The unspoken things will break your heart, and rarely will those untouched by their confusing events know how to help someone else through them. I speak of mental disorders specifically, but every person is touched by some unspoken word that cannot be formed into a prayer request. Having spent more time that I ever …
Welcoming Leviathan
The description of the fire-breathing dragon in Job has always intrigued me. You can find it in Job 41. The King James renders its name “leviathan,” and the end of the chapter calls him the king over all the children of pride. This is the very last thing God describes before Job declares his repentance. …
Running Toward the Physician
Our newest, furry addition underwent surgery for several issues last week. We brought Kai home from the vet sporting his cone of shame and with a lot of pain medication. When the pain meds ran out, he was a wreck, finding ways to scrape his wounds and lick them, even while still sporting his cone. …
Prioritizing Worship When Life Is Hard….And When It Is Good.
If you have ever entered church, barely putting one foot in front of another because of the swirl of out-of-your-control circumstances going on in your life, you have prioritized worship over fear of the unknown. If you have ever chosen to make your reason for going to church God alone, amid church hurt, you have …
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I Nearly Died in the Wilderness
Birthdays have a way of making you reflect on your life. The bigger the number, the fewer birthdays are left to have in the future. This week, I thought that with how close Jesus’s return is, this very well could be the last one I celebrate. If so, what would I want to share as …
Life and Death: The Power of Words
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue:and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 My two oldest daughters were just discovering the fun of makeup and beauty products when we traveled the country gathering support for missions many years ago. A young, gorgeous Pastor’s wife in Washington …
Worship: In Marriage
A recent conversation with a missionary with more than three decades of experience discussed the sad state of Christian marriages. More than anything, he has seen marital conflict derail and destroy those who came to share the Gospel in his country as new missionaries. Their inability to solve conflict sent them home, many of them …
Radical Reconciliation Before Worship
Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 1 Corinthians 6:7b Joni Eareckson Tada, who has spent more than fifty years in a wheelchair after a diving accident, often reminds her listeners, “God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” While she refers to …
Worship: Loving God with All My Mind
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true…think on these things. Philippians 4:8 Who has walked through the valley of depression without learning a few lessons about how thoughts and emotions intertwine? Anxiety, panic attacks, and highly stressful situations can also teach us a similar lesson. It may seem like emotions are in the driver’s seat, …
Hope’s Song in Suffering Seasons
Here in northeast Ohio, fiery autumn leaves litter the ground, as if the earth exhaled a heavy sigh and released them from their seasonal labor. Soon, every deciduous tree will lift empty limbs toward the sky, awaiting the icy, cold shroud of winter. For months, the darkness of winter will fall early, and most …
His Song in the Night 