I've done a bit of traveling lately. That might seem strange since I now have a newborn and two toddlers, but it’s true. Some of you might live in the place I've been checking out, but probably nearly all of you have visited. It goes by several names: The End of Your Rope; The Breaking Point; The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back; Rock Bottom. Yes, I've been spending some time discovering the bord...  Read More

We all have that “one thing.” You know, that “one thing” that we hang on to for dear life. For some, the one thing is a career. For others, it’s something material (like a keep-sake from a relative). For many, the one thing is relational (e.g. a spouse, a children or a parent). To be clear, these things represents idols in our lives. This means that, for the Christian, the question becomes, “Are ...  Read More

14 years ago this past week, my wife, Kayla went into labor 8 1/2 months into her pregnancy with  a “weird feeling”. We were nervous, but excited about the arrival of our son, Levi Joseph Massey. However, there was a complication with his life support internally while he was still in the womb and by the end of the evening we had lost our son. We would not have the opportunity to raise him, to teac...  Read More

Psalm 11 1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, 2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; 3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the child...  Read More

Happy New Year Heartland,With every new year, we are primed to think about new beginnings. We think about new rhythms and habits that we want to form; new initiatives that we are looking forward to; and all of the new things that God has for us to experience. However, with all the consideration of what’s new, we must be reminded to never lose sight of what’s true. One of my favorite quotes from Jo...  Read More

Discipleship is a word that we often use in church culture. However, I think many people do not have a solid grasp of what discipleship is or what it looks like. I know that I lacked this understanding when I first came to know the Lord. In fact, I am really just now polishing up my understanding of discipleship since coming to Heartland. So I would like to speak to a biblical definition of discip...  Read More

We’ve all been thinking a lot lately about the subject of prayer as we have studied The Lord’s Prayer together throughout October. I cannot think of a better use of our time than to press into Jesus’ instruction for how to experience prayer the way that God intended it to be experienced. That is essentially what Matthew 6:5-13 highlights for us. As the disciples saw Jesus praying, they saw somethi...  Read More

Our study of Ephesians has brought into focus both the beauty of the gospel and a powerful reminder of our identity in Christ. This study has reminded us that our identity is always the source of our actions. When we start working for our identity, rather than from our identity, things begin to misfire in our lives. When our identity is rooted in things other than Jesus Christ, it leads to selfish...  Read More

What are we grasping for?I remember as a child having a curiosity like no other. I was always curious about how things worked and why they worked the way they did. I always seemed to land in trouble for getting into things that I probably shouldn’t have been getting into. I remember once, when I was around 8, my family was eating dinner when I asked my dad, “what would happen if I put a paper clip...  Read More

“Dad? Dad….DAD?!?!” Those words came out of my 6 year old mouth many moons ago on a Sunday night while my dad and I were turning off the sanctuary lights and bumping the AC up on a hot summer night in South Mississippi. My dad was the pastor of a small country church and he was privileged with the task of being the Marine…the first one in and the first one out. He was the first one there to unlock...  Read More

Discipline is not a word that most people enjoy hearing. We live in a world that avoids discipline in all its forms at all cost. We have very little patience, we are usually never satisfied, we often do not delay gratification, and we frequently shirk responsibility. But, what we must understand is that discipline and discipleship are inherently linked. As disciples of Christ, we are called to loo...  Read More

With technology being so pervasive in our culture, there is an infinite amount of information available to us 24 hours a day right in the palm of our hands. This convenience can be an incredible asset to our workflow, our education, our entertainment and even our daily quiet time with the Lord and our corporate worship on the weekends. The ability to open up a Bible app and swipe over to the scrip...  Read More