Remember all those Sunday School lessons, Vacation Bible Schools, retreats, mission trips, and worship services? Their purpose was to help shape and mature us as Christ followers so that now we can demonstrate what it looks like to be people of peace, grace, love, and...
04039 – Deterrent to Genuine Happiness
The greatest deterrent to genuine happiness - believing that if our circumstances were different, then we would be happy. Paradoxically, deep contentment finds us when we lay aside the pursuit of happiness for something more...loving God and others. May we be caught...
03820 – Grief and Love
That grief that lingers in your heart, or for some is intense and ever present...it's there because you loved, gave and received love, else grief would not exist. So, in your sorrow, may you experience the sweetness of knowing you loved deeply, now a gift that cannot...
03723 – Still, Small Voice
"Be afraid, be very afraid," say the loud, noisy voices around us. "Do not fear, do not be afraid, for I am with you," says the still, small voice within us. Sometimes still and small is really good, really good indeed.
03567 – If I Go…
Right now, there are people literally considering leaving their homes to gather with others for worship, wondering: -If I go, can I stand or sit in that area of the sanctuary where we sat together for 18 years before his passing without sobbing so loud I'll distract...
03562 – You are Equipped
[God speaking:]OK child, you are equipped with everything you need to partner with me in the healing and renewal of this world. I've shaped you through all your life events up until this very moment for this purpose. So move forward with confidence, trusting my work...
03534 – False Self vs. True Self
Our false selves counsel us to hide our true selves behind our performance, our caring for others, our intellectualism, our social savvy, our finances, our articulate presentations, our religiosity, or our skepticism. But our true selves long to see and be seen, to...
03378 – God Hears/Accepts our Prayers
Remember when you thought God didn’t hear/accept your prayers unless you said or thought them in just the “correct” way? Then you woke up and realized God cares more about you and the cry of your heart than about any prescribed formula for how to pray. God’s Love is...
03290 – The Wild Son of God
Despite ongoing attempts to capture, tame and domesticate the wild Son of God, Jesus the Christ remains at large, wreaking havoc in stale, lifeless religion while enlivening the hearts and firing the imaginations of all who are even slightly open to him. Thanks be to...
03212 – Spotting Jesus Followers
Hey, if you aren’t much into religion, you may not know how to recognize followers of Jesus. If you are interested and have a curious mind, I can tell you that Jesus himself gave a direct, simple way to spot them. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples...