffering… is the drug you think is helping you.” Modern life keeps selling us escape. But escape always collects a price. As C.S. Lewis once said, “We are half-hearted creatures… fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.”

The violent image of scromiting is hard to forget — but it mirrors something deeper in our culture. We numb ourselves with distractions, and then scream from the consequences. We chase pleasure, and end up restless. We self-medicate anxieties, and create deeper wounds. We run to what promises peace, and find ourselves sicker than before.

Scromiting is the physical picture of a spiritual truth. You always reap what you sow. There is one cure for CHS-stop taking the thing that’s destroying you. Sometimes God’s mercy begins with this clarity: “Let go. Come home.” Let go of the habits that hollow you. Let go of the escapes that enslave you. Let go of the comforts that poison you.

God does not mock us for our choices. He invites us to begin again. He whispers into the noise, “The whirlwind is not your destiny. Turn back, and live.”

Scromiting is more than a bizarre medical condition. It’s a cultural warning. What you depend on will shape you.What you worship will claim you. What you chase will eventually catch you. But the God who spoke through Hosea still speaks today: Turn before the whirlwind. Return before the damage becomes your story.

Choose the One who heals.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #scromiting #Hosea8:7#CHS #cannabishyperemesissyndrome

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What do a powerful empire, a frightened nation, and a trembling prophet have in common?

They all stood at a crossroads where the popular choice was not the righteous one.

In the days of Isaiah, panic spread through Judah. The rising Assyrian empire loomed like an unstoppable wave, swallowing smaller nations one by one. The political leaders, terrified of being next, rallied around a simple question: “Is it popular? Is it safe?” If the majority approved, if the polls were favorable, if the direction felt secure, it must be right… right?

But God whispered something entirely different to Isaiah.

Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

Isaiah 8:12-13 (ESV)

God instructed Isaiah:

Do not follow the majority.
Do not join the pro-Assyrian alliance.
Do not let fear make your decisions for you.

While the nation chased safety in numbers, Isaiah stood nearly alone — branded a traitor for refusing the alliance. The leaders said he was dangerous. Unpatriotic. Misguided.

But Isaiah wasn’t asking their questions.

They asked: “Is it popular?” “Is it safe?”
He asked: “Is it right?” “Is it the will of God?”

We do not face Assyria today, but we face the same spiritual crossroads:

What does our culture glorify simply because it is popular?
What movements claim moral authority simply because they have numbers?
What policies, ideologies, or trends are assumed to be true simply because they are loud?

The question “Is it popular?” has become the guiding compass of our generation. Politicians follow polls. Celebrity pastors follow applause. Too many believers follow the crowd instead of the Cross. But popularity has never been a reliable guide for righteousness.

The majority cheered the golden calf.
The majority shouted for Barabbas.
The majority walked away when Jesus spoke hard truths.

The danger is not new, but it is louder now. You don’t need a prophet to see the parallels.

Today’s world asks: Is it trending? 
God asks: Is it true?
The culture asks: Does it feel safe?
God asks: Does it honor Me?
Society asks: Will people approve?
God asks: Will I approve?

Courage in this age does not look like shouting louder than the crowd. Courage looks like standing apart from it. Isaiah was not praised. He was not popular. He was right. If you want to live with clarity in a world drowning in noise, here is the test:

Don’t ask, “Is it popular?” Ask, “Is it biblical?” Ask, “Is it the will of God?”

And if you are the only one standing —stand anyway. God has never needed a majority. He has only needed a faithful remnant.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #Isaiah8:12-13 #Isitpopularisitright

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What do a salamander, the city of Boston, and a state governor have in common?

More than you might think. In 1812, the Governor of Massachusetts signed a bill creating a political district in Boston that was so bizarrely shaped, so unnaturally stretched and twisted, that local critics said it resembled a giant salamander.

The governor’s name? Elbridge Gerry.

He didn’t draw the district to represent people. He drew it to secure his power. The public backlash was immediate. Newspapers mocked the twisted boundaries, and one cartoon labeled the creature the “Gerry-mander.” The term stuck—and more than two hundred years later, it’s at the front of headlines again.

But the real story is not about a salamander. It’s about human nature. Gerrymandering wasn’t born in 1812. It was simply the American version of an ancient instinct: If you cannot win truthfully, reshape the battlefield. In Governor Gerry’s day, the manipulation was drawn with ink. Today, it is drawn with algorithms, voter behavior models, and software that can slice a neighborhood into political ribbons with pixel-level precision. The salamander has evolved—but the heart behind it hasn’t.

Whenever power feels threatened, it redraws the lines:

Politicians redraw districts.

Corporations redraw narratives.

Media redraws perceptions.

Individuals redraw moral boundaries to justify behavior.

We don’t like losing. So we stretch truth into shapes that make us feel like we’re winning. This pattern is as old as Scripture. The Pharisees couldn’t defeat Jesus’ truth, so they tried to reshape the narrative around Him. Herod couldn’t stop the newborn King, so he tried to reshape the future through violence (Matthew 2:16). Even Pilate, unable to reconcile truth with political pressure, tried to redraw responsibility by washing his hands (John 19:12). When hearts resist righteousness, boundaries are the first to be distorted.

But God’s way is different.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:24 (ESV)

The world redraws lines to keep power. God redraws hearts to restore justice. The political maps in the news are just a symptom. There is another gerrymandering happening every day—quietly, aggressively, and spiritually. Culture tries to redraw your convictions. Not with maps, but with messages:

That sin is normal.

That compromise is compassion.

That truth is intolerance.

That holiness is old-fashioned.

This is why the Bereans are so important for our moment. Acts 17 says they “examined the Scriptures daily” to see if what they heard was true. They refused to let the world redraw their moral boundaries. So must we.

Every time history repeats itself, God gives us another opportunity to see more clearly. The salamander on the 1812 map was a warning: when power is more important than principle, distortion is inevitable. Our headlines today are the same warning, written in new ink. But God’s faithfulness also repeats itself. He has always preserved a people who refuse manipulation, refuse distortion, and refuse to exchange truth for comfort.

May we be counted among them.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #gerrymandering #Amos5:24

“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe.

Because its handle was made of wood.”

— Old proverb (Turkish origin)

The forest believed the axe belonged. Its handle looked like them, felt like them, even grew from the same soil. But resemblance is not righteousness. It’s an image of trust misplaced—of good things undone by what feels familiar. The trees never questioned the axe because it spoke their language. It looked harmless, even useful. But what they didn’t see was the steel hidden beneath the wood.

We live in a world where everything looks familiar. Voices sound like ours, faces smile like ours, and even words of faith can be assembled by machines. Artificial intelligence now mimics not only our art and music but our emotions, our prayers, our very sense of wonder. We scroll through images that never existed and listen to voices that were never alive.

It’s no longer the serpent in the garden we fear—it’s the echo that sounds like Eden.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15 (ESV)

Jesus warned us long before any of this. He was speaking about more than religion. He was describing how deception always borrows the shape of something true. Discernment today is no longer optional; it’s a survival skill for the soul. Not every face we see or word we hear carries breath behind it. Not every beam of light carries warmth. And not every story that moves us comes from the heart of man. The danger is not only that we will believe what is false—it’s that we will stop caring what is real.

The trees thought the axe was one of them because its handle was made of wood. We, too, may lose what is living if we surrender our hunger for truth to the convenience of imitation.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #Matthew7:15 #theforestthatvotedforitsowndestructiona

“I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.”
Jimmy Webb-songwriter. 

Some words sound like music and others sound like prayer. This one, written by Jimmy Webb and made immortal by Glen Campbell in the song “Wichita Lineman”, somehow became both.

When I first heard it, I didn’t just hear a love song. I heard a confession. A man suspended between heaven and earth, holding a line that hums across the open plains, speaking to someone far away: I need you more than want you. It’s the moment love moves beyond desire—when affection turns into dependence, and distance becomes unbearable. But as years passed, I began to hear something even deeper. That lyric isn’t just a man’s voice reaching for a woman. It’s every human heart reaching for God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Psalm 42:2 (ESV)

We all know what it’s like to want something or someone. But to need, to feel that essential emptiness that only one Presence can fill, that’s where love becomes sacred. And maybe that’s the miracle of this song. Somewhere on that telephone line, the voice of longing meets the voice of Heaven. Because love didn’t just wait for us to climb higher. Love came down.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 (NKJV)

That’s the divine answer on the other end of the wire. The Creator of the universe saying, I need you more than want you… and I want you for all time. Not out of lack, but out of a love that crossed the distance.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

The song ends quietly, but the prayer it carries never does. Because the line between earth and heaven still hums and sometimes, if we listen closely, we can hear the music of God’s heart in it.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #thelonliestprayereverwritten #John3:16

Spider! Ugh!

There’s something about them that makes my skin crawl. My daughter feels the same way — she’ll call me the moment one appears in her room.

Yesterday, I spotted one in the bathroom. My first instinct was to grab a paper towel and end it quickly. But as I moved closer, I stopped.

It wasn’t coming after me. It was quietly doing what spiders do — weaving, wrapping, working.

I leaned in and realized it had caught a pincer bug — one of those sneaky little creatures that hide where I can’t see.

In seconds, the spider finished its work and disappeared behind the counter. And in that moment, I felt a strange conviction: I had almost destroyed the very thing that was protecting me.

That’s when it hit me — maybe fear works the same way.

We recoil from what we don’t understand, especially in times like these. The world feels tangled: wars, elections, anger, mistrust, uncertainty everywhere. We panic at the mess, not realizing that God might already be weaving His design within it — silencing threats we can’t see, holding things together we can’t fix.

The spider wasn’t my enemy; it was my reminder. Sometimes what we fear most is what God uses to protect us.

“He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep darkness into light.”

Job 12:22 NASB

So I’ve learned to pause before I crush what frightens me — to ask if maybe God is already at work in it. The web isn’t always a trap.

Sometimes, it’s His mercy in disguise.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #bible #truth #spiritualgrowth #overcomingfear #godisincontrol #hope #thebereans #providenceofGod #Job12:22

Have you ever met a person named after a month, like April, and then found out she was not born in April?

It always makes me smile. We expect the name to fit the season, but life — and God — rarely fit our expectations.

Sometimes our parents choose the name, but God fills it with meaning. Maybe “April” wasn’t born in the spring at all. Maybe her name was meant to remind her that spring comes even after the longest winter. That joy can bloom when least expected.

He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

John 1:42 (ESV)

Jesus did the same with His disciples.

He looked at Simon — impulsive, inconsistent Simon — and called him Cephas, meaning Rock.

He named him for what he would become, not what he was. Abram became Abraham before he ever fathered nations. Saul became Paul while his past still blinded him.

God has a way of naming us for the future He already sees. He calls out the version of us that hasn’t fully bloomed yet — the one that still lies dormant beneath the frost.

Maybe you feel stuck in a cold season right now. Maybe you’ve been waiting for your own “April” — that time when everything feels new again. Don’t lose heart. He’s already written spring into your winter. He’s shaping your name, your calling, your story, into something that will make sense only when it blooms.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for calling me by name — not just for who I am, but for who You see me becoming. Teach me to trust Your timing when my life feels out of season.

Let my name — and my story — bring glory to You when its meaning finally unfolds.

📖 Reflection Questions

Has there ever been a season when you felt “out of sync” with your name or calling?

How does knowing that God renamed Simon, Abram, and Saul encourage you about your own identity in Christ?

What “winter” might God be preparing to turn into spring in your life right now?

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #April #John1:42

I was the class president in eighth grade.

The unwritten rule, I later learned, was that the president was also the class cheerleader. That truth hit me the first day of football season. Our teachers announced that each class would compete to show the most school spirit, and all eyes turned toward me. I could lead a meeting. I could organize a fundraiser. But standing before a packed stadium—thousands of faces waiting for me to shout the first cheer—felt impossible. I wasn’t loud, athletic, or naturally outgoing. I wasn’t the “rah-rah” type. Yet when the moment came, I lifted my voice anyway—awkwardly, half-heartedly at first. The class joined in, and something unexpected happened: the sound wasn’t mine alone anymore. Their voices carried me.

That day, I learned that leadership isn’t about being the loudest. It’s about being willing—willing to stand in the awkward place between silence and courage, and to trust that others will find their voice too.

I didn’t realize then how often God would repeat that lesson. Years later, He would call me to lead again—teams of doctors, residents, staff, even my family—often when I felt least qualified or most unsure. Each time, the setting changed: a hospital boardroom, a lab facing closure, a family table during hard conversations, or now, a camera lens through which I share faith with the world.

The crowd is different, but the fear feels the same. And so does God’s whisper:

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)

Looking back, I see that God was preparing me—not for applause, but for obedience.

He was teaching me that leadership, in His kingdom, is never about performance. It’s about presence. Faith is saying yes, even when your voice trembles. Because the One who calls you will give you the courage to cheer when no one else will.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #leadership #calling #obedience #jesuschrist #bible #providenceofGod #weaknessmadeperfect #spiritualgrowth #truth #2Corinthians12:9 #classcheerleader