A prayer for the discouraged
This is an excerpt from the new resource, Our Certain Hope: Prayers for Lent and Easter. Receive the full prayer book by signing up for Carmen’s monthly…
Culture Garden
Culture. It’s a bit of buzzword. We’ve got office culture, pop culture, church wars and even a clash of cultures but do we really know how…
Happy Rebirth Day!
Each year, we have the chance to celebrate the gift of life by giving and receiving birthday gifts and messages. I appreciate the warm sentiments, silly…
An invitation to Lenten Devotional
During this Lenten Season, I invite you to listen to the Word of God that we might hear God afresh and be drawn more fully into…
The Biden State of the Union and the state of our union in Christ
The President of the United States is scheduled to deliver the annual State of the Union address tonight on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Every year it…
This Valentine’s day, let’s “phileo”
In the 15th chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus bestows a great gift to his disciples. He says to them, “No one has greater love…
New Year. New you?
Once again we find ourselves in a brand new year. We start with high hopes, great expectations and often a number of resolutions that prove unrealistic.…
Begin again, again
Children call it a “do over.” Golfers call it a “mulligan.” Television and film directors call it a “retake.” By whatever name, it is the realization…
When Christmas isn’t Hallmark Happy
The Hallmark Channel has become as synonymous with Christmas as Bing Crosby or 34th Street were for prior generations. Hallmark movies have become so popular they…
Conversation Tool: Christmas
Start the Conversation: Everywhere you look people have decorated for Christmas. But the characters of Christmas in America range from Santa to Snoopy to the Elf…
Thanksliving
Christians, we are people of thanksgiving— not just for a day, but in everyday living. When we gather at our tables this week, for the nationally…
Heeding the signs of the times
When the smoke detector goes off, what do you do? How about the fire alarm in a commercial building? What about a tornado siren blaring on…
What must we do to be saved?
During a sermon in the fall of 2022, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, Patriarch Kirill, said that a Russian soldier’s death on…