Don’t Be Afraid

When Jesus sent his disciples out on their ministry assignment, he knew that they would be challenged. Knowing that disagreeable surprises can unsettle us, Jesus gave them an idea of what they would face and how to deal with it. When they went out to preach in the villages, they’d have to contend with unpleasant situations that Jesus usually handled directly. Thankfully, for them, and for Christians today, Jesus gave some guidance as to how to respond to trouble.

Do You Remember?

We’ve changed how we share our lives and indeed what we share. Social media makes it easy for us to chronicle the minutiae (“Eggs for breakfast!”) and milestones (‘It’s a boy!”) of our stories in real time. Skype and smartphones have fueled political revolutions.

But what of our stories must we remember? And what do we do with them?

Read More patience, remember, God’s love

Our Hearts Pour Forth

I stared at the small card on the breakfast tray and laughed out loud. I had just given birth to my first child and my heart felt like it might burst. And there, in black and white, was the cry of my heart: Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.”

How could I do anything else?

The Refining Fire

Read Reflect So often, we can be so hard-headed and stubborn. We want things our way and we want to do them how we choose. Yet just as often we find that our way may not have been the best way – sometimes finding that we’ve worked our way into precarious, but easily avoidable situations. […]

Beyond Comprehension

Read Reflect What were you thinking? You have probably asked that question when you see someone do something foolish. Perhaps you’ve asked it of yourself when you’ve messed up. The same question applies to situations when someone does something extraordinarily generous, kind or self-sacrificing. In a tone tinged with wonder, we ask: How can they […]

No Castes Here

Read Reflect I don’t know about you, but when I think about God’s salvation being for everyone, I always think about Peter’s statement in Acts 15:7-9. There Peter boldly declares that God “decided long ago” to preach to the Gentiles. Yet in this chapter of Isaiah, we find Old Testament evidence of God’s love for […]

True Blessing

Read Reflect This passage ends with the thought, “You bless everyone who trusts you,” and the cool thing is, when you go back and re-read everything that came before it, you realize you’ve just been shown exactly what it looks like to be someone who trusts God, and what it means to be blessed by […]

What Happens If You Disobey

Read Reflect No, you’re not suffering from déjà vu. This passage is essentially another account of the events that were described in Jeremiah 39. What is new here is the description of the looting of the Temple. The Babylonians looted all the precious objects from the Temple. The silver and the gold could presumably be […]

Confessing to a Merciful God

As the congregational prayer continues, the people turn from declaring who God is and what he has done (vv 5-15), to acknowledging that their ancestors had stubbornly disobeyed God. Two contrasting behaviors are highlighted: the people’s disobedience, and God’s mercy and loving patience.

Because He Lives

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he writes:

God saved us and chose us to be his holy people. We did nothing to deserve this, but God planned it because he is so kind. Even before time began, God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us.