The bottoms of your shoes tell a tale. Examine them: the soles are worn down on the inside or the outside, at the front or at the back. They show how you walk. They show what you compensate for. They show the way your foot moves as you stride. And as you wear them, the sole of your shoe begins
Why do we argue? Is it so that we can win a competition, and feel the adrenaline rush of victory? Is it to make another person feel ashamed of themselves? Is it to make sure other people know what we support, or don’t support? Is it because if we don’t, the other side will be the only ones talking? Facebook,
What’s stronger: wood or steel? You don’t even have to think about it, do you? Steel is a stronger construction material than wood. Steel is harder than wood, so of course, it’s the stronger of the two. But wait… My husband and I were hiking at Tallulah Gorge, and I stopped to take this photo. A steel cable that once held up
What is justice? The theme of justice is pervasive in the Bible but also is widely misunderstood by its readers. Commonly, people depict justice as a harsh judgment or deserved punishment, portraying God as the ultimate punisher or executioner. But if we look closely in the Bible, this is not how God practices or brings about justice to the world.
When everything is turned inside-out, a jumble of items cascading from a moving box or a partially rearranged room in upheaval, then you can picture a bit of the chaos of a liminal space or season. Rites of passage move people from one stage, through a liminal stage, and into another stage. You are not yet baptized; you move through
What challenges are you facing today? What circumstances cause you to question God’s goodness, power, and presence? Take time to bring these to God. Lay them at his feet. Become aware of his presence. Let God minister to you. Let his nearness encourage your heart. Allow his Spirit and Word to speak to your need. Receive his correction and guidance.
God is always at work in our lives – loving, teaching, guiding, and correcting. The Parable of the Sower uses the metaphor of seed and soil to help us understand why we aren’t always able to hear God’s voice or put what God shows us into practice. Forming a close relationship with Jesus is a two way street – he
I come from a long line of artists. My grandfather was an artist; my mother and sister are artists. I am NOT an artist. I enjoy making jewelry, but it would be a huge stretch to call what I do art. I’m convinced my sister stole my artistic gene. She paints and creates pottery. She works with metal and textiles.
My sister, after years away from the faith, came home to Christ in the Lutheran church. The transition back into the church world, while it was welcomed, still had its moments. She’d dealt with a lot in her life and carried a lot of shame. As a Lutheran she took communion every Sunday but she noticed that communion just made
Are American clergy suffering a crisis of faith? From megachurch pastor and quintessential church cool guy Rob Bell to Seventh-Day Adventist pastor-turned-atheist-for-a-year Ryan Bell, 2014 was a doozy (the topic even emerged as a central theme in Steven King’s new novel Revival). From Rob Bell: “All of these things that people think dropped out of the sky by divine edict
Scripture Focus: I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Isaiah 28:17 (NLT) While the classical idea of justice, giving each person their due, is important, it only scratches the surface of what justice actually means. The biblical sense of justice, what we call righteousness, goes much deeper. It’s easy for Christians
In my previous article I made the claim saying yes to forgiveness is saying yes to God. I underscore that claim: We are most like Christ when we are doing what he did in his extravagant gift of love on Calvary…forgiving. I have a friend, Mary, a former Roman Catholic nun, who works as a program director for a Methodist
Scripture Focus: But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will
Recently This Week magazine reported an amazing story of a Pakistani election commissioner admitting that he had participated in what he called the “rigging” of a parliamentary election. “We converted losers into winners,” said Liaquat. He confessed that he couldn’t sleep after what he called “stabbing the country in the back.” He resigned and was arrested. (March 1,2024, p. 9)
Scripture Focus: So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no
Years ago I came across a phrase that grabbed my attention. It was a season of my life when I was paying close attention to my own “spiritual state,” and as a result, seeking to develop particular spiritual disciplines. The phrase, a long obedience in the same direction, comes from Friedrich Nietzsche. This was his statement: “The essential thing in
There is no if about death. The question is more accurately put, “When a person dies, shall he or she live again?” Not one line of the New Testament was written… not one sentence was penned apart from the conviction that He of whom these things were being written had conquered death and was alive forever. Death is inevitable, and
“In the crushing, in the pressing You are making new wine In the soil I now surrender You are breaking new ground…” New Wine by Hillsong Worship My story of crushing and pressing really began in the middle of the pandemic. That’s when I gradually realized that the seminary training I received no longer aligned with reality. The U.S. Church
Scripture Focus: Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or
The preaching must have been powerful. In a recent cartoon, as he leads his parents from worship, Dennis the Menace confronts the preacher. “What happens when everyone stops sinning? What will you do?” While we are not strangers to sin, Dennis stuns us with his statement and questions. We may not reflect or talk much about it. Yet, the great
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