“Don’t talk to strangers.” It’s what my mother told me all the time growing up, and I’m sure it’s what you tell your own children. Strangers aren’t safe because you don’t know them.
Crossroads: I Know Whom I Have Believed
October 10, 2022 by
When we ask Jesus to be our friend forever, when we tell God that we know that Jesus died for us and that we want to follow God, we are committing our lives to God. We are saying that God knows better than we do and that we will listen to God and follow what God tells us to do. We will act like Christ by following God.
Formations 10.02.2022: Earning Trust
September 25, 2022 by
Whom do you trust the most? How did you get to the place that you trust this person so much? Did they sweep in and make impressive claims of faithfulness?
“Trust Me”
December 15, 2021 by
I lay on a gurney in a hospital emergency room. Two fire ant bites had caused me to break out in welts, with my ears ringing loudly and my airway getting tighter by the minute.
Crossroads: My Hope is in the Lord
December 6, 2021 by
I am a worrier by nature. When things go wrong, I get anxious. When things have the possibility of going wrong, I get anxious then too. So it is comforting to know that the Lord who watches over us doesn’t sleep. God doesn’t get tired. God doesn’t get anxious.
Lost in Maples
November 30, 2021 by
They wander, these children of mine. They wander and they wonder, and then boom, you take them out of their comfort zone and here comes the whining.
Crossroads: The Storms of Life
June 28, 2021 by
I was always terrified of storms as a child. The thunder scared me the most, and my mom could never convince me that the thunder couldn’t hurt me.
See the Light
February 9, 2021 by
Leo Tolstoy once compared religious rules to the light given off by a lamp post. It is a bright light. It dispels the darkness. As long as man or woman stood in that light, he or she could see. But the lamp post had limitations, Tolstoy said.
Crossroads: Wonderfully Made
January 18, 2021 by
As a teenager, I didn’t always feel pretty or worthwhile. There were many times when I doubted myself, particularly as a middle schooler. I had braces and I had to get glasses in middle school, and it was an awkward time.
Our Prayer Language
September 5, 2018 by
We trust God. Of course, we do. We fold our hands and we don’t ever try to raise them to interject our point of view. “Listen God, I’ve been thinking and….” We dare not say a prayer and then intercept. No, God is in control.
An Advent Prayer
December 7, 2016 by
O God,
As you come to us, please come bearing faith, hope, and love.
We need to trust, hope, and love more.
Connections 03.06.2016: Powerful Faith
February 28, 2016 by
I’ve kept a prayer journal for years. Somewhere along the way, I started writing down the Jesus Prayer as the first line of my daily entry: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Satellite or Star
October 28, 2015 by
My eyes drew open a little after 4:30 this morning. The alarm wasn’t supposed to go off for another hour and a half, but I was awake. Though I knew I could go back to sleep, I also knew that I probably would wake up feeling more groggy than I did at that moment.
Uniform 04.26.2015: A Cautious Faith
April 19, 2015 by
“Trust God, but lock your doors.” I remember reading this advice years ago in one of those Life’s Little Instruction books. Sometimes the advice makes sense to me.
Faith: Barricaded and Buried
December 31, 2014 by
A few weeks ago I read that doomsday shelters are making a big comeback. Now, I’ve never been in one of these safe havens, but I am told they were all the rage fifty years ago.
Formations 01.04.2015: An Unlikely Benefactor
December 28, 2014 by
January 6 and the Feast of Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. Does this mean, however, the end of our annual heightened consciousness of needs in our community?
Uniform 12.28.2014: Faith for the Unexpected
December 21, 2014 by
One of my favorite movies to watch at Christmas is The Bishop’s Wife. In it, a frazzled bishop, played by David Niven, prays for God’s guidance as he struggles to raise funds for a new cathedral and maintain a healthy relationship with his wife (Loretta Young).
Why Did God Call Me?
October 2, 2014 by
I had the privilege of preaching recently on the well-known Exodus Chapter 3 passage about Moses and the burning bush. You know the one. Moses is happy in obscurity, herding his father-in-law’s sheep when—BOOM!—God appears to Moses as a burning bush in the wilderness.