There are times when God peels back the layers of God’s work, allowing us to see the intricate working of God’s will. These beautiful intersections of God’s will with our participation remind us that God is active in ways far beyond our perception or understanding.
encouragement
If God is your co-pilot….
Meister Eckert once wrote that many people follow the Lord halfway, but not the other half. By this he means that, too often, we believe in God’s presence, but refuse to let God to lead our lives. God remains the perpetual co-pilot, waiting for our decisions and directions.
God Bless the Incompetent
Ministry isn’t about competency or prowess; it’s not about maximizing our endeavors or achieving some ever-increasing public recognition. In the life of faith, we never rise above our own frailty. In fact, the places where we feel foolish, weak turned-around, or less-than, may be where God’s blessings are most fully revealed.
Tethered to the Anchor: A Guest post by Mariel Davenport
“They say I’m having a heart attack,” came my husband’s breathless voice on the other end of the phone. It was mid-May, I was sitting in my morning quiet time chair, Bible spread open on my lap when the phone rang.
Jeff Probst is not God
A friend once asked me where God was during his turmoil. He was going through a large upheaval in his life; he couldn’t see anything beyond the obstacles he faced. He felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. “Is God even near me in all of this?” he grieved. “No.” I responded.
Searching Rubble for Gold: A guest-post by Sue Fulmore
The legalism, judgementalism, patriarchal systems, and poor Scriptural interpretations all need to be tossed out. As we do so, we also need to guard against tossing out the proverbial baby with them. I would never presume to tell anyone how to go about this process of deconstruction, but I also don’t want us to forget all that is good and worthy of holding onto.
The small brightenings of faith
Faith isn’t lived from the miraculous to the miraculous. Sure, Moses’ had an experience of the Burning Bush, but his faith in God only grew in the 40-year slog of an everyday journey. More often than not, our faith is couched in the ordinary. Our faith grows amid a life where nothing miraculous seemingly take place. Why, then, do we make such miraculous experiences the definitive mark of faith?
The Blessing of Empty Churches
As a priest, I have witnessed myriads of strangers randomly stop by and ask to sit in the church. It happens more than one would think. They sit in silence, and leave in silence, often with some tears in their eyes. And because I give them space, never hovering over them or forcing a conversation, I have always wondered about their story. What drove them to sanctuary? I now have a better understanding. I get it. Like a child who desperately needs the presence of a parent, sometimes we just need to sit in God’s house.
God answers the prayers we have lost the hope to pray: A guest post by Marie Loewen
It would be years before I came across that reading again and the reminder of a prayer I lost the hope to pray. A prayer that God answered in a way I could never have imagined. My dear ones had not only made peace, but now laughed together and cared for one another.
Am I Missing Something? A guest post by Sue Fulmore
A faith which fails to value the struggle and the wrestling seems insufficient and even irrelevant to our everyday lives where we battle cancer, financial insecurities, loss of loved ones, mental health struggles, and a host of other challenges. God’s people, in fact, were named as those who wrestle.
Reverend Kyle Norman 