I love you, Lord, my strength.The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,    and I have been saved from my enemies.The cords of death entangled me;    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.The cords of the grave coiled around me;    the sn...  Read More

One of the best ways to experience the promises of God is to co-labor with Him in His purposes of restoration. It’s incredible that God’s plan is to use us, His church, to see His kingdom come to earth. He’s commissioned us to spread the gospel. He’s chosen us to tell of the good news of restored relationship with our Creator.  Read More

As the sun set and the temperature dropped, it was time to go home. But our dog suddenly wasn’t with us. She had followed the scent of a wild animal, and no amount of calling brought her back.  Read More

As Christians, we have been blessed beyond measure. So how is it that Thanksgiving is a holiday and not daily habit and routine of our lives.   Read More

Years after the VBS program is over, some of the kids will remember their friends, families, and church workers enjoying the whole experience.   Read More

Read: Psalms 32:1Romans 2:4 One of the great confidences we have in coming to the Father in prayer is to know that we can bring all our wrong before Him and trust Him to forgive and restore. Confession and repentance are essential to our prayer life and in dealing with our sin. Confession is acknowledging that we’ve done something wrong and openly seeing our sin for what it is. Repentance is a cho...  Read More

Read: Psalms 86Matthew 6:11 There’s nothing we can’t bring before the Lord in prayer. There’s nothing He can’t handle. Nothing! The reality is, He knows all of your cares and worries, all of your secrets and fears – so that should provide the courage to just share freely! Every thought, every action, and every emotion can be brought before Him with full assurance that we will be met with grace, go...  Read More

Read: Matthew 6:10Ephesians 6:18Colossians 4:2 Jesus taught us to pray from a posture of, Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done [Matthew 6:10]. With that mindset, we don’t shy away from praying and bringing our whole heart before God. But we also maintain humility through trusting and declaring that we accept and believe that God’s will is the best plan for our lives. We surrender our agenda and submi...  Read More

Read: Matthew 6:9Hebrews 10:19 Sometimes, when we pray, there is a tendency to just rattle off some words and ask for the things we need. Or, maybe we offer up a quick, passing prayer for someone else in need. In those moments, prayer can be just about “doing” it, and can often feel empty and impersonal. Have you been there?Thankfully, Jesus modeled perfectly for us how we should approach God in p...  Read More

Read: Romans 12:12Luke 5:16 Wholehearted PrayerWhat does prayer mean to you? Be honest with yourself. Do you feel like you’re talking to the ceiling? Do you actually believe God not only hears all your prayers, but can and will respond? Prayer can be misunderstood and is often overlooked, but it is central in our journey with Jesus. It isn’t an itemized list or simply a task to check off our busy ...  Read More

Hurry doesn’t just make you weary. It is the great enemy of your spiritual life. In The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer provides four down-to-earth practices for staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive: 1) Silence and solitude, 2) Sabbath, 3) simplicity, and 4) slowing. It’s the unhurried Way of Jesus.  Read More

Love is the highest value in the kingdom economy, but it’s not the only value. The triumvirate of love, joy and peace show up again and again in Jesus’ teachings, and the writings of Paul. They are the core reality we aim at in our spiritual journey with Jesus. All three are more than just emotions, they are overall conditions of the heart. They aren’t just pleasant feelings; they are the kinds of people we become through our apprenticeship to Jesus, who embodies all three ad infinitum. And joy, like love, is incompatible with hurry. All the spiritual masters – from inside and outside the Jesus tradition – agree on this (as do secular psychologists, mindfulness experts, etc.): if there’s a secret to happiness, it’s simple—presence to the moment. The more present we are to the now, the more grateful we are for what is, the more we tap into joy. We often vow to give God “our future” with great aplomb and a heroic virtue. But the future is easy to give God for the simple fact that we don’t have it. All we have is the present. The here and now. This moment, this pain, this joy, this gratitude, this surrender. And the more moments we slowly and gratefully turn over to God, the more we tap into his joy. Exercise for the day: Practice presence Find one, simple act of delight to do today – read a poem, listen to a song, drink a cup of coffee, take a short walk – and do it slowly, practicing presence to the moment and gratitude. Reading question: What good things do I pass over daily in my helter-skelter rush through life?  Read More