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A New Security plugin added to site
I just added a new security plugin to the site as I noted several of our authors were having login attempts from foreign countries. I suggest you change your password to a complicated one. To authors — the lockout is set to 6 attempts of your password and the lockout period is set to 30 mins.. let me know if you are having problems. 0
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I Was Wrong about Egypt
When I had the opportunity this past March to go to Egypt, I was not thinking of the journey as a trip to the Holy Land…. I mean, talk about the “Holy Land,” and most people will think you mean modern Israel, the Palestinian territories, western Jordan, southern Lebanon and even southwestern Syria. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all regard these parts of the earth as holy. But did you notice Egypt was not on that list? For me, too. In fact, I thought of Egypt as being more like the un-holy land. Wasn’t Egypt where Israel lived enslaved for centuries? Wasn’t that where the plagues happened in response to evil? Wasn’t…
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My Superhero Complex
This blog was originally posted on February 8, 2016. But as many of us are feeling so weary from “doing it all” lately, I felt it time to recirculate this article to remind us (myself included) of our need for rest and reliance in our real superhero. “The caregiver needs rest, too,” our Canadian ministry cohort advised. “You need to take time out,” my former internship director urged. “You need to rest,” my husband kindly said. Who? Me? Nah, I’m fine. I just need a bigger cape. I bet you, like me, have an invisible superhero cape. I wear mine daily and take on all of the responsibilites that come…
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Parenting 101
Prov 6 “Wise Counsel Protects Now and Later” We all have experienced broken hearts over a child that has gone astray in some way, either through poor decision choices or rebellious spirits. As a parent, we are especially vulnerable to the “broken heart syndrome” and often we hear: if only, if only. How then can we raise up children who will walk the talk and not stray from God’s way? The first piece of advice; start early implanting God’s Word. Secondly, mirror to your children the right path following Deut 6 “teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along…
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Life in the Spirit
Romans 8:1–11 is part of the lectionary readings for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, which is July 12th. In chapter 6, Paul explained that we are dead to the absolute control (though not the continuing influence) of sin. Next, in chapter 7, the apostle clarified how, through our baptismal union with Christ, we have died to the Mosaic Law, which sin used to stir up evil within us. Then, in chapter 8, Paul explained how we can walk in newness of life. Because we are God’s children, we must not continue in our former relationship to sin. Towards the end of chapter 7, Paul conveyed his distress over his paralysis…
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Sharper in Real Life
This month, I am honored to feature the writing of a woman who has come into my life in the last two years. Today, she shares the joy, freedom and growth that we experience through friendship. I remember the first time she came to my home. I was hosting a birthday party, and her daughter was at the top of the guest list. Though I didn’t know her well, we worshipped together, and I knew we had things in common: we loved music, we married sports enthusiasts, and we were each parenting teenagers, newborns, and a few in between. We greeted loudly that Saturday morning: giggly girls hugging hello, baby…
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A Time to Lament
I look around and see rancor, ignorance, division, tribalism, nationalism, dishonesty, and sin in the midst of many crises—racial injustice and a pandemic that has sidelined the sick and resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and economic loss leaving millions unemployed. Hurricane season is on top of us, and apparently the forecast suggests a busy year. And last year’s issues haven’t gone away—#metoo, #churchtoo, the future for Dreamers (DACA) and the treatment of asylum seekers at the southern border. I believe that God wants our attention. You may be like me—troubled by groups of hurting people, appalled by the lack of moral leadership in government and even the church,…
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Take off the Mask!
On Thursday of this past week, Texas State Governor Gregg Abbott mandated the wearing of masks inside or even outside places where the public gathers or assembles. Churches were once again exempt from this mandate and though I appreciate that gesture, our church has made the decision to have all staff and volunteers wear them. All for the sake of trying to slow the spread of Covid-19. What’s interesting is that one of the biggest things we constantly bring up in our church is that if you want to help get rid of the virus of sin in your life, you have to take off your mask and be fully known…
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Building Unity in a Broken World
My guest blogger today is Mary Coleman, a teacher from Plainview, Texas. She serves on teams at church including youth, prayer, and nursery. Wife to Jay and mom to three rambunctious boys, Mary brings a perspective to the challenge of racial reconciliation that is both experiential and biblical. When my boys, who are five and seven, argue with each other, they wear a “get-along” shirt. The shirt is Daddy’s, so they both fit inside with one arm sticking out and one around each other. The first time I had them do this, I challenged them to move from one side of the room to the other without touching the…
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A Call to Mobile Discipleship
Discipleship is a mobile moment-to-moment opportunity. It was designed that way. From God’s instructions to parents in the Old Testament to Paul’s instructions to believers in the New Testament—scripture shows us that we all are called to mobile discipleship. But what does mobile discipleship look like?
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For My Name’s Sake
I will never forget the day I met the persecuted church face-to-face. Eight pastors entered the humble living room, relief written on their faces. Their forty-eight hour train ride from the heart of Orissa, India had brought them to a place of safety. In 2008, mass killings and church burnings plagued Orissa. These eight pastors survived, but not all in their congregations had. I stood quietly in the doorway and listened as they recounted the horror. Their story began the previous Sunday as Pastor Noah surveyed his ransacked and smoldering church. The cross that once hung at the front of the church lay amid the ashes, now nothing more than…
