From his early morning encounter with the guards in Gethsemane, his trial before the High Priest and Pilate, the beating and mockery he endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers, to being nailed to a tree and left to hang naked for 6 hours…never once did Jesus complain. I…
Masks. We all wear them. We wear them to cover up blemishes, brokenness, shame, guilt, etc. We wear them throughout the week and if you go to church, especially on Sundays. You know the look, “I’ve got this all together and am quite successfully managing all of the various emotional, spiritual,…
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44) Prayer is the hard work of spiritual growth. We cannot expect to grow in relationship with another if we rarely talk to him or her….
Numbers represent people. God cares deeply about people. To suggest numbers don’t matter is silly at one end and a dangerous form of denial on the other. We have made a “personal” relationship with Christ so personal and so subjective that we have few quantitative ways to measure growth within the Church other…
Lent reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, which he was led into. Now wait a second, does this suggest that there are times when God leads us into the wilderness, not just out of it? Yep. And guess what else? The wilderness can be a very…
I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. (Ezekiel 34:26) I don’t use the word blessings very often. It’s not that I don’t believe in blessings or that I haven’t been blessed in many ways,…
Fasting has never been a spiritual discipline I’ve been very good at practicing. The times I have fasted haven’t been without meaning but haven’t moved me as much spiritually as I would have expected. Honestly, one of the biggest takeaways I’ve had after each time of fasting has been the…