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Last night I got more direct with my Bible study than I often do. Sometimes as a teacher, it’s hard to speak on things that we know are areas where we also frequently fall short, where God continues to do the hard heart-level work that makes the spot tender to the touch. But it has to be said- and said to my heart, as well.  We are studying Philippians together this summer (over Zoom, because... 2020.) One of the themes that we just cannot get around is unity in the church, and the deep tie between unity and humility. In Philippians 2:2, Paul exhorts the believers to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”  Note that this is not a call to uniformity of thought. The early church was no less divided than we are today. Slaves and slaveowners, zealots and former tax collectors, groups of mixed culture, race, social class, political stance... and yet, Paul tells them to be of the same mind. How?! I think verses 5 and 6 clue us in to the an...

It’s Monday. We are still in 2020. The news is full of coronavirus spikes and protests and politics and madness. Pause with me for a moment, will you? In Philippians 4:4-9, Paul has a lot to say to us about finding God’s peace today, right now, in the midst of this year when the world seems to be quickly derailing into crazytown. Let’s walk through the flow of what he has to say together. Rejoi ce in the Lord- ALWAYS. It’s a choice. Even on a Monday in 2020. Be reasonable - and let it shine. Remember the Lord is near, so: *Do not be anxious *Instead, bring your prayer and needs AND thanksgiving to God. There is a connection between turning to Him with our needs and concerns (instead of internet news and social media), and having our hearts and minds guarded by the PEACE OF GOD. Even when it doesn’t make sense. We can’t choose the news, or what articles come across our feed, or what conversation is happening between coworkers today. But we CAN choose what we fix our minds on- what we me...

There is beauty everywhere this time of year. I find myself wanting to capture it, to savor it because this fresh bloom of early summer is so fleeting. It’s interesting how often the Scriptures link the beauty of flowers with the fleeting nature of our lives. “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its plac e knows it no more.” Psalm 103:15-16 “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.” Isaiah 40:7 “For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” James 1:11 There are no romantic poems in Scripture glorying in the beauty or fragrance of these magnificent creations. Rather, we are constantly reminded, “This won’t last. Your life won’t last.” Depressing? It will be if we fix our eyes on the here and now. Rather, t...

What is it about jigsaw puzzles? I find myself pulling out puzzles during the most stressful and chaotic times in our lives. Maybe it’s because it gives me a quiet mental space to think as it quiets my body and focuses my eyes and hands. Maybe it’s the peace of putting in ear buds with my audio Bible and listening while I simply sit (something I’m often not good at doing). Maybe it’s soothing to bring order to chaos when nothing else in my life seems to fit together. Maybe it’s just comforting to know that even when I can’t figure out where something fits, it DOES fit, somehow, in this larger picture. I just can’t see it yet. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that if the piece doesn’t fit, but really looks like it should fit, it still won’t fit there no matter how many times I try. But I often keep trying. I want to force it in there somehow. Trusting God is a little like putting together a puzzle. Often we sit among heaps of broken pieces. We know He has a plan. We know somehow...

Let's have an honest conversation about virtual church, shall we? Because I'm sure I'm not alone in the feeling of let-down and frustration each week.  We started so well today with such good intentions.  8:45am- I pull warmed homemade cinnamon rolls out of the oven that I had stuck in the freezer two weeks ago. I spread them with icing (on-plan for THM and everything!) and pour a cup of coffee, enjoying watching the big kids delight in a special breakfast.  Our 2 year old is still sleeping- perfect.  We go into the family room and settle in to participate in the service together.  9:03am- We are late. Even when church is in our own family room. What in the world is wrong with us? 9:05am- Internet connectivity issues. Our pastors' faces are frozen in strange expressions. I back the feed up and we try again. We will just be a little behind everyone else.  9:10am- We have more internet issues. Still frozen.  9:12am- ...

I remember the feeling of being huddled in our basement during a tornado warning when my big kids were preschoolers. My husband was at work, they were afraid, I was nervous - tornadoes and lightning (along with spiders...) are high up on my list of biggest fears. Everything in me wanted to look into their wide eyes and confidently assure them, "Nothing bad will happen! We are safe! God will protect us!" The words were on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to say them. I wanted to believe them. I wanted to see them relax in the reassurance that we were invincible. Except that it's not true, and I couldn't say it. I've seen too many people wrestle with ramifications of this bad childhood theology that was drilled deeply into their view of the world from a young age. Because the truth is that this world is utterly broken. Creation groans. People sin. Tornadoes strike. Diseases rage. People die. Bad things  do  happen - all the time . I don't want them to fa...

Seek first. These are strange times we are living in. I find myself reaching for my phone to check headlines much more frequently. I scan Facebook looking for reports from friends about the state of the grocery stores. Sometimes in this digital age, information feels like protection, like control. If I know more of what's going on I will know what to do, I will have control. It's a mirage. In our thirst for control and stability we grasp for it, but it was never there to begin with. No matter how much toilet paper we have stockpiled or the amount of hand sanitizer and Lysol we use, we do not have control. Everything earthly we put our trust in can be gone in a moment. Our lives are finite and we find ourselves numbering our days. Anxiety creeps in. Fear creeps in. "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body mo...

In Matthew 20, we find an ironic juxtaposition of Jesus' call and our ever-present desire for our own greatness. And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,   “See,  we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will  condemn him to death   and  deliver him over to the Gentiles  to be mocked and flogged and  crucified, and he will be raised on  the third day.” (20:17-19)  In the very next verse , look at what happens.   Then  the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and  kneeling before him she asked him for something.   And he said to her,  “What do you want?”  She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine  are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left,  in your kingdom.”   Jesus answered,  “You do not know what you ...

The nation is still reeling from Friday. The Supreme Court’s decision has created waves of emotion – jubilation, vindictiveness, grieving, anger, despair… responses have been swift. The rainbows boldly painted across our nation have added to the dizzying swirl of reaction and unbridled words. Scandalous rainbow. For me, I look on that prism of light and I see so. much. more. The scandal of that rainbow stretches far back into history. Back into days when “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5) Back into the days when the pervasiveness of egregious sin demanded the response of the Righteous One. His response? “I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.” (Genesis 6:17) All life. Every creature. Everything. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a) All life, except one man and hi...