Strengthening Faith, Love, and Hope
In C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensie children receive gifts from Father Christmas in Narnia: Peter gets a sword and shield, Susan gets a bow, arrows, and a horn that summons help whenever it is blown, and Lucy gets a dagger and a small, diamond vial filled with a … Continue reading What was Lucy’s potion made of?
I received some good news recently, and it was great! It made me so happy; my emotions began soaring, and the whole landscape of my world seemed brighter. I felt inspired and alive, so naturally, I did what you probably would have done in that moment—I threw up a quick prayer of thanks. I said … Continue reading Ten minutes before the bad times end
How do you define a blessing? When you pray for God’s blessing in your life what are you seeking and anticipating? Peace? Rest? Healthy relationships? Prosperity on all fronts? If God’s goal for our lives were peace, ease, and prosperity then I would agree that those things would be His ideal blessings for us. However, … Continue reading Do we truly understand what a ‘blessing’ is?
The extremism of blatantly white supremacist, neo-Nazi activity, such as occurred this past week in Charlottesville, can potentially lull people into thinking that it is just that—blatantly extreme activity that does not reflect the normal state of affairs in America. Granted, the extreme fringe is never an accurate representation of the whole, but the mere … Continue reading America’s original sin (a thought on Charlottesville)
At Grace Church we just finished a church-wide 90-day reading campaign where we read all of the words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The unique thing about this reading plan was that we only read Jesus’ words—we ignored the entire surrounding context. I know. I know. We’re not supposed to read the Bible … Continue reading Meanwhile we groan
