Misconceptions of a Godly Woman The Proverbs 31 woman is a lot of things; domestic and lovely, successful, and well respected. But most repeated, she is STRONG! Not anything like the passive and weak woman we are so often encouraged to be. She has no fear of winter – the difficult times to come – and is… Continue reading

“You’re Not A Pacifist Are You?” The expectation was for Jesus to be a kind of first century Jewish George Washington. The prevailing sentiment was a yearning for war, not peace. The dominant assumption was that violence was the path that would lead to freedom. When Jesus saw that his vision for the kingdom of… Continue reading

Of Swords And Plowshares I cannot ever recall seeing armed guards in a church service until after the turn of the millennium. There probably were some in some churches before then, but now it seems it has become a status symbol. You know, “My church has more guns than your church.” Who wants to attend… Continue reading

How to Raise a Pagan Kid in a Christian Home We’re drinking a cocktail that’s a mix of the Protestant work ethic, the American dream, and the gospel. And we’ve intertwined them so completely that we can’t tell them apart anymore. Our gospel has become a gospel of following your dreams and being good so… Continue reading

Intolerant Tolerance Today morality is more like wine tasting than banking. In banking, there is a right and wrong answer. If you deposit a thousand dollars in a new bank account and a week later try to withdraw eighty dollars, you would not be willing to agree to disagree when the teller says your account… Continue reading

Security In Jesus’ day, identity theft wasn’t a problem. Computer hackers didn’t steal information. No one worried about cybercrime. Yet Jesus issued a security warning. He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” Continue reading

You Were Created to Sing As we sing, our Spirit-filled delight in Christ ministers to the burdened, nudges them to look past the afflictions they carried in, points them back to Christ, and encourages them to rejoin the pleasure of engaging in what we are all created for — worshiping our glorious Savior. Continue reading

I’ve Grown Cynical of Cynicism People of faith being cynical is a bit of a contradiction. After all, don’t we believe in a God who—even when we make mistakes—is faithful to desire to bless us and see potential wherever we put our feet? Even though it’s tempting to connect suffering or flaws with lack of… Continue reading

Lay Aside the Weight of Discontentment Jesus was a treasure to Paul. What Paul saw in Jesus was what the man in Jesus’s parable saw in the field: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all… Continue reading

The Gift of Service — Even for Kids So often we look at service as a burden that one must be old and mature enough to undertake. But this is like saying that riding a bicycle is only for people who can ride bicycles. It’s sort of true, but again, incomplete. A two-year-old can ride… Continue reading