I'm seeking to invest in what never ends. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. Love never ends. The love investment. Love is one of a couple of things that the bible affirms will […]
This carousel at the St. Louis zoo always makes me dizzy. Not unlike how I feel in life. Days rushing by like everything around this ride. Colors and lights blurring past me like the years that have passed since the carousel's first use in the 1904 World's Fair. Sometimes as the days, months and years pass I can […]
"...but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14 "And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and […]
Each day of Vacation Bible School this summer the children tossed spare change and dollar bills into the wicker basket. Little hearts and hands moved to do something in response to what they were learning and now know. That 200 women are forced into slavery a day in India. And that isn't even the […]
Jesus Christ crucified. The truth about this statement is... It's not a simple teaching to be forgotten as we grow in our faith. On to deeper things? It can't be done. "Jesus Christ crucified" is the Christian's focal point. I was thinking this morning of when I played basketball in high school. We would do […]
I love this picture. The dying stalks lifting up frail heads to seemingly worship. The sun casting its transforming rays through and beautifying them. Without the sun and with a different perspective, this picture would have turned out so much different. It was actually taken at a cemetery. The nearby tombstones were not caught but the light […]
I've been enjoying some early before-the-kids-wake-up bike rides this summer. My usual route takes me over a bridge which hovers over the enormous churning Missouri River. For me, riding over the Missouri River bridge by myself early in the morning is about as daring as life gets! My morning bike ride, when I take it, […]
It happened about a little over a year ago. A night when I was getting the kids ready for bed and I just couldn't imagine doing the next day. I couldn't imagine doing the bare minimum let alone the things I felt I was called to be doing in ministry at the time. Just […]
ex·trav·a·gant 1.spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful: an extravagant shopper. 2.excessively high: extravagant expenses; extravagant prices. 3.exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions, demands, opinions, or passions. 4.going beyond what is deserved or justifiable: extravagant praise. It's been an amazing week for our little country church. Our biggest VBS ever...52 kids...has come and gone. In the midst of it we were excited but often felt a bit messy. What we needed in many moments, especially with the preschool/kindergarten class was extravagant grace. So it was […]
I'm focusing on celebrating the 4th of July with my family and friends today. We're talking about the brave independence we declared long ago and also our need for dependence on the Lord now. Please enjoy my post from last year's celebration! I love my country and the people who serve and have served me...us...with […]
Advent Joy isn’t shallow or sentimental—it is rooted in the appearing of Christ. When Scripture speaks of Christ being manifested, it means that God has made Himself clearly seen, known, and encountered in order to save. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…” — Titus 2:11, ESV The Child in the manger is the […]
Where do you long for Christ’s Peace to enter your story this week? Or have you given up hope for that? Perhaps it would be good for you and me to remember Jesus' words about the kind of peace He gives. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the […]