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Good Friday Seder Guide for Families
Good Friday is sometimes overlooked by resurrection Sunday, but it is a valuable opportunity to reflect and remember. Especially as we think about how to express the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice to the children in our lives. So often we mention the cross but celebrate the hope of the resurrection too soon. We don’t allow ourselves or our children to enter into the loss. The suffering of Jesus. The significance of his blood. In order to rejoice in the resurrection, we must teach our kids (and ourselves) to sit in the reality of the cross a little longer. To recognize the weight of the fact that sin deserves death and…
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10 FREE Bible Study Tools
Time is short and so are budgets when raising a family. So, when it comes to investing in tools to study God’s word, we can sometimes feel like we need a side gig just to afford it. No fear! Here are 10 FREE Bible study tools for you to use.
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Finding Faith In an Unplanned Pregnancy
The home pregnancy test showed an electric blue stripe. Pregnant. Definitely pregnant—and at the worst possible time in our married life. For months I cried and called out to God. He met me in my pleas and led me to His words for help.
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2 Pieces of Biblical Wisdom for Our Current Religious & Political Climate
Every day it feels like the divisions in the Christian and the political spheres stretch wider. Here are 2 pieces of biblical wisdom to help guide us.
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Searching for Advent
On our way to church I asked my children, “What is Advent?” One child said “I don’t know,” and the other, “When we get ready for Christmas.” Part of me felt like a failure as a “Christian mom.” But then I realized, I’ve been searching for Advent since their birth. What is this season for? I came to faith in a modern Christian expression that lacks tradition. So my first Christmas as a mom—I had no clue what spiritual traditions to share with my children. I turned to my information resource—the internet. And therein I found hundreds of ideas on Advent calendars and Christmas season activities. Bake sugar cookies. Read…
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2 Questions to Ask to Know How to Use Your Time
Time seems to sprint while I try to catch up. Like running a race with my older brother as kids—I always fell a few paces behind. No matter how much I pumped my arms and stretched my stride, he’d beat me to the finish line. How we walk (or run) in our timed life on earth impacts eternity—and the lives around us today. As Tish Harrison Warren talks about in Liturgy of the Ordinary, how we live our one day—after day—after day, is how we live our lives. So, how should we use our time? The New Testament teaches us two definitions of time: Chronos: used to express the idea…
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Seeing Halloween through the Mask of the Gospel
My two-year-old and I walked into Michael’s this week to pick up some scrapbook paper. She stared at the life-sized skeleton in the entrance and whined, “I scared, mommy.” Skeletons, ghosts, and witches decorate craft stores, malls, and houses this time of year. HOW CAN WE LOOK AT HALLOWEEN THROUGH THE MASK OF THE GOSPEL? At Halloween evil takes off some of its masquerade. Lawns are decorated with zombie arms, tomb stones, and evil ghosts. Death seems to reign. But kids run from house to house and fill their bags with gifts of sweet treats. This contrast reminds me of the gospel. THE DARKNESS OF HALLOWEEN EMPHASIZES TO US THE…
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Fighting Distraction in Our Relationship With God
The chaos of our house on a summer day distracted me in every way. My boys trampled through the rooms like jousting hyenas. The crusted breakfast plates sat in the sink, the dryer signaled for me to fold laundry, and my two-year-old kept crying and whining—over nothing. I wanted to scream (or run away). So, I picked up my phone and scrolled Instagram. Oh, the beautiful pictures. The sweet sayings. The pep-talk quotes. But then, the Spirit of God whispered a gentle question: “What are you looking for?” “You, Lord,” I replied in my mind. “I’m right here,” the Spirit responded within. Oh. Right. So, I set down the phone…
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Who Can Enter the Kingdom of God
My son grabbed a book from the “Leave a Book, Take a Book” library. Mine Craft Zombies. I thumbed through and read, “Rotting flesh falling off.” Um. Nope. Not this one. So, I asked him in a teacher voice, “Is choosing to read a book you know your parents would disapprove of honoring your father and mother? Is it following Jesus? What do you think?” He turned defensive. We played verbal tennis and he blurted out, “So, what do I have to do to go to heaven? I go to church. I believe. Why can’t I just do what I want?” Ball drop. Scripture is true. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and…
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How to Have Faith in the Face of Uncertainty
Authorities arrested Pastor Andrew and Norine Brunson in 2016—church-planters in Turkey for more than twenty years—and later accused them with terrorism. They released Norine thirteen days after the arrest, but Andrew remained imprisoned. “One of the biggest challenges in prison is uncertainty,” Pastor Andrew said. “Maybe I will spend the rest of my life in prison. Maybe they will make a political agreement and get me out. Maybe they won’t.” Pastor Andrew begged God to rescue him, but also desired to be willing to serve His purposes. “I would pray, ‘Lord, I want to be willing. Help me to be willing to serve Your purposes, even if it means life in prison.’” Sometimes…
