I want to tell you a story about one of my children, but I will use a different name to do so. It was this last week that this really happened. One of our young children walked up to a stranger and said, “Hi! What’s your name? My name is Benjamin and I’m adorable.” It wasn’t entitled like it might sound something like this would be, it was confident and.. Read More
“It is of great importance, when we begin to practice prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our own thoughts.†― Teresa of Ãvila, The Life of Saint Teresa of Ãvila by Herself Sometimes in prayer, it’s easy to get distracted. Sometimes, it’s easy to get frightened. Sometimes, it’s easy not to pray at all. Sometimes, we just have to pick up where we left off—not condemning ourselves for.. Read More
I went through some serious diagnostic testing this past week. This is the second time in my life that I’ve been through this and it was surreal to be here again. Two great things came out of this for me. First, I found out I do NOT have the issue I was being tested for and, secondly, in the slightest—yet very real—proximity I “fellowshipped” with many many going through similar trials. Both,.. Read More
Friends, I haven’t been writing here much as I’ve been ill the last few months, but one thing that I have been able to keep up with is our weekly prayer group. I want to invite you to join us in that again if you need/want some companionship in remembering our persecuted family in prayer. Subscribe here. Each week we have a particular Scripture(s) that launches the direction of our.. Read More
Our prayer group this week will meditate on the words, Christ is all and in all. Then we have to make a choice—do we believe it? Not, do we say it, think it, regurgitate it. Do we believe it? “Let us make revolutionists and terrorists a matter of prayerful concern, asking that they may use their energies in the service of peaceful reforms.†— Richard Wurmbrand When I get too.. Read More
My beloved is mine, and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies. ~ Song of Songs 2:16 God’s story is a love story. We can read His story in the Scripture, behold it in the seasons, wonder over it in the oceans and maybe more than anywhere else, we can catch glimpses of His great love in our relationships, the completely broken and the less broken ones. The completely broken ones point the way, even.. Read More
“Do not keep on babbling like the pagan…they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7) It’s true, Jesus said that. It’s also true that this often gets taught or caught (?) in a confusing mess in-between our ears. On one hand we are taught to imitate the widow who “kept bothering the unjust judge”, (Luke 18:1-8) understanding God wanted us to “always pray and not give up”.. Read More
The accuser comes against the productive, alive, soul. Job, of the Bible, in the land of Uz, was one of these. The first thing we learn of him, that is repeated by God himself, is that he, “was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.”(Job 1:1,8) What does this kind of life look like? Here’s a picture of it from the book of Job: “… IÂ delivered the poor.. Read More
This kind of peace belongs to people with grit, people who trust in the middle of darkest darkness—their own or the world’s. Pollyanna wishing can’t survive here, optimism blows away in the wind.
Forgiveness broadens our territory, a wonderful thing and sometimes frightening as well. It can be like turning the corner on a new road, unfamiliar, our breath may shallow or halt altogether if we can’t discern whether we’ve turned the wrong way on a one way or not. Having recently moved I regularly find myself realizing that there are many places where I simply cannot see beyond my current location, I’ve.. Read More