I’ve been thinking a lot about peace recently. We are in the midst of Advent, a season of hope, peace, love, and joy. It’s in this season when we proclaim the words of Isaiah 9:6-7: For a child has been born for us,a son given to us;authority rests upon his shoulders;and he is namedWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of
As important as John the Baptist was at his time, his role remains vital today. Every child of God must be adequately prepared to share the message of Jesus.
It is as if the angel Gabriel gives the message to Zechariah that his son is going to do the very thing that he (and his generation) were not doing.
Christmas reminds us God is redeeming all our little human stories into his great divine story through Jesus Christ. This is the good news of the Gospel. The nature of Jesus’s incarnation—God becoming human to be in relationship with each of us—puts us face to face with real people with real stories. When we choose to distort, ignore, or not
And you are pregnant with possibilities, eyes hath not seen nor have ear heard what God is getting ready to do through you.
And you can trust God to bring it to pass – as long as you don’t settle for less than his best.
That our Prince of Peace entered the world as a helpless child and left it as a crucified outcast tells me that God’s kingdom is one in which self-giving, vulnerable, love reigns supreme.
As unpopular as it may seem the reality of Advent is that it doesn’t need to occur in the best of circumstances. In fact, Jesus was born in the midst of terrorism and heinous acts against human life.
And the difference between those who knew Christ and those who did not was simply a matter, not of faith or confession or creed, but of fruit and character.
The utilitarian vision sees the body of a man or woman as an object which can be assessed like a car. Is it bright, new, shiny and full of power, or not? Is your body thin or fat; does it conform to the shapes we admire or not; is your hair the right texture and color or not; are your
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch And love is not a victory march It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah -Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah” Hopefully you’re having a banner year – one for the books. The stars align and everything’s coming up you. Babies smile at you, old people are grateful for you, good people respect you and bad
Humans are expert excuse-makers. “Well, GOD, the woman you gave me tempted me, so…that’s why I didn’t listen to you when you told me not to eat anything from that tree.” “I know I’m not supposed to cut my hair, but…I mean, have you seen Delilah? I’m only human.” “I’d love to follow you, Jesus, but I have family obligations and an urgent to-do list first.
Although email and video conferencing are effective tools, there is nothing quite like meeting face to face – praying, eating, laughing, planning, hoping, and learning together.
Take some time each day this week to thank God for the ways he is cleansing you.
Funny, the things we can learn from friends who do drugs. In the world of meth users, tweaking is a thing. That’s the term users use for the frantic and compulsive behaviors that tend to surface when you’re strung out on meth. Tweaking is obsession with an activity — any activity — like cleaning or searching through drawers or picking
As we enter a season of offering thanks in the United States, consider what proportion of your prayers express gratitude.
The church has always been challenged in maintaining an effective and healthy witness of the faith beyond the walls of its buildings. Every revival throughout the history of the church was started because the fellowship of believers was awakened by the Spirit to witness to their faith in public settings. This movement from the private (or inward) faith behavior to an intentional engagement
When we participate together in worship, we not only allow God to form and shape our hearts, we allow other Christians to serve as channels of God’s grace in our lives.
The bravery, chutzpah, faithfulness, love, and kindness of these women remind us that leadership in the kingdom of God comes in many forms, if only we have eyes to see.
We serve because God calls us through his Word to participate in his mission of reaching out and loving people from every nation and culture.
My experience in the Eternal City taught me three important things about evangelism.
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