It was uncomfortable to disclose my need for help. It felt awkward and out of place. Didn’t this person have better things to do than mow my lawn? How could I be so foolish! I condemned myself for my selfishness. But that Saturday, he came. There was no frustration in him, no judgement, just the offer of loving help. As I watched him push the mower up and down my lawn, I had a deeper experience of Christ’s love that I have ever experienced.
Jesus
Please Forgive Me: A Guest Post by Marsha Crockett
Forgiving ourselves begins with Christ’s forgiveness. His grace quenches our thirst. He understands our human conditions, creates community, and ultimately calls us to lay down your guilt and regrets. It is finished. We are free.
When I don’t feel God’s love
God’s love is not an emotion which colors our life with rainbows and roses. The love of God doesn’t produce the spiritual equivalent of a school-yard crush. God’s love is deeper than that, more expansive, and more transformative.
Silencing Labels
Labels sap our spiritual vitality because they mask our truest selves. They attempt to convince us of a reality that is simply not true. We are not our labels
Red Doors & Black Fences
Each time my wife and I stepped out of the house, I’d ask to how far she believed she could walk. We developed our own lingo. One day her goal would be “The red door”; the next day, “the black fence.” These mini-milestones marked her progression; they served as guides, leading her on.
Claiming Grace
There is no shame in grace. Claiming God’s grace is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith. It is a bold and radical act of trust. We reach out to the one who sits with us, who incarnates himself in the very depths of our hurts and struggles.
Praying when we cannot find the words
What if we chose to see frustration in prayer as an invitation to journey deeper with Christ? Discouragement in prayer, after all, is rooted in a desire to pray, and a call to pray. In fact, discouragement in prayer testifies to the fact that we understand prayer rightly.
In Conversation: Sarahbeth Caplin
Here is the next recording in my ongoing series of discussions regarding the struggles of the Christian life. In this recording, I chat with author Sarahbeth Caplin about her book "Spinning Crap into Ferlizer: How American Christianity has forgotten the necessity of suffering." Sarabeth has many insightful things to say about the cross, the prosperity … Continue reading In Conversation: Sarahbeth Caplin
In Conversation: Reverend Clara King
Reverend Clara King is a priest, a researcher and a revitalist, who has given her time and passion to equipping and encouraging the church. Please enjoy this hope-filled conversation!
When Discouragement begins
On Maundy Thursday, 2015, the oncologist told my wife, “I’m recommending chemotherapy. You start next week. Here is the paperwork.” We were dumbfounded. To this day the pit of my stomach drops whenever I think of those words.
Reverend Kyle Norman 