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How Would You Draw God?
One of my favorite Bible lessons I did with our church teens a few years ago involved Pictionary. I gave them random Biblical stories to draw, which became quite comical. Most of them were pretty easy; but, it was all part of getting them to the final image. For the finale’ we had a draw-off and told them to draw, “God.” As I suspected, the two draw-ers stood with marker in hand but no action. The audience began shouting out Bible words hoping for a lucky guess. They eventually abandoned even trying to draw and turned instead to waiting and encouraging better guesses. So, how would you draw God?…
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A Thankful Heart is a Healthy Heart
Did you know that in the Net Bible there are 77 verses that have the words “give thanks?” The first is found in 2 Samuel 22:50, “So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations! I will sing praises to you.” The last is found in Revelation 11:17 “with these words: ‘We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign…’” 1 Chronicles 16:8“Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name! Make known his accomplishments among the nations!” Over and over in verse after verse we are commanded to “give thanks.”…
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1 Way Parenthood Is Like Noah’s Life of Faith
Judah, my middle child, is a rocks, sticks, leaves, tree-climbing kind of boy. On one of our Fall walks a couple years ago, He picked up an acorn and with an excited smile, said, “Look!” As he handed them to me for safe keeping. What I thought were simple, brown acorns, the kind with tops that look like hats, he thought were beautiful seeds of possibility. A Simple Seed I began to think about how I felt like that acorn. Tossed. Un-noticed. Set-aside from the hustle of busy, important people, going to busy, important places, doing busy, important things. Did my holding a fist full of acorns matter? But then,…
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A Holy Harvest
Fall is finally here and with it the harvest. There are many kinds of harvests. One of them happens, not in the fall, but because of the fall, the fall of man into sin. Words are like seeds. Once spoken they are planted in the hearts of the hearer. They too produce a harvest. Words can be a harvest of blessing but unloving words produce a harvest of hurt. I remember running to my mom crying, just a little girl hurting inside, crying because of ugly words. I was broken hearted by caustic remarks. My mother, taught me a little rhyme that she had used as a child: “Sticks and…
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Christian Cliques – A Problem to Overcome
What we want and what we get are often two very different things! You would think that inthe church of all places we would easily find community. However, our churches often consist of a large group ofpeople coming together for worship but leaving in cliques. New comers may be welcomed in word while excluded from our conversations and activities. Even Jesus had close friends with whom He spent more time than He did with the large crowds that came to Him for healing or to hear Him preach. Was that a clique? By definition a clique is “a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially:one held together…
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Back to School Prayer Acrostic
A couple weeks ago, my son bounded down the stairs before I left for work, proclaiming, “I am so excited!” “Why is that?” I asked. “I get to start Kindergarten,” he proudly proclaimed. Then he marched over to our fridge calendar and showed me how many days until the start of the school year. My older daughter, on the other hand, isn’t so sure she wants summer to be over. She’s nervous about a new class and fears it won’t be as fun as last year. Whatever your situation—starting school, packing a child’s lunch, or slowly sipping pumpkin lattes—chances are you’ve got a lot on your mind. Yet, no matter…
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Choosing the Best BFF
The best BFF is one who will help you pick a life time of good ones! “A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 (NET Bible) Many of the children grow up in the church only to leave it as adults. Those who are true believers will return but what set them up to leave in the first place. So much lost time in lives wasted on frivolous friendship with the world. Can it be prevented? I think so. God created us in His image and because of that great gift we have the need for…
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STOP IDENTITY THEFT
I was recently given a list of 301 things I am in Christ. I was blown away by all the things God says about those who follow Him. Then I was reading Lysa TerKeurst’s Blog. She mentioned her favorite gift from a friend was a box of Scriptures typed out with her name in them, things that God has done for each believer. It got me to thinking about many people I know both young and old who suffer from identity theft. I am not talking about the financial kind either. Spiritual identity theft! Satan attacks daily beating down the most vulnerable with his lies about who we are. If…
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The Problem of Pain
Pain is not partial. It rears its ugly head in every home in every neighborhood in every city on every continent. It is not a respecter of age, race, or gender. Pain is almost always caused by loss. Pain can be brought on by a medical condition resulting in a loss of health. It can be caused by the loss of a relationship through a disagreement, a divorce, or the death. Sometimes a person is attacked physically, emotionally, verbally, or mentally and this develops a loss of safety. The opposite of someone attacking would be someone neglecting and this ends in a loss of nurture. The list could go on…
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WHY IS IT SO HARD TO RAISE UP A GODLY GENERATION?
If as teachers and parents our faith is in Jesus, our text book is the Bible, we’re indwelled by the Holy Spirit and want God’s will for our children, why are so many of our grown up children leaving the church? Why is it so hard to pass on our faith to the next generation? Dr. Paul David Tripp encourages us to look for the answer in the Gospel message, “Parenting is a sinner seeking to give guidance and wisdom and grow a sinner. No wonder it is hard. No wonder we need God!” The more I hear what Dr. Tripp has to say, the more I am convinced that…
