Embracing the Wounded
One Heart at a Time

DAVE & JANET WERNLI

A Sabbath Rest without Guilt

I admit it. Every time I hear a word about taking a Sabbath rest I get guilted, because I usually catch up on household and ministry work on Sundays. And I get stressed, trying to figure out how I’m going get everything done in 6 days, when I can’t get everything done as it is […]

Judgement vs Discernment

We hear all the time, “Don’t judge!” But, on the other hand, we’re supposed to promote righteousness, aren’t we? And not condone sinful lifestyles, right? So how do we do one without the other? It turns out one is Judgement and the other is Discernment. There’s a difference. When the Bible says “Don’t judge or […]

We Stand with Israel

We hope you will forgive the urgency we feel this week to deviate from our normal blog emphasis on our identity and destiny in Christ and post instead an article in solidarity with Israel. We are not Jewish by any stretch, but the Jews are the people of God. We stand with Israel. There’s a […]

Don’t Give Up. Surrender!

“What?!? That title doesn’t even make sense. Give Up and Surrender are the same thing!” Are they? According to Google: “Surrender” means “cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority.” “Give up” means “cease making an effort; resign oneself to failure.” Surrender and giving up are two very different things. God […]

Living Strategically -- Hand Holding Compass

Living Strategically

What does living strategically mean? So often we just drift through life doing what we must. Go to work. Pay the bills. Put out the fires. Fix the car. Clean the house. Don’t get me wrong, those are good things that all have to get done. And we shouldn’t complain about them. We should do […]

Finishing Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a process a lot like grieving. Sometimes, like when the sin against us is horrific or ongoing (or both), we really are grieving a death. Maybe a death of our innocence, or something that was stolen from us. Perhaps the death of something that now will never be. Perhaps the death of a […]

Forgiveness & Restitution

Ok, so say my neighbor Jon borrows my car, and when he brings it back, he says, “Thanks for letting me borrow your car. I got into a little fender-bender, but I got it repaired and re-painted.” He shows where the dent was, and you can’t tell. The body-shop did a great job. He’s repented, […]

Forgiveness & Woundedness

Forgiving someone and being healed from the wound they gave us are two different things. Say we go to the gun range together. I’m handling my weapon carelessly and accidentally shoot you in the shoulder. You can forgive me instantly, but a gunshot wound takes three or four months to heal. Suppose I see you […]

The Blessing of Suffering

Brother Yun, a severely persecuted house church pastor in China, was talking prayer requests with Western Christians. (His story is told in the phenomenal book, The Heavenly Man. Totally recommended reading!) They said they’d earnestly pray that the Lord would end their government’s persecution of Chinese Christians. “On no, don’t pray that!” Brother Yun responded. […]

Dependence vs Responsibility

So much truth in the Word of God consists of two opposite truths that hold each other in tension. They may even appear to conflict at first, but they really don’t conflict with each other – they complete each other. One brings balance to the other and vice versa. We’re going to talk about one […]

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