All Things New with Jeff Ackenback

Everything begins with a fresh start. :) 

In the end, if you do your best to live a life loving God and others, there will be peace.  In the meantime, do your best to bring that peace to your life and the lives of others through the way you …

Carry the hope and love from Christmas all year, especially to others.

Cosmic Christmas is an extended version of the Christmas story, but told from the angel Gabriel's perspective.  

Most people have heard of "Armageddon" (the final Biblical battle, not the Bruce Willis movie...although it is also good), but few realize that it's over before it starts.  In one line, John describe…

For John, seeing Jesus again was beyond description...and then he immediately was also shown the perfection of heaven.  Much of Revelation is confusing, but when you look at it in those terms...a man…

John was the last of the original disciples.  He'd seen everyone he knew and loved die around him, and as he sat alone in exile, he probably had many questions about his life.  Jesus, though, showed …

There are two ways to look at doing good: 1. No good deed goes unpunished...in which you feel like doing good is a chore or something that simply doesn't even work; 2. No good deed goes wasted...no m…

In the end, we either choose to do good or choose not to...to help or not to help.  Obviously there are a lot of things that go into each decision, and it isn't possible to help everyone...but we sho…

Finding common ground with someone doesn't mean you suddenly believe/live/act like them.  It doesn't even mean you think they're right.  It just means that you understand they are a person, that how …

Jesus called a tax collector to be a disciple, which can seem strange enough to us...but back then, tax collectors were considered scum, below human.  In order to do good, you first must see people a…

Everyone knows that it's better to "do good" in the world, but the problem comes to how we see each individual.  If you see someone as just a number, an opponent, a problem....then problems arise.  H…

Fear of success doesn't sound like something "normal," but it really is.  Because it's not the success itself that can be scary, but what comes next.  "Will they always expect it?" "Will I have to do…

Everyone fears loss of some kind, but we often deny it...even run from it.  It's hard to appear helpless...but the longer we deny that fear, the worse it gets as it goes from loss, to doubt, to even …

There will be times in our lives where it feels like the odds are stacked against us, like it's not worth it to even try.  However, trying is succeeding, and as long as there is life there is hope. 

Hardly anyone admits to hating someone else, but our actions and words often betray us.  In order to truly know God, we must know His love, AND also show that love to everyone.  Seriously.  Literally…

One of the most common fears is the fear of the unknown.  We fear what might happen, what people might do....what's out there "in the dark."  There is always a way through, though...a way to continue…

The baseline for our faith should be to treat others as we want to be treated, but we live in a world where that doesn't happen as often as it should.  As Christians, we should do our best to follow …

I have no idea if people ever read these, but I want to take the time to finish the Beatrice anecdote.  I missed her first birthday, BUT a couple of weeks later, I was able to see her first steps on …

Often, we look for ways to "pass the buck" and avoid responsibility.  However, as a great philosopher once said, "with great power, comes great responsibility." If we claim to follow Jesus, then we a…