Creating a Safe Place

Growing up in a family that went to church every Sunday, was a blessing, but I wasn’t there for the right reason. I loved going to show off my clothes which my mother made, and not to learn more about Jesus. As a teen, my parents were making me go to church. In any case, there was nowhere else to go on a Sunday morning. It was not like my calendar was busting at the seams with other options. My eyes were opened to what this world had to offer, and God seemed very distant. He had not moved, but I had. Why was I at church? Each Sunday had become an unwanted chore, but I did not want to be a disobedient daughter. I also didn’t feel comfortable talking to others about this.

God Kills, but God is Good

One of the hardest things to explain to children, is how God has killed many people in the past, and will kill many people in the future, but He is still good.  Even as adults, we can struggle with this aspect of God.  I personally find this hard to grasp sometimes, and to explain.  It is probably something we will never fully understand until we are face to face with our Lord and Savior. I personally know many who profess to be a Christian, but really struggle with this aspect of God.  They struggle so much so that they have convinced themselves that parts of the Bible cannot be true.  The below are just a few examples of things people cannot believe are true.

Easter: The Ultimate Plan & Promise

Easter is finally upon us! Let’s take a journey back to consider another time; incredible events that were all a part of God’s redemptive plan. Since the beginning of creation and the fall of man, God has had a plan to bring His people back to Him. His plan involved a covenant with Abram, to become a father of many nations. This promise was to give future descendants a hope, a land and a connection back to Him. This covenant promise was critically important, because Abram and his wife, Sarai, were childless. God’s redemption plan did not stop there. This promise was passed down through the years from Abram. Here is an overview of God’s awesome promise and plan.

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey. While the people waved palm branches and began to shout Hosanna to the King, a cry for salvation from the oppression of Rome. Jesus calmly accepted the adoration of the people. This event began the most significant eight days in history. Let us look at this day, on Sunday 29 March 33 AD. Now, suddenly being called King did not seem to agitate Jesus. He was a man on a mission. The below verses describe what happened…

Missional Living Made Fun – Works with non-Millennials too

We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have spiritual gifts. Each of these gifts can be used to show Christ’s love to others and open up an opportunity to share the gospel. My spiritual gift is food. No really… I love food. Sure, call it hospitality or whatever but every day about 30 minutes prior to lunch, I get an excited feeling in my stomach because I’m going to eat soon. I also have the gift of conversation. Ok, so not quite a gift EVERYONE in my life enjoys about me but I like to talk. A couple years back, I decided to use my gifts in a missional way in church and found out that missional living was actually fun and exciting – mainly because I got to eat and talk about it. My personal rule in life is that if it’s not vital and not fun, I’m not going to do it; and church stuff falls into that category. Amazingly, not everyone thinks the same things are fun, and enough people think that different things are enjoyable, the church runs pretty smoothly if everyone does what they are gifted to do. (I think run-on sentences are fun, obviously). Here are my tips for fun missional living.

The New Heaven & The New Earth

Previously we talked about the current, intermediate heaven. Eventually that heaven and the current earth will be no more. They will be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. Often when we think about heaven, we don’t focus on the new heaven and the new earth. This is where we will spend eternity with God, so we should learn everything that Scripture has to tell us about it. That way we can be excited about living there, and we will be able to tell our kids about it. No believer who understands what Scripture says about eternal life will ever see it as dull, boring or dreadful. The most important aspect of heaven is that

Young Bible Readers More Likely to be Faithful Adults

A good friend of mine, recently made me aware of a new study that Lifeway Research did. They interviewed 2,000 Christian parents of 18 to 30 years olds to determine what parental practices pay off in the long haul. In other words, during childhood, what contributed to their spiritual health which continued into young adulthood. The quick summary is they found that if children

Value Systems

I’m an INTJ. For anyone who has interest in the Meyers-Briggs personality test, this means something to you.  I’m just the taddest bit obsessed with personality studies.  I love finding out what makes me and other people tick.  The thing to remember about personality tests is that they don’t determine what you do, but rather […]

Intermediate Heaven

Many Christians believe that we can’t know what heaven is like, and we will just have to find out when we get there. They undoubtedly will quote 1 Corinthians 2:9 where it says “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” However that verse is misused all of the time, and it says exactly the opposite of what people think it says. You see if you keep reading, verse 10 says “But it was to us (believers) God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” So God’s spirit reveals things to us that we otherwise couldn’t know. Scripture tells us much about heaven. Most of which we don’t know about because it isn’t preached or focused on often, and so we end up believing things that are not true. For example did you know that there are two heavens?

Choosing a Lifetime Intimate Partner

One of the most challenging developmental tasks of Young Adults is the selection of a lifelong partner in marriage.  How can parents assist them in negotiating that decision?  If I could ask one question to your adult children, it would be the following:  “To what extent do you desire the relationship with your intimate partner to be similar to