Honoring Parents When it Hurts: a Biblical View
Honor is a bridge to healing and hope, even when our wounds run deep.
-
-
Mercy Follows Me (even when I mess up again)
Sometimes we slip into thinking, ‘Okay, this one’s on me. I need to fix this, and I need to make up for it.’ But Psalm 23 doesn’t say mercy leads us, it says it follows us. It’s not waiting on our perfect performance. It’s not holding back until we finally get it together. It followed us all through our past, and now it walks with us in the present. God’s mercy covers what we thought disqualified us. It didn’t miss the moments we’re most ashamed of. It followed us there, right through that too. It will follow us all the way home.
-
Stop Eating the Crumbs of Human Approval
We’re not so very different.
We reach for a taste of validation, influence, reputation, whatever it is.
And before we know it, the door’s slammed shut and we feel stuck and really frustrated. All for that stale, probably gluten-free breadcrumb called human approval. People pleasing gives an illusion of control, and chasing acceptance feels predictable. Obedience means handing all of that control over to God, which isn’t always so comfy. -
When You’re Undone, God Still Shows Up
The scandal of grace is this: God runs toward you while you’re still face down. Loves you before you lift your head. Saves you before you stand.
-
“Jesus” We Want vs. Jesus Who Saves
He is everything, except holy.
He is anything, except the real Jesus.
You made him up. -
The Most Powerful Women in the Church
Why is it that when a woman is told there is something she ought not to do, the outcry so often becomes, “Misogyny! Patriarchy! Hatred of women!” The issue here is not oppression. It is discontentment, and ultimately a rebellion against God’s good design. God’s design for women is not a punishment or a mark of inequality. It is an honored and beautiful calling.
-
When We All Want to Throw Stones
On John 8: In the midst of this outrageous scandal, Jesus gently redirected their focus inward, compelling them to confront the truth of their own sanctimonious hearts.
-
The Bully Pulpit: On Legalism, Control, and Biblical Leadership
I was twelve when my family started attending a church affiliated with the Charity denomination. In this close-knit and conservative community, most have roots in the Amish and Mennonite traditions.
-
Rice and Beans and the Gift of Enough
As we reflect on the depths of the Lord’s care and His steadfast provision for our genuine needs, a shift in our perspective occurs, highlighting the abundance of the graces and blessings that are truly ours.
-
Kids, Capes, and the Seat of Power
Our kids have gigantic imaginations.
Sometimes they pretend to be something simple, like race cars as they rev their engines, zooming around with nonexistent steering wheels turning in their hands. Or they might be superheroes – tying the corners together on baby blankets for capes as they “save” the toddler from every blessed thing she wants to do.
