I was touring a ministry center where young women victimized by sex trafficking are recovering, getting an education, and learning to live as members of a family for the first time. They were robbed of their childhoods and many of them never went to school. The dining room was being decorated for what looked […]
I’m not going to lie to you: life is difficult. Jesus literally never promised us a rose garden. He promised to be with us in places like the Garden of Gethsemane and the Valley of the Shadow of death. If your life is harder than you’ve been lead to believe it should be, then whoever […]
I was talking with a woman who spent many years as a Christian in a predominantly Muslim culture. She said she learned things about Jesus she never knew living in America. There was no presumption of foundational Christian values beneath or behind or leading into relationships or business dealings or political decisions. I asked her […]
The old hymn declares, “I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory, I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love.” Is that true of us? Do we love to tell the story of Jesus? Do we “love to tell the story of unseen things above; of Jesus and […]
When it comes to spiritual conversations, what do you fear? Many Christians today fear giving offense or being rejected and that becomes a barrier to talking about our faith or talking about God’s perspective on what’s going on in the world today. The second barrier is the variety of meanings people now attach to words […]
Are you talking about me behind me back? Well, if not, why not? That’s right, I want you to gossUP. GossUP, you ask? Yes, gossUP. Think of it as an antonym for gossip – the very opposite of tattle tales or nay-saying, GossUP is talking positively about other people behind their backs. Telling stories of […]
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Remember when Mary presumed the man she saw on the first Easter morning was the gardener? Think about that. The risen Christ looked like a gardener to one of the people who knew him best in all the world. As we till the soil of life, […]
What’s your why? That’s the question a ministry consultant recently asked me. We were talking about what I do every day and he asked, “What’s your why? Everyone has a why – the real motivation behind why you do what you every day. So, what’s your why?” It’s a great question. Once you know your […]
People often ask me how I do what I do. What they mean by that is how do I find a way to get God into just about every conversation. First let me say, don’t make it harder than it is. Take what culture gives you, think about what you’re thinking about and how you’re […]
I guess I was about 14 when my dad told me he thought it was time for me to become reasonable and responsible. He described those two qualities this way: when you were a child you thought like a child, you reasoned like a child, but now you’re becoming a young woman and I expect […]