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Living Out of the Heart Jesus Won for Us
The guests are gone, the good dishes are stored, the decorations are removed, and the Easter story is put away. Wait a minute! The Easter story is not meant to be put away but to be lived year-round! It is so easy to celebrate Easter according to the calendar but neglect to live by the transformational truths every day of our lives. We each have a debt of death to pay to God for our sins, but Christ’s death on the cross cancelled our debt (Rom 6:23; Col 2:13-14). Christ intensely suffered physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in His excruciating death on the cross (in our place). He became sin…
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He Regrets Us
“But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. The Lord REGRETTED that he had made humankind on the earth…. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I REGRET that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5-7). “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were…
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Authentic Relationships: Loving One Another
Our loving others may be the only “face of God” that they ever see.
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Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Mary’s Story
As we head into the final week before Christmas, we expectantly anticipate the coming—the Advent—of the Son of the Most High as his mother, Mary, did. Consider with me the traditional Advent themes as seen in Mary’s story. HOPE “Listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” —the angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth (LUKE 1:31-33) The Bible defines hope as patiently…
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Silent Nights Suffering Nights
From heaven's height to manger low There is no distance the Prince of Peace won't go
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What Will Be Your Harvest?
Children are listening. They often believe blindly what they hear. Let’s speak the truth in love even in our daily conversations that they overhear and especially when we speak to them. Words can’t be erased or unheard from the heart. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows.” What will we harvest from the words we’ve sown this year?
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Legacy & Family
Author: Lucille Williams My father-in-law passed away this past year. Having served in World War II and following the times of his generation, “Dad,” Wally Williams wasn’t one for emotions or feelings. Men were taught to be men: one must never cry, don’t show weakness, suck it up, man up, and never put your guard down, were the theme of his generation. Some perpetuated that theme to the next generation. Growing up, my husband never heard, “I love you” or “I’m proud of you.” Even as an adult, hearing “I’m proud of you” from his dad didn’t happen. Until… Just before Wally passed, we traveled to see him knowing our…
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Powerful Love, Life Changing Love
In John 17:26 Jesus prays, “I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.” What an amazing prayer He prayed for us in this priestly prayer. To those who have believed in Jesus, He has made known His name to us. Yet He promises the Father that He will continue to make it known. And, why will He do that? So that the very love that the Father loves the only begotten Son with might be in us and that He might be in us.…
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For the Love of Mothers and Others
If upon meeting you for the first time I asked, “Who are you?” How would you answer? (Para español, lea abajo.) Perhaps you’d say: I am a teacher. I am a student. I am a wife. I am a business owner. I am a missionary. I am a homemaker. With the recent celebration of Mother’s Day, you might also identify with one or more of the following: I am an expectant mother, a new mother, an adoptive mother, a single mother, a stepmother, a divorced mother, an empty-nester mother, a widowed mother, a grandmother, a mentoring and disciple making, spiritual mother, I am a caregiver of my mother. Research A…
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The impact of your story, and why you should tell it
In isolation, the human experience can begin to feel unique. In the spaces of silence, we can begin to feel ashamed by our struggles, and the silence will grow louder still. It’s not long before we believe that we are broken or undeserving of love because we are just so uniquely bad. The sacred act of telling our stories not only breaks the silence and connects people together, but it takes the name of Jesus far and wide. Rahab reminds us that stories of God spread among people and hearers are often moved to greater depths of faith, service and understanding of who God is. “I know that He Lord has…