We can chose Jesus' side, which allows no divisions. Everyone is part of us. Or we can chose the world's side, a life of constantly deciding who is in and who is out, whom we should love and whom we can marginalize, and struggling to maintain our place on the right side of countless lines we …
The Root of our Problem
Pride takes many forms. There's vanity, the love of self. There's a sense of entitlement, impatience, arrogance, hubris, desiring relevance or appreciation, incessant dissatisfaction, complaining, demanding. Pride is a stern master. But God has given us an escape from pride. Listen to learn how you can be freed from pride and free to become your best self.
Spinning Our Straw Into Gold
Recently I was reminded of how the Lord can take the straw of our very imperfect efforts and spin it into kingdom gold. A child we had sponsored years ago reached out and contacted me through social media. Her story reminds me of how God takes our most ineffective actions, whether we are seeking to do kingdom work or just to know him better and hear his voice, and spins our straw into gold.
You Have to Start at the Cross
If we want to know God, good theology is important; personal experience can be sweet; but they cannot be our starting place. We cannot start with those and work our way up to the cross, the stumbling block and folly. We must start with the cross, the God's love for us perfectly reflected in Jesus on the cross.
Swinging the Pendulum Back Toward Theology
Neglecting our theology and relying on our experiences of God can leave navigating rough seas without a map.
The Importance of Being Known
The theme song from "Cheers" famously proclaimed, "You wanna where everybody knows your name." That rings true for a lot of people, it certainly does for me. We really do want to be somewhere where we are known -- we want to be accepted. Do people know you? I mean really know you, not just …
The Fruit of Slowing Down
Oh, my. It has been well over two months since I posted the last installment of thoughts on the 23rd Psalm for the Hurried Life. Time for confession. After posting regularly for a couple of months I fell silent. Not because I had nothing to say but because (wait for it...) I got too busy. …
Praying for Love
If we ever needed to know how to overcome Hate, this is the time. Hate, as vile and reprehensible as it is, cannot be out-argued, out-protested, or shouted down. Only Love can overcome Hate. Only Love can overcome Hate -- but how? Love cannot prevail by hating Hate. To overcome Hate, Love must be, like …
Hurrying Past Blessing
We are invited to a feast; to be the Lord's guest of honor. Are we too busy to attend?
Slowing Down in the Valley of the Shadow of Death
When your path takes you into the valleys of darkest shadows where danger and evil may lie in wait, what will you do?
