LOOKING UP: Kyle Hooks - "Somehow, the American church as a whole has communicated to our culture (and I think in some cases has actually believed) that it exists to benefit its own members, and that if you don’t conform to it’s standards, you are subject to it’s condemnation. Oh, and could you also make sure to fill out a pledge card before you leave? Nothing is further from the truth."

LOOKING UP: Kyle Hooks - "Everybody knows James 1:22, even if they don’t know where it is. It’s one of the more forceful and convicting verses in all of Scripture:'But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.' If you’re in the Bible, hearing the “Word” at church and think you’re a 'Christian,' but don’t actually do what the Bible says you should, James is calling you a fool."

LOOKING UP: Kyle Hooks - "Some questions are hard enough to think about when you take a break to sit down and peruse the paper. Questions of why some people suffer so much, or maybe why you yourself are suffering so much. Why does there seem to be so much hurt in a world with so much potential for good? Why doesn’t an omnipotent and perfectly good God stop so much evil from happening in the first place?"

LOOKING UP: Kyle Hooks - "God’s plan for life doesn’t necessarily include being rich. God’s best plan for life does include finding the joy in what God has made you to be."

LOOKING UP: Kyle Hooks - "Do you want wisdom when you need it? Are you somewhere in your life where you just don’t know what to do? Look to Christ."