Self awareness is something I am learning more and more. Being vulnerable with others in how I feel and where I am at with life has been crucial in all this.
Blog
The Laughter and the Dance
Just as there’s a time for me to be sad, break down, and to mourn, God reminded me that there’s also time for me to heal, to build up, and to find peace.
Interconnectedness During a Pandemic
Thinking of our worldwide interconnectedness in the past year reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:24b-26, “But God has arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member (of the body) suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” (NRSV).
When We Take Risks, We Do It Together
Sandra and I do almost everything together. Our projects have always been joint projects: ministry, business, travel, and many ventures. When we take risks, we do it together.
Stumbling Toward the Cross
I’m paying attention to God who is with us in the midst of all that is distraught while also anticipating the possibilities of resurrection, new life, and healing. I wonder where we might be renewed this Holy Week.
Calling All Leaders!
Leaders do not fit any one mold. They have many gifts, just not usually the same as pastoral gifts. In fact, true leaders often find pastoral positions unattractive because they do not thrive in places that have fixed boundaries of expectations.
Recruit. Equip. Deploy. Support. (Repeat)
Recruit. Equip. Deploy. Support. This is how Mosaic Conference acts in missional ways in the environment of this new season.
The Importance of Relying on God
In the same way that Jesus calmed the storm, Jesus calms all the storms in your life. No matter the situation, we can rely on Him to get us through it and help us overcome anything.
God’s Spirit at the Convention Center
I sensed the presence of God’s Spirit: in the patient anticipation of the waiting, in the kind helpfulness of the field hospital staff, in the powerful science that made a vaccine possible, in the intricacy of the human body that can take virus proteins and turn them into antibodies. I saw God’s fingerprints everywhere I looked.
Blood Sacrifice for Atonement
The scripture goes on to state that repeating the same sacrifices year after year can’t be the solution, as the blood of bulls and goats can’t get rid of sin. Earlier in Hebrews, it says that this will only make you outwardly clean. Enter Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:14 says the blood of Christ will cleanse our whole lives, inside and out, from acts that lead to death. And, Christ only needed to be sacrificed once to to take away our sins forever (Hebrews 9:28)
Giving Justly
There is a line that stuck with me: “People that hoard wealth and then give to the poor are not actually engaging in charity.” Most of the time, I give from my extra. I keep back what I need or may need in the future. I give from what I think I can live without.
Transforming My Limited Perspective
When it came to questions of justice, I found it easy, due to my training, to dismiss people whose tone had any sense of anger. It took years of unlearning and gaining a realistic understanding of Jesus’ own anger before I could see how anger can fuel an appropriate Christian response. The apostle Paul certainly teaches and models this very approach.
Gems and Birds and Good News
When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, He challenges that perception. He takes a well-known image and offers an alternative picture: the Kingdom of God isn’t like huge cedars with eagles; it’s like a mustard plant with birds.