Goodbye isn’t the end
Goodbye—is there a worse word in the English language? As I type this, I am surrounded by moving boxes and packing tape. Our family is preparing to move to a new state after ten years in a lovely small town. This is a home where I started my marriage and brought home four babies; I […]
Prayer 101: A basic conversation guide for a deeper prayer life
A couple years back, someone told me about a theory that says there are three basic types of conversations: Me/Me conversations: A conversation that involves me bringing up something about me in order to talk more about me. You/Me conversations: A conversation that involves me bringing up something about you in order to talk more […]
Let’s make heaven crowded!
Recently, every member of my family got sick. It was an awful, helpless feeling watching my kids burning with fevers and coughing so hard they threw up. It was made even worse when I also fell ill. As I tried to soothe my wailing toddler in the middle of the night, I felt like wailing […]
It’s all God’s grace!
We are forgiven and accepted by God because of the finished work of Jesus. It’s all God’s grace. And yet, God’s grace isn’t reduced to the final judgment and our salvation. Everything in our lives is based on God’s grace. It’s all a gift from him. That includes all our abilities and talents to do […]
Don’t be a troll
Do you know about troll farms? Until recently, I lived in blissful ignorance. But then I learned how thousands and thousands of people in countries like China, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey, Russia (and more!) are hired for the sole purpose of stirring up dissent on the Internet. And—yikes!—they are often paid by their governments. It’s hard […]
Jesus was a baby … for YOU
When you hear the name Jesus, what picture pops into your head? Maybe you envision a famous painting of a Caucasian-looking Jesus that you saw hanging in your church entryway growing up. Maybe you picture him as a Middle Eastern man or as a cartoony image from pop culture. Whatever you envision, Jesus likely appears […]
If not now, when?
A few years back, I heard a pastor say most people don’t reject Jesus. They just never get around to following him. Each day comes and goes, and with it are the “going to dos” of the day. Unless we’re careful, we’ll say day after day, month after month—and finally before the throne of God—“I […]
“Because you say so”
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and […]