Hello family, Sorry if you received our last mailing this morning (it was from months ago). Today, I was actually trying to send out a very different note! I’ve made a mistake, plenty, but today -two- I am ready to fix: Hi, my name is Raynna, and I’m the writer behind The Martyrs’ Cross. I took a break from writing here several months ago in hopes that it would help.. Read More
Belonging—it’s been on my mind recently. The way the word longing is in the midst of it. The way we respond—and don’t—when an invitation to belong comes our way. We want it, we want to belong, but…when the wholeness of the risk involved comes into view, we often hesitate, if not freeze. Paul spoke of belonging and counting the gain and even the loss of everything (including belonging) as nothing.. Read More
In all our glory or shame, our joy, pain, and even our apathy: “prayer” is the place of being known and knowing the great I Am. A most holy place has been built within us, with as much detail as Solomon’s colonnade. What is True Simply by being, a fabric of life-song weaves in perfect unison with our daily duties, our jobs, our relationships—all of our lives, all the work.. Read More
Christmas Greetings Dear Martyrs’ Cross Family! I keep thinking lately about the Scripture that says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.†(Ecclesiastes 7:2) Considering what it was the teacher was saying, I realized I used to confuse this thought with the idea.. Read More
“Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus the Messiah, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!†and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.”- 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 Hello Friends, It’s now been a little while since you last.. Read More
Do you ever have trouble relating to what the Bible says about “remembering those bound…as though you were bound with them”? Never living in a place that persecutes believers can make it hard to imagine what it would be like to not own a Bible or talk freely about what is most important to you, or much much worse. This has been the driving force behind The Martyrs’ Cross. For.. Read More
Friends, I’m writing to you today, choosing to believe that trust and hope do not disappoint, even in weakness or hardship, because it is in the power of God, and not my own. I trust today. I do not write you here, all of the below, because it is perfectly in place in my life. No, it’s not, not even after nearly 20 years of really trying. I am writing.. Read More
Hope can seem elusive. It’s shadows are long ones draped across the landscapes of our lives but often instead of perceiving an invitation to adventure chasing toward the light, we hesitate at the darkness of the shadows, as though it is a darkness to be avoided. Children and adventures seem to go hand in hand, they are good at leading the way. I often need their help. Before I ever had.. Read More
Hello friends, I missed writing here last week as my family and I were given some long awaited news that has thrown our normal rhythms into a transplant and replanting process. I’m speaking figuratively, but also literally. Our family of eight will be moving cross-country over the next few weeks! We are very grateful and excited about this as it has been in our hearts and prayers for some time… Read More
God’s Word is a beautiful, beautiful gift. Did you know that the word “grace” that we learn and see of God in the New Testament is often missed in the Old Testament because it is more often translated as the words “mercy” or “lovingkindness”. I’ve heard it said otherwise though. That this lack of the word “grace” in the O.T. was for a different reason, that it was because Jesus, (Yeshua in.. Read More