Chris Boggess – Page 2 – NorthStar Church Blog

Digging Deeper – Never Stop Praying

Chris Boggess on November 28, 2025

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ²“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. ³A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ ⁴The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, ⁵but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. ⁷Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Luke 18:1-8 (NLT)

Always be joyful. ¹⁷Never stop praying. ¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

NEVER STOP PRAYING

We have plenty to pray for! When the Bible says, “Pray continually,” we might initially push back against the idea. “How can I pray all the time?” you may ask. I would answer, “Look around you.” There are unlimited prayer needs.

We live in a world full of injustice, sin, cruelty, and idolatry, maybe more so than ever before. I think there is so much of it that we face every day that we become overwhelmed. We get numb. We shut down and focus on our own little sphere, and we pray for the ones we know and see every day. We pray for ourselves and our tribe.

But isolated in our bubble is not who God calls his people to be. He names us a “kingdom of priests.” We are priests to the world, meaning we are an example of how God wants people to live on earth, but we are also representatives of the people to God. We have a whole world to pray for.

But even if you are praying only for your little spot on the globe, there is no end of things to pray for. We are powerless little things in a big world. When we pray in a way that reflects that, we tap into God’s power. Like C. S. Lewis said, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

Pray in a way that changes you. Pray in a way that changes your family. Pray and intercede for a world that is sorely in need of a savior. You will never run out of things to pray for. But we have to cultivate that constant readiness to pray. Like an Old West gunfighter with his Colt on his hip, be ready to draw on prayer at a moment’s notice. Keep your eyes open and your heart seeking what God wants.

I know people who set alarms on their phones to remind them to stop and pray. I know others who write prayers on their bathroom mirrors to start their mornings or tape them to their dashboard so they remember to pray in traffic. For most of us, taking time away from the radio and the drivers around us and taking time to pray instead might be the best idea.

Take time now to pray for your prayer life. Ask God to bring prayer to mind as you go through your day. Ask God to make your heart more prayer-focused and less complaint-focused as you turn over to him the things beyond your control, acknowledging his power in this world.

Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.

Digging Deeper – Remember Who You Were

Chris Boggess on November 27, 2025

“True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. ¹⁸Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 (NLT)

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)

REMEMBER WHO YOU WERE

I remember hearing someone say, “Goldfish only have a 3-second memory.” The statement encourages the hearer to move on past failures and forget about them. But the big problem is that the statement is not true. Thousands of studies show that goldfish actually have excellent memories. They can learn tasks and repeat them weeks and months later, something that I often find difficult. I try to remember what I changed my password to last week, but a goldfish would probably remember.

God wants his people to remember things. When he brings his people out of Egypt and begins to give them the commandments to live by, he keeps sprinkling throughout the commands the reminder that they were once in bondage, that they were enslaved, that they were foreigners. God even institutes a celebration to commemorate the release from Egypt (Passover, Leviticus 23). But God doesn’t tell them to remember only the release from bondage; he wants them to remember that he sustained them even in difficult circumstances.

Remembering is a part of thanksgiving. God wants us to remember not just the blessings but the hardships. The times when we question if God is even there. When I look back on those times with hindsight, I can see God at work. But if you are in that kind of place right now, I pray that God will begin to show you, in your memories, how he has brought you through other hardships, to remind you that he is with you in this one.

On the same note, if we don’t take time to remember who we are and what God has done, we can fall back into bad habits and ungratefulness. George Santayana warned, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” When we look back with thanksgiving on what God has brought us through, we are more likely to lean on him in the present. We are more likely to trust him with our future.

Remembering the hardships we endured cultivates empathy and mercy for others. Looking back on those bad things gives us insight into who we are. I love the C. S. Lewis quote: “You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much, are what make us perfect.” I don’t like the blows of the chisel when they are happening, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look back and appreciate what they’ve brought to my life.

Take a moment. Take a couple of breaths and think back. Thank God for the undeserved blessings he has bestowed on you. Give thanks to God for the times that he brought you through hardship. Let your past with God change your attitude in the present and your hope for the future.

Digging Deeper – God Gives Different Answers

Chris Boggess on November 26, 2025

“For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.”

Psalm 84:11 (NLT)

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. ²This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. ³So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

John 11:1-3; 21-22; 32 (NLT)

GOD GIVES DIFFERENT ANSWERS

I don’t know about you, but when I ask for something in prayer, I usually have a pretty good idea of what that answer will look like. My brain has already done the hard work for God and worked out all the details. There is no need for God to do anything but act. What I fail to take into account is that God is not trying to tell the world (and me) the story of “Chris.” God is telling his own story by how he works in the world and in our lives.

Take the story of Lazarus’s resurrection. Mary and her sister Martha knew exactly how God should work in their brother’s sickness. They had seen the formula time and again in Jesus’s ministry: Jesus shows up, and the sick are healed. The problem for them is that Jesus is telling a bigger story.

I love that when we read the two sisters’ greeting to Jesus, they use the same phrase: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” I think they had said this to each other repeatedly in the days after Lazarus’s death. It seems like a practiced statement. Mary, the emotionally passionate of the two sisters, throws herself at Jesus’s feet in despair and anguish. But Martha, who gets labeled as the less spiritual sister because of the Luke 10:38–42 account (take a second and flip over to it if you don’t know what I am talking about), seems to imply in her greeting that she knows Jesus has something in mind: “I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” And Jesus tells her what he is about to do, though she doesn’t quite understand the scope of his word in the moment.

When we pray, we must do so with the understanding that the story being told in our lives is God’s, not ours. When we get a different answer than we expected, when we wait and wait for God to move, or when we get a firm no from God, we have to trust that God is doing something to further his own story, and we can trust that the story is good.

Take a moment now and pray. Ask God to use you to tell his story. Ask him to do the things in your life that will bring him glory, because that is a prayer we can trust he will always answer with a “yes.”

Digging Deeper – Fruit in Season

Chris Boggess on November 25, 2025

“But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

Luke 1:20 (NLT)

Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT)

FRUIT IN SEASON

There is a tree that grows in the desert in Israel that is known as the acacia. These are trees with deep roots that grow near desert waterways known as wadis. Most of the time, acacia trees look dead. Anyone passing by would see a lifeless tree, a gnarled stick coming up from the rocks and sand of the desert floor. They can stand seemingly dormant for many years. Then the rains come to the highlands, and water rushes suddenly down the wadi where the tree grows. And it comes to life! Leaves sprout, and the tree that seemed lifeless becomes the picture of health and vigor.

When we read Psalm 1, we might read “bearing fruit each season” as representing a specific cycle of renewal and flourishing. We think of Georgia seasons, with predictable cycles. But for the acacia tree, the season is when the water comes, and that is when God sends the rain. Some acacia trees spend years waiting for the water to flow, and the seeds can wait for centuries.

God’s answers to our prayers will happen “at the proper time.” We like things to happen in our time. If Google gave us answers “at the proper time,” no one would use it. God is not Google. Sometimes we have to wait.

While the tree waits, it sends its roots deeper, because when the water comes, it is often a full-on flood, washing everything in its path away. The deep roots sustain it in the dry times, seeking the water deep beneath the surface. And they anchor it when the rain comes rushing so it can hold its ground.

So while you wait for God’s timing, live out verse 2 of the psalm: “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.” Sink your roots deep in God’s word. Those roots will sustain you while you wait for answers from God. And those roots that you sink deep into Scripture will anchor you when God answers.

Take some time today to open up and meditate on God’s word. Sink your roots deep while you wait for God’s season.

Digging Deeper – Taking No for an Answer

Chris Boggess on November 24, 2025

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

James 4:1-4 (NLT)

“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

1 John 5:14-15 (NLT)

TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER

The first recorded use of the phrase “Don’t take no for an answer” was in the book My Early Life by Winston Churchill, published in 1930. But the sentiment behind the phrase is as old as humanity. The Bible barely gets three chapters in before we find Adam and Eve deciding that they won’t take no for an answer. And this is where the problem lies. Sometimes “no” is the best answer.

There is a strange book by Flann O’Brien called The Third Policeman. Brian O’Nolan actually wrote the book, but that isn’t important here. The book is odd, but it does have a few interesting conversations. One of them is with a character who has decided that “No is a better word than yes.” The man had looked at his life, weighed his sins, and realized that his “yesses” had led to them. He decided that if he wanted to avoid sin, he must always answer “no.” Since he couldn’t know the outcome of saying yes, he avoided the consequences by always saying no.

I would agree with him that many of my past sins were the result of a “yes” that should have been a “no.” However, some of the greatest joys in my life have come from “yesses.” I said “yes” on my wedding day, and that continues to pay off in my favor. I said “yes” to the offer of salvation and will have eternity to appreciate the outcome of that “yes.” The problem is not the answer I give but my finite wisdom that informs it.

God, however, sees all the proper outcomes, so we can trust that he not only knows what the result of his “yes” or “no” will be, but also sees the heart that is asking and our motives. With those two things in mind, we can trust our loving Father to give us the right answer, as we see him do over and over again in Scripture. Then we can trust and take “no” for an answer.

Take a few moments today, pray, and ask God to give you the peace to take no for an answer from him. Ask him to show you clearly the places where your heart needs to change. Ask him to renew your trust that he is doing the right thing, and ask him to guide you to the right thing too.

Digging Deeper – Forgive and Be Forgiven

Chris Boggess on September 12, 2025

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ¹⁵but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15

DEEDS NOT WORDS

Today, as we approach the act of forgiveness, I see this more as a reminder than a new idea. We all know, logically, that holding on to past grievances doesn’t impact the person who committed them nearly as much as it affects our own lives. Refusing to forgive keeps us stuck in the moment of the hurt, while the other person is probably not even thinking about it.

For that very reason, I think Matthew 5:23–24 is so thought-provoking. It is easy for us to forget the things we’ve done to others, but in this passage Jesus tells us to be mindful of what others might have against us. That is not at all how we usually think. Thinking this way requires intentional self-evaluation. As we looked at earlier in the week, we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions. So when we realize that someone has something against us, it’s easy to excuse our actions by saying what we did “wasn’t that bad” and that the person holding it against us is the one in the wrong. But these verses don’t take right and wrong into account at all. Jesus is only talking about the fractured relationship—and He says it’s on us to try to fix it before we point our hearts heavenward. He is pointing us back to the “Love God, Love People” command. He is reminding us of the connection between our relationships with others and our relationship with God.

Then Matthew 6 reinforces that same connection. If we want to have a right and forgiving relationship with God, we must cultivate that same kind of relationship with the people around us.

We all know we need God’s forgiveness, but sometimes we also feel like we need to forgive God. Not because He has wronged us—He hasn’t—but because in our pain, disappointment, or waiting, it can feel that way. I know I’ve had times when I consciously or unconsciously felt God wasn’t treating me fairly. I was waiting for an answer or struggling through a painful season, and I didn’t like it. Forgiveness, even in this sense, is a choice: to let go of that ill feeling (whether justified or not) and move forward in trust.

Take a moment and evaluate your own life. Are there people you need to forgive? Are there people you need to ask for forgiveness? Are there areas of your life where you need God’s forgiveness? Are there places where you are holding a grudge against Him? Ask God to reveal those things to you, and take time today to make them right.

Digging Deeper – Deeds Not Words

Chris Boggess on September 11, 2025

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

Matthew 21:28-32

DEEDS NOT WORDS

When I was a kid, a movie came out called Megaforce. I wouldn’t recommend it—unless you’re in the mood for a cheesy action flick. Before its release in the summer of 1982, I remember seeing ads for Megaforce on the back covers of many comics (I was an avid comic reader). The ad showed a tall, muscular guy with his arm around a girl in a red dress. All around him were cool, futuristic military vehicles with guns blazing. It looked amazing to my teenage self! Written across the top of the ad in simulated neon letters was the phrase: “DEEDS NOT WORDS.”

The movie turned out to be disappointing, but that phrase really stuck in my head. I thought it was cool.

If we want to build a relationship with anyone, what we do is more important than what we say. It’s usually only in dysfunctional relationships that words are given priority over actions. If someone claims to be your friend but constantly makes excuses not to spend time with you, and never does anything you ask, you’d be foolish to keep calling them your friend.

Our relationship with God works the same way. If we attend church, recite all the right words, sing every worship song in the correct key, and take notes on the app during the message—but then live like the devil for the rest of the week—our actions and words are not aligned. No matter how well we talk about God, it’s our actions that give us away.

Eugene Peterson put it this way: “Each act of obedience by the Christian is a modest proof, unequivocal for all its imperfection, of the reality of what he attests.” Or, in the words of the old children’s song: “Obedience is the very best way to show what you believe.”

What do your DEEDS say about your relationship with God? Do you spend time with Him? Do you make obedience to Him a priority? Take a moment to pray and ask God to show you where you’re falling short—and then take action to address it.

Digging Deeper – Faith Over Time

Chris Boggess on September 10, 2025

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

Hebrews 11:8

FAITH OVER TIME

We talked yesterday about Abraham’s relationship with God and his communication with Him. Today, we’ll look at a different aspect of that relationship. The keyword is relationship. Abraham didn’t view God as just a force in his life, nor did he see God as a vending machine into which he deposited worship and then received whatever he desired. God was a living personality with whom Abraham interacted on a daily basis.

Eugene Peterson, in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, summed up the way many people think about faith today:

“Too often we think of religion as a far-off, mysteriously run bureaucracy to which we apply for assistance when we feel the need. We go to a local branch office and direct the clerk (sometimes called a pastor) to fill out our order for God. Then we go home and wait for God to be delivered to us according to the specifications that we have set down. But that is not the way it works. And if we thought about it for two consecutive minutes, we would not want it to work that way.”

We want God on our terms and our timeline. When He doesn’t present Himself that way or fails to meet our deadlines, we question what He’s up to. In relationships, that kind of behavior—though common—is not healthy. We often judge others’ actions (including God’s) and assign motives to those actions. The irony is that we don’t judge ourselves that way. We look at our own motives and use them to justify our actions, however wrong they may be. We say things like, “I didn’t mean to,” as if good intentions erase the impact our actions have on others.

Throughout the Bible, we see people questioning God. When Job questioned God’s motive behind his suffering, God responded, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)—essentially saying, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” In Isaiah, God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8), reminding us that His motives are often beyond our understanding.

With Abraham, we see someone willing to trust that God is doing the right thing even when he doesn’t understand it. He trusts when God tells him to move. He trusts when God promises him a son. He even trusts when God asks him to place that son on an altar. Abraham trusted God on God’s terms. When things didn’t make sense, he looked back at years of God’s faithfulness. That kind of faith doesn’t arrive overnight like a Prime delivery—it takes time and work, just like any lasting relationship.

Healthy relationships are not built in a moment but over time. Abraham saw that his obedience continually led him back to God’s faithfulness. Take a moment to examine your own life. Is the same true for you? Can you see times when your obedience to God has been met with His faithfulness? Is there an area where you’re questioning whether God has your best interests in mind? Go to Him and tell Him.

Digging Deeper – Communication

Chris Boggess on September 9, 2025

And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” ⁵And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:3-6

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

James 4:8-10

COMMUNICATION

At the beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, we see story after story of people going against God, and God correcting their behavior. From Adam and Eve to the flood to the Tower of Babel, no one seems able to maintain a relationship with God. Then we meet Abraham.

Abraham was a rich man with herds and servants. He was doing well for himself. Then God called him to pick up stakes and move hundreds of miles away. God made promises to Abraham, and Abraham made the astonishing choice to move just as God asked him. That is big faith.

Every relationship we have begins with an act of faith. From the playground to the boardroom to the wedding altar, every relationship requires faith in the other person. For that faith to continue, there must be communication and action.

Abraham’s relationship with God began when God communicated with him. However, as the story unfolds, Abraham also communicates with God. He tells God his longing for a child. Didn’t God already know that Abraham wanted that? Hadn’t God already promised him offspring? Yet God doesn’t get angry; He encourages Abraham.

God wants us to share our concerns, desires, and even our sins with Him. We know He already knows those things—He knows us better than we know ourselves—but He wants us to share them anyway. It demonstrates our faith in Him. In Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, C. S. Lewis puts it this way: “Even an intimate human friend is ill-used if we talk to him about one thing while our mind is on another.”

Communicating honestly with God and going to Him first when we need Him honors our relationship with Him. The ones we are closest to should always be the ones we want to share our joys and sorrows with first. When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.

Take a minute now and examine yourself. Are there things you need to talk to God about? Are there fears, desires, or secret sins you need to bring before Him? Not because He is unaware, but because you have a relationship with Him. Be honest with Him.

Digging Deeper – Love God, Love People

Chris Boggess on September 8, 2025

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36-40

“We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

1 John 4:19-21

LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE

A long time ago, I received some good advice. I’ve heard this sentiment repeated often, but I’m pretty sure the first person to share it with me was Mr. Bassitt, my leadership class teacher at St. Albans High School. (I know—another SAHS story—but I learned a lot about life in high school.) He said you should pay attention to the way people treat those who are serving them. The way you treat the waitstaff at a restaurant or the cashier at the store shows how you really feel about people. That’s why, he said, taking someone out to eat is a great first date: not only do you get to sit and talk with someone for an extended period, but you also get to see how they interact with the servers.

Through the years, I’ve seen this play out over and over. Perhaps it’s just my perception, but when I see someone treat a server poorly, I assume they don’t like people very much. However, I think it goes deeper than that. It reveals the default feelings people have about others. One behavior reveals another.

Jesus and John both point to this same idea in the scripture above: one action or attitude reveals another. The way we love people relates directly to the way we love God. This seems very important, because one is evident to those around us while the other is easier to hide—even from ourselves.

I think we can fool ourselves about how we really feel. I remember going to lunch with a guy who wanted to intern with me for the summer. As we were eating, he told me he was a “people person” and listed all the clubs and groups he was part of at college. But the only time he spoke to our waitress was to order his food and ask for a drink refill. When it came time to pay, he said I shouldn’t leave a full tip because the waitress was “scowly.” Apparently, in his book, smiling was a requirement for a tip.

As we headed back to the church, I told him what I had observed. He seemed surprised. At first, he was defensive and thought I was being unfair: “I told you I really am a people person!” To his credit, as he started to verbalize his thoughts, he realized he wasn’t treating people the way he should—unless they had something to offer him. At the same time, he expected others to treat him well. He ended up not interning for me, but years later he contacted me to thank me for that lesson.

Like a thermometer when you’re sick, how you treat people around you is a good way to diagnose whether your relationship with God is healthy. Take a minute to check your spiritual temperature. How are you showing love to those around you—both the familiar and the unfamiliar? Take a moment to pray and ask God to show you where you’re missing the mark in your relationships, and ask Him to strengthen your relationship with Him.

And as always, don’t forget to tip your waitress.