The Hour of Trial
Our journey through Revelation has just begun and there are so many questions to ask of the text already! Some we have dealt with on Sunday mornings, but there are many other verses we could spend extended time on. We want to highlight one of those here. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. Revelation…
You Have A Purpose
Psalm 139:13 You[God] knit me together in my mother’s womb. Knit- to join together, put together. I am as unique as a snowflake. My fingerprints are unique to only me. God has a plan for me! God gave me purpose! God has a purpose for your life- unique to you as well! Comprehending this statement is important because life without direction and purpose is futile. Please do not confuse busyness or achievement or success with purpose. Some people think…
Offended Christians
This is a reprint from a 2019 post, but because I have been having conversations with a lot of “offended” brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s worth re-posting. They are living in an “upset state of mind” over conversations, issues, and flat out gossip, for which they have no context: re-living (daily) the venomous words these moments have created- with no healing in sight. Being an offended christian is neither healthy nor pretty. What’s the deal about Christians being offended?…
How to Experience More Life and Light and Peace in a Broken World
Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little? Our imaginations are always active and continually influenced by things around us. As we grow older, we can forget how powerful they can be. We learn in Romans 8:6, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” In our broken world, it is easy to imagine that we are alone when we are afraid or angry…
Bad Marriage Advice
We’ve all heard it. Someone, somewhere gave another human marriage advice so spectacularly bad that we cringed a little bit inside. Usually this someone was on a reality show. Or at a relative’s wedding. Those unfortunate platitudes are easy to spot and just as easy to brush aside. Slightly more dangerous, however, are those bits of advice that seem very applicable and true on the surface, but become somewhat problematic if you look at them a little closer. Here are…
Boundaries – Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?
Most of us have heard that phrase – good fences make good neighbors. But is that true? After all, aren’t we supposed to be breaking down barriers rather than putting them up? Don’t walls just keep people apart? Well, yes…and no. Let’s dive in, shall we? History time! If we could go back in time to the Old West and journey beyond the borders of the Ponderosa and past the OK Corral, we would find ourselves embroiled in an age-old…
Social Media Tragedy
It would surprise us if it weren’t so common. But every time it happens it still breaks our hearts. This past week a famous relationship therapist revealed her 16 year old son, bored from the many months of quarantine, had been approached by a drug dealer on Snapchat. The teen thought he was buying Xanax, but it was actually Xanax laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid similar to morphine, but 50 to 100 times more potent. The teen was a…
Getting ahead in a digital world
Last weekend, my wife and I discovered our phones were running much slower than normal. We decided to go to the local AT&T store and see if we could wipe them of their content or if we were just out of luck. It turned out not be our lucky day, so we ended up having to upgrade. While waiting for our upgrade to be finished, my 4-year-old, Raegan turned to me and said, “Daddy, I want a phone too.” We…
Commentary on Matthew 26
Commentary on Matthew 26 by Laurel Walker-Davis Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it, and gave it to his disciples. After blessing it broke it. After blessing. He broke it. He blessed it first. Cause we were a blessing before the curse, rehearsed in the mind of GOD like a well-prepared speech, He reached into His heart and pulled out a feast. And that feast was part you. That feast was part me.…
Thin Yellow Lines
Do you remember the first time you saw The Wizard of Oz? The moment Dorothy opened the door to the brilliant Technicolor of a new and foreign land? The strangeness of the houses and the munchkins’ clothing and speech–and the “Lollipop Guild”? “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” I had an out-of-Kansas experience in my early twenties when I moved across the ocean to teach in a foreign land: China. There everything seemed unfamiliar. I looked…
More Meaningful Together
“Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!” – Matthew 5:4 GNT This verse from Jesus’ sermon on the mount sounds like an oxymoron. Right? Can the path to God’s comfort and joy really begin with mourning? Can joy and sorrow even co-exist? My experience has been that they cannot only co-exist, but they are more meaningful together. I was terrified the first few times I attended GriefShare and know how hard it can be to push through feelings…
What is Mindfulness?
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 “Mindfulness” is one of those words that has become trendy in the past few years, particularly as discussion of mental health has increased in the public sphere. But what is it? Put simply, it is the practice (and it does take practice)…