-
Too Young to Get Married: A Wedding Anniversary Tribute
On the day I write this, it’s my wedding anniversary. You’re too young, they said. You’re making a mistake, they said. You don’t know what love is, they said. It’s harder than you think, they said. You’ll destroy your life, they said. He’ll never change, they said. And here we are 40 plus years later and we are still happily married. I was 17 when I met my husband. He rode in on a while horse, actually, no, it was a tan sports-edition Mazda. But it was cool—so cool. At 17 to have a boyfriend with a car, an apartment, and a “high paying” job, whoa, I hit the big…
-
Musings of a Grandmother-to-Be
I’m finally going to be a grandmother for the first time. And all the thoughts and emotions swirling inside of me need to be sorted and find expression. Excitement. Giddy with anticipation. Love already growing for someone yet unknown. And fear, concern, worry. But also hope, curiosity, and joy. And inadequacy. And relief… All my grandmother-friends tell me that this is the greatest “gig,” even better than advertised. The writer of Proverbs seems to agree, stating that grandchildren are the crown of the elderly (Pr 17:6). I know I am entering this new phase a little later than many of my peers. My age has occupied a good bit of…
-
Authentic Relationships: Forgiving, Accepting and Bearing with One Another
“Not forgiving is like swallowing rat poison and waiting for the rat to die.” (3) Anne Lamott
-
The Lord Says, “Listen and Pay Attention to My Female Prophets”
Did God commission men and women to prophesy—to speak authoritatively on his behalf? Is there evidence that the Lord says, “Listen and pay attention to my female prophets?” Ancient Near East scholar Christopher Rollston notes, “The fact that certain biblical texts presuppose that there were women prophets, there can be no debate. There were women prophets in ancient Israel and in Early Christianity. And the term that is used in Hebrew and in Greek for women prophets is the same as the term used for men prophets.”
-
Fathoms Below
Sunday School Chronicles Me: So, last week, we talked about Jonah being so pressed, that he went the literal opposite direction of where God told him to go. There’s a huge storm rocking the boat and Jonah convinces the crew to throw him overboard. Kid 1: That’s crazy. Me: I know right! Well, Jonah gets his wish and is thrown into the sea. This wasn’t like The Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo. There was no singing crab, no sea witch trying to steal his voice, there wasn’t a fish with short term memory loss who just kept swimming. Class: *laughs* Me: My dude went overboard and straight into the mouth…
-
Nicole C. Mullen on Multi-Faceted Faithfulness
Last month Nicole C. Mullen sang and signed “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” along with selections from her new album, “War Songs” (based on Psalm 91), at the EPA Christian media convention in Lexington. Afterward, she sat down to talk with me about longevity and the varied faces of faithfulness. Mullen’s grandparents had “sixty-plus-year marriages on both sides of the family,” she said. Her grandfather on her dad’s side “pastored and worked for the phone company for thirty-six years.” Her parents were married for “fifty-four years, five months, and fourteen days” before the death of her father. The latter “also worked for same phone company for thirty-eight years.” And…
-
Understanding Salvation from a Biblical Perspective
Every religion has a plan of salvation but Christianity unlike other religions is based on a relationship. Religion is about doing but Christianity is about becoming. We are human beings not human doings. In the garden Adam and Eve broke the trusting relationship they had with God by their choice to disobey. Did you know it was not a command to do but to not do something that they disobeyed? God gave them a way to show their trust in Him and they didn’t. Christianity is not about trying to be good; it is all about trusting God. We need to be saved from sin and death. God did not…
-
Authentic Relationships: Loving One Another
Our loving others may be the only “face of God” they ever see.
-
Authentic Relationships: Introduction
People are longing to rediscover true community. We have had enough of loneliness, independence, and competition – Jean Vanier (2)
-
The Greatest Donor
Last summer’s TV reruns lasted much longer because of the actor’s strike. To view something unseen, I watched several episodes of the old show, Monk. A program I never watched when it first ran. Usually, this drama comedy stays on the lighter side of life. However, the poignant scene I’m about to describe to you touched my life in a way I will never forget. The episode begins with Monk walking down a crowded sidewalk in the city. He bumps into a woman, turns to her, they exchange glances, and apologize to one another. Though Monk remains fixed on the woman who continues down the street. Feeling compelled, he pursues…
-
Lingering
Linger means to be slow in parting or in quitting something and tarry means to linger in expectation. These 2 words have taken on new and impacting significance to me lately. I was impressed how Mary Magdalene saw the Lord as she lingered at the tomb (John 20:11-18). Mary not only saw the risen Lord, but she was sent on the crucial mission to go tell the disciples. Mary’s lingering at Jesus’s tomb brought new insights and joy to her soul. John provides another example of someone who lingered. It seems that John wrote the Gospel of John; 1, 2, 3 John; and Revelation in the 90’s A.D. Which means…