I was in the midst of a fit of enraged blasphemy when I had my first real encounter with God. And do you know what happened? Well, I wasn’t rebuked. I wasn’t chastised or condemned. I wasn’t told to get my act together and fly right. All that happened was that God made his love known. Right there in the middle of my hateful ranting. … Continue reading Illuminating the Dark
Yesterday I wrote about how denying and suppressing our dark side turns us into hypocrites in the ancient Greek sense – ie play-actors at life. Using Godly actions to cover and suppress our dark side turns us into white-washed graves. This was the problem which Jesus criticized the religious rulers of his day for. Today, I want to discuss why we don’t have to be … Continue reading Facing Our Dark Side
Do you know what an actor was called at the time of Jesus? A hypokrisis. Which gets transliterated in English as hypocrite. We hear the word hypocrite and think of someone who says one thing but does another. Someone who claims to be good even though they really aren’t. And we really, really don’t like that sort of hypocrite. We have a near-obsession with hypocrisy. … Continue reading Keeping It Real For Jesus
On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. -Psalm 63:6 Today I’m sharing the last of my top 5 slacker tips for building a fantastic prayer life. And it’s a super easy one: Bookend Your Days Ideally, every good Christian will rise early in the morning to spend time in prayer before beginning his or her day. … Continue reading Bookend Your Days
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ~ Psalm 139:2-3 A few days ago, I began this series on developing a vibrant, faith-building prayer life with this simple observation: if you have no real prayer life, you also have no real relationship with … Continue reading Use Your Wandering, Waiting Mind Well
God is not very far from any one of us, for it is in God that we live and move and have our very being. – Acts 17:27 I’ve been making some changes to the way I pray as of late. Mostly because a few people have entered my life who have been convicting me about how foolish our prayers often are. Mostly because we … Continue reading Practicing the Presence of God
Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ~ Colossians 3:17 If you listen to non-Christians talk about Christians, probably the most common criticism is that Christians do a very bad job of living out their faith. As Ghandi famously said, “I like your Christ, but not your Christians.” Anyone who pastors has struggled over what to do about the fact that it … Continue reading Expand Your Concept of Prayer
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. ~ Job 42:5 Sometimes I wonder if the real problem with the church is that it is filled with people whose primary relationship with God is through what they have heard, thought and believed about him rather than with God himself. People are sometimes startled to hear me say it, but the … Continue reading Find a Prayer Trigger
Once upon a time, back when I was a young, single mom trying to get my crap car to start, or wishing for money to fall from the sky to get my electricity turned back on or hoping I could make it to the gas station on fumes, I prayed many desperate prayers. I was queen of the desperate prayer, in fact. But my prayers … Continue reading Is Your Faith Good Enough? Yes. Always.
God, what is it you want me to be doing with my life? Nothing. You’re fine. Isn’t there something I’m supposed to be doing? No. You don’t have to do anything. Just do you. It’s fine. Ummmm . . . Okaaaay . . . So I don’t need to be doing anything. And you don’t want or need anything from me. But I’d kind of … Continue reading “You Don’t Have to do Anything . . . “
The Upside Down World 