I’ve found, in my life, there are 4 ways of relating to Jesus. Although I’ve worked through different ones at different times in my life, I think it’s healthy to have all 4 active at once, to one degree or another. My regular readers know that, while, yes, I acknowledge good theology is important of […]
I think we’d all agree the church should be a safe place. We all want to feel safe when we go there. Hopefully, we’re all open to being challenged, since that’s where the growth is. But none of us want to feel judged, condemned, or threatened. For many of us, the church has not been […]
As much as we try to ignore it, we all have pain in our lives. And we all touch the pain, one way or another, for better or worse, in each other’s lives. Yet as universal as pain is, we typically don’t talk about it, for a couple of good reasons. First and most obvious, […]
Honor is the currency of the Kingdom of God. It’s different from the currency of the world. In the world, if I want to increase my bank account, I need to hoard it. I need to not let you get any. I need to keep it for myself to increase my bank account. But the […]
For a long time, I thought one of the beatitudes was, “Blessed are the peace keepers…” But that’s not what Jesus said. He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” There’s a huge difference between keeping the peace and making peace. I can speak to this because I made this mistake for decades in my own life. […]
In our society, we wear busyness like a badge of honor. How many conversations go like this: “How are you doing?” “Oh, I’m so busy!” “I know, right? Me too!” Ever have conversations where you try to out-busy the other person? Where whoever is the most busy wins? Somehow, I think we’re missing something here. […]
Our neighborhood’s polling place is the local elementary school. When I voted in the last election, I saw a huge banner hanging in the school cafeteria that read, “You Are Defined by Your Actions.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I get it. The school is trying to instill good behavior. That’s a good, […]
Thriving. Not just surviving. Is that even possible? Believe it or not, yes, it is possible. And it’s actually not that hard, which is really counter-intuitive when you’re just trying to keep your head above water in survival mode. But you can’t get there by trying harder, which, although counter-intuitive, is really good news. Thriving […]
Sleep is a spiritual practice. Honoring the sleep your body needs is a spiritual non-negotiable. It’s stewarding the temple of your body well. But honoring your season of life is also a non-negotiable. And in some seasons of life, like parenting small children, sleep seems like a luxury. These non-negotiables can be at odds with […]
So often we shame our “bad” emotions. You know the ones – sadness, fear, anger, shame, etc. And, too often, we use the Bible to do it, something God’s Word was never intended for. “Are you sad? You know James 1:2, ‘Consider pure joy when you face trials’! So just choose joy!” “Are you angry? […]