By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

By Mitch Nelson

Christmas is a time when we are willing to embrace some ugly things. It's why nearly everyone has an ugly Christmas sweater. God is willing to embrace some ugly things too. In fact he loves ugly things. Find out what that means for you this holiday season.By Mitch Nelson

When we live putting our love in action, it has a transformative effect in the lives of those we are helping. But it goes much further than that. When we love like Jesus everybody wins in ways you may not have expected.By Mitch Nelson

Life can be a bully sometimes. We take punches from our circumstances and even the people in our lives. We can feel like a spiritual weaklings because we don’t know enough about God or the Bible, and it make us feel insecure and even doubt our faith. But God wants you to be strong to the finish, standing up to our doubts and struggles. And when God…

When we look at the world, the amount of problems we face can be overwhelming. How could we possibly do anything to fix it all? What if there was one move you could make that would impact prison population, human trafficking and orphan care all at the same time? Discover how you can change the world in one move - foster care.…

One of the joys of eating assorted chocolates is discovering what's at the center, because it's usually what makes the candy so great. In the same way, what lies at the center of the Bible is the very thing that makes it so valuable to living the best life you can. So what lies at the candy center of the Bible?…

The groundwork for the Bible that we have today began being laid thousands of years before it was even an idea. Discover how the purpose of this foundation was not to build a religion but to point to someone who would change the world.By Mitch Nelson

As kids we were told what to think about the Bible by parents, grandparents, and Sunday school teachers. They informed our view of it. As a result, we based our understanding of the Bible not on reading it but on what we were told about it as children, and we all carry our childhood perspectives on the Bible into adulthood. Perhaps the perspective …

Whether it's an engagement, a pregnancy, a new job or a new relationship, there's something about good news that makes it incomplete until it's shared with other people. When it comes to having your soul set completely free, the announcement of God's grace is no different.By Chris Shandrow

God's grace is so radical that when God sees us it's as if we had never sinned at all. But if we have grace, why should we do good? If our sin is taken care of and we don't have to earn God's acceptance, why do we need to stop sinning?By Chris Shandrow

There are some Christians whose faith doesn’t seem to add much to their life. They believe in Jesus, but they have other things going on that are more important. They don’t really know or understand the Bible and feel a little lost. You may be one of those Christians. It might be that the only reason some people aren't experiencing the amazing, vas…

When it comes to grace and our ability to have a relationship with God there is good news and there is bad news. There is also news that may make you mad. But getting both the good and the bad can radically change your understanding of God's grace and how it applies to each of us.By Chris Shandrow

Are you happy with the Christian life? Some of us live lives following the principles of faith, but still have a joyless Christianity. We follow Jesus but still feel trapped by habits and attitudes that keep tripping us up. Or we hit all the moral marks of living a godly life but find it unsatisfying. Perhaps a fundamental problem in our relationsh…

Sometimes in life things just feel out of control. Like the circus act of spinning plates, it can feel like it’s all up to us to keep the them spinning up in the air. But what happens when things get too overwhelming? And what happens when this feeling creeps into our church world? Does God want us to be spinning plates, or is there an alternative?…

We are told that God is everywhere, that we are always in his presence. If that's true, why do some people feel his presence more than others? If God is everywhere, why does he seem too hard to find at times? Is there a missing element in our search for God that could radically change how we experience his presence?…

There are some things that if they are missing it makes everything weird, off and uncomfortable. In the christian life, prayer is one of those things. Prayer is crucial to the life of a follower of Jesus. So why don’t we do it?By Chris Shandrow

Pride is a human tendency that, if left unaddressed, can stop us from experiencing God’s best. But humility seems too much like humiliation. Humble pie never tastes good when we have to eat it. But it's only when we truly understand what humility is that we are set free from the shackles of pride. Let these ten practices of developing humility help…

Remember If/Then statements from school? If 50% of the population is over 40, then 50% is 40 or under. We don’t just use If/Then statements in math, but in every area of our lives. If we are going to grasp their power in our lives, first we must understand the bigger context of “If” to change our lives.…

One of the most important practices of Jesus was finding rest and making time for Sabbath. The human condition is prone to restlessness and our digital age and consumeristic culture only exacerbates the problem. We must model the restfulness of Jesus, which is more than just a day, but is a spirit we live by all week long.…

Busy. Stressed. Tired... So often these are the answers when someone asks us how we are doing. Our culture can make real rest seem like a dream that is just out of reach. But God has a path to finding real restoration and rest.By Mitch Nelson

The world operates under the natural law of cause and effect. There is no way around it: every time we choose an action, we also choose the consequences of that action. In the same way there is a spiritual law at work that can help us to have the best future ever...or not.By Chris Shandrow

The fastest route to any destination is a straight line. But if that's true, why does the path God has for us often seem to lead us away from where we want to go?By Chris Shandrow

Do you have a vision for your life? Can you see a clear picture of a preferred future? Great people do great things because they have great vision. Did you know that God has placed in you the capacity to have great vision and to do great things?By Chris Shandrow

What is your calling? What is the thing that you are best wired to do in order to make your mark on the world? We tend treat callings like the search for the perfect pair of jeans – try on enough of them and eventually one will fit. But what if our calling is not something that we find by testing our options or develop by honing our talents and pas…

Compass sent a team of 25 people to the Appalachia mountains in Pike County, Kentucky to serve one of the poorest regions in our country. Hear about how God used the team to love their neighbors and transformed them in the process.By Chris Shandrow

Have you ever felt like you were living limbo? All your dreams for what your life should be seem to totally out of reach? God has not abandoned you in these pasture seasons. In fact, he might be doing something you could have never imagined.By Mitch Nelson

vBy Chris Shandrow

The Bible is full of the stories of people who called out to God when they needed him. It's also full of examples of the things that happen when we do the same.By Chris Shandrow

Hopelessness has a way of driving us away from the people and places that matter - it drains us. But like water in the desert, hope is always there for those who need it.By Terri Shandrow

There are things that happen to us in life that shape us and change us - things that are worth remembering. Remembering spiritual milestones is also much more important than we sometimes realize.By Chris Shandrow

We all have an internal scorecard we use to judge the quality of our lives - good job, good money, good house, good kids. But the metrics of success don't always seem to work when we hit them. everyone’s scorecard is changing so it’s hard to really know whether or not you are winning at life.By Chris Shandrow

Quality matters over quantity when it comes to food, clothes, relationships, and entertainment. It also matters in life. We may not be promised a specific quantity of life, but the best quality of life is available to each of us.By Chris Shandrow

People said it was impossible. It couldn’t happen that quickly. It would cost too much. Yet within 8 years of deciding to do it, America sent a man to the moon. It was a crazy dream that came to reality. What crazy dreams might God be placing in your heart?By Chris Shandrow

It doesn’t matter what others see in you, or even what you see in yourself. We all have something to contribute. Discover how your value to God and his kingdom is tied less to what you have than to how involved you are willing to be.By Chris Shandrow

Stacey Lux and Lewis Lux are lead pastors of Nexus Church, a church in our family of churches that was launched out of Compass. Hear what God is doing through them and discover how we can continue to see him do the same amazing work through us in the days to come.By Stacey Lux

If someone you loved was sick, what would you be willing to do to see them get well? What would you be willing to do to see a friend or family member's life transformed for the better? Discover how the perspective you take can make a massive difference in someone else's life.By Chris Shandrow

We have all taken faith journeys in life. It takes faith to make your first dive off a diving board or follow directions from your GPS. We have also all considered the idea of spiritual faith. What might it look like if you could actually launch into a transformative faith journey with God?By Chris Shandrow

We have all heard the term “pay it forward’ – it’s how we respond in generosity when others are generous to us. What does generosity toward others look like when we have experienced the overwhelming love of Jesus?By Chris Shandrow

God loved us so much that he gave his only son. If we followers of Jesus are called to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, what should the expression of our love of God look like?By Chris Shandrow

You've been praying for 21 days. Maybe you have felt God like never before, and he has answered your prayers. Or maybe you have struggled and feel discouraged. Either way, the question remains - why should I keep praying?By Mitch Nelson

There may have been times when you prayed but it felt like God didn't answer. Your healing never came, your relationship is still broken, your account is still empty. Why did God do all the things Jesus asked him to? Why not us? Is that just "Jesus stuff" or is it for us today?By Chris Shandrow