The end of one year and the start of another is a great time to take stock of our lives. We look back over where we’ve been and set priorities for where we want to go in the coming year. We make lists, and goal, and plans. So did you achieve everything you wanted to […]
How many of us have cried out in the midst of suffering, “God where are you?” This side of eternity, we don’t know why some things happen. We can’t explain the purpose of suffering, or why really bad things sometimes happen to really good people. Instead of giving us perfect knowledge, God gave us His […]
Joseph was a dreamer, but not in the way you might think. Joseph was a hard-working, God-honoring carpenter from Nazareth. He was engaged to a young Jewess named Mary. And through a series of dreams, God directed Joseph to become the designated dad of the Son of God. Joseph’s dreams help us understand God’s redemptive […]
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, […]