One of the things my children love to do is go on walks. Going for a walk usually means them taking a scooter, or balance bike, or some other toy to ride through our neighborhood as they think about a destination. Recent destinations include a pond, or a certain house with Halloween decorations, or a little book nook. It never ceases to amaze me how different my two older children are. My daughter...  Read More

As I have discipled countless men over the years in areas of struggling with sin, and as I have been discipled by others in the same way, I have recognized a pattern of tension that exists in our counsel. Many will say that the way you die to your flesh and deny the passions of your former self is to experience the love of God for you. As God’s love is poured out into your heart, you reciprocate t...  Read More

Be Still: Patience is a VirtueI love to hunt. Some of my earliest memories are my dad, my uncle, and myself all heading out into the field to hunt deer in the winter or turkey in the spring. Those were some great times of fun and fellowship. However, they were also great times for learning life lessons. The majority of the lessons learned center around stillness. Stillness involves exactly what yo...  Read More

I have been thinking a lot lately about the beautiful simplicity, and also the great difficulty, in living a gospel-centered life. On the one hand, the calling on our lives is very clear and quite uncomplicated — we are called to remain in Jesus and find life and contentment in Him. On the other hand, our restless hearts consistently wander away from His presence and drift away from our true iden...  Read More

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