Posts by Carmen Fowler LaBerge
When too much of a good thing is no longer good
What the Stanley cup craze tells us about ourselves A woman in Roseville, California, was arrested after police found 65 stolen Stanley tumblers in the trunk of her car. The estimated value? $2500. I was intrigued when I saw the photo. The police displayed the stolen merchandise as if it was a drug bust. That’s…
Read MoreFebruary Talkic: What’s love got to do with it? Everything!
February Talkic: What’s love got to do with it? Everything! A life marked by love distinguishes a Jesus-person from everyone else in the room, on the call or at the party. Love is what distinguishes Christians from the rest of the world. “By this [love] all people will know that you are my disciples, if…
Read MoreMy Word of the Year 2024: Small
Do you have a word for the year? I don’t know how long other people have been doing it but, for the past few years I’ve been focusing on one particular word for the year— studying it through the Scriptures, listening for it in conversations, watching for it the world, sitting with it in prayer.…
Read MoreCultivating a life of prayer and prayer in real life
Why does prayer feel so hard sometimes? Perhaps we have forgotten (or never learned) what it means to depend on God throughout our day— and by extension for our lives. And so, prayer is an intermittent part of our day at best, or altogether missing. Or we may have seasons of intensity, suffering or need…
Read MoreConsidering Our Words in the New Year
Words. What do you hear when you listen to the regular rhythm of cultural conversations today? Do you hear what I hear? I hear words that are debasing, offensive, coarse and foul. Do you hear that too? I ask because profanity is normalized— so much that we may not even notice it. What happens to…
Read MoreThe Disciple Dilemma: Whole-Life Discipleship Part 1
An “Aussie” from London, tells two Americans about discipleship! For a lot of Western Christians, discipleship equals church. Is that Jesus’s discipleship? Not exactly. Dr. Dave Benson, of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity wants to talk about what’s missing in modern discipling, and offer real-world examples of what IS a disciple’s life and community.…
Read MoreChristmas Past, Present and Future
You can’t experience Christmas in the United States or Western world and not have some exposure to Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol. We all know the story then, right? Ebenezer Scrooge is a grouchy discontent who is visited by the ghost…
Read MoreNew Year Eve’s Night Talkic
New Year Eve’s Night Talkic The night before the day of the New Year is a great time to reflect upon the year and prayerfully entrust the year ahead to the Lord— and how much more powerful and rich to do so as a family. Involve members in the conversation to draw out ways they…
Read MoreThe Disciple Dilemma: Is Something off with Discipleship in the West, Part 2
Part 2 of Carmen’s interview episode on “Is Something Off in Western Discipleship?” Here’s what we talked about:
Read MoreThe Disciple Dilemma: Is Something Off with Discipleship in the West, Part 1
What’s missing for followers of Jesus, compared with Christ’s way of “doing” discipleship? Tune in and have a listen!
Read MoreCarmen’s 23 books of 2023
Each year, I have the opportunity to read a lot of books and interview many authors for Mornings with Carmen, and I’m happy to share my favorites from 2023. Bonus: we’ve included a corresponding interview! 1. The Bible Endless are the “other” books that have been and will be written. If you have not read…
Read MoreA Thanks Giving Prayer
God on high, hear our prayers. Today we take to heart Your word which compels us to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all circumstances, acknowledging that this is Your will for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. We give thanks in the midst of war for the Peace which…
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