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 than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends.” Jesus demonstrated the value of true and faithful friendship. He knit together a small group…
Read MoreNew 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. Mere days into the fresh, new calendar, and some of us are already giving up. Our willpower is not as strong as we thought, or significant, unforeseen events push…
Read MoreBegin 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 that something didn’t go as we planned and we need a reset. We failed and we now have the opportunity to do it again. And, we want to do…
Read MoreWhen 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 are now a genre. Other content producers now make “Hallmark-type” movies for Christmas. You know the type— relatively clean, pretty cheesy, but always with a predictable story plot where…
Read MoreConversation 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 on the Shelf and Jack Skellington. What is Christmas, really? And who are the characters of the real Christmas story? How in the world do we Christ back into…
Read MoreThanksliving
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 recognized day of Thanksgiving, here is our charge: no matter the food on the table, the amount in our bank accounts, or the ease in our circumstances— to be…
Read MoreHeeding 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 a seemingly clear day? Do you heed warning lights and signs? One woman shared her survival story after ignoring the mandatory evacuation orders during Hurricane Ian, and swimming to…
Read MoreWhat 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 the Ukrainian battlefield washes away the sins of that individual. Here’s what he said, according to AP: “If someone, driven by a sense of duty, the need to fulfill…
Read MoreWhat is a worldview?
The term worldview should be more than a buzzword— it should provoke us to think intentionally and critically about the forces that influence our minds and hearts. We use the word “worldview” regularly, but want to take the opportunity to slow down and pick apart what it really means and then equip you to test…
Read MoreMeeting Jesus
Things are not as they should be. Everyone can see that. We turn on the TV, check social media or talk with our neighbor and everything wrong with the world is on full display. But then, we also know we are not as we should be. We bicker, we lie, we snap at our kids…
Read MoreWhere in the Word are you?
My name is Carmen so it may not surprise you that there was a season in which I was often asked, “Where in the world are you, Carmen San Diego?” It was an educational video game released in the mid eighties and it had a catchy musical tune. When I grew tired of rolling my…
Read MoreHave it your way! American Autonomy vs Freedom within God’s Gracious Sovereignty
If you’ve been listening you’ve heard the word autonomy even if you haven’t actually heard the word. It is an ideology whose advocates today are legion. And to be clear, autonomy in an of itself is neither good nor bad – its expressions are both. Autonomy includes the ideals of self-governance, personal decision-making, and even…
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