What a strange, sad, somber Easter we celebrated this year. Our churches stayed empty and cold. Our families stayed away. And, if you are in Colorado like me, you must remembered that it snowed. The day was grey and overcast, and the snow fell on and on. It was such a quiet day at our... Continue Reading →
This Advent devotion may stand alone, but it is also meant to accompany a podcast--For the Love of Christmas: Peace--that I created for Greenwood Community Church. That's where you'll find the content behind this devotion. To listen, please follow this link: http://greenwoodcc.libsyn.com/advent-podcast-week-3. I pray it may be an uplifting and restful interlude of Peace for... Continue Reading →
This Advent devotion may stand alone, but it is also meant to accompany a podcast: For the Love of Christmas: Hope that I recorded for Greenwood Community Church. To listen, please follow this link: http://greenwoodcc.libsyn.com/advent-podcast-week-2 . I pray it may be an uplifting and restful interlude for you in this season of heightened emotion and... Continue Reading →
Did you know our eyes are created to be windows of Joy? Proverbs says, “Light in the eyes rejoices the heart.” Seeing is joy. But we have a problem with our eyes. We need Jesus to help us see. To read more click this excerpt.
The psalmist cries out, “The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their roaring!” (Psalm 93:3). Can you relate? The psalmist sees and hears floodwaters—cold, massive, and wild—rising above him, ready to swallow and drown him and to sweep away all that he loves. Do you feel or see mighty waves... Continue Reading →
When the setting sun burns clouds into wisps of gold and red, and when those colors shimmer toward you across the blue-dark water, what do you feel? When snow has fallen, and you step into the sunshine where your breath makes mist, and glistening mountain peaks stretch before you--extending to the north and south as... Continue Reading →
Two verses are working together in my mind to create a powerful image, an image expressing my longing for restoration and for God to make something beautiful of my life. The first comes from Isaiah: "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all... Continue Reading →
I’ve been working through an anxiety curriculum with some friends. During one lesson, the speaker—an abrupt, fast-talking woman—hit us with this rhetorical question: “Is there anything you can do about that (that being the thing worrying us)?” She hit us again: “Then why are you worrying about it?” She moved quickly on. But I keep... Continue Reading →
America is anxious. We spend $2 billion a year on anxiety medications. Almost one in five Americans suffers with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and that doesn’t mean the other four of the five aren’t anxious. Those of us with diagnosed anxiety represent the overflow of the volcano—our whole culture boils with anxiety, but we can... Continue Reading →
Small children are good at joy. When we toss a child into the air and catch him, what will he say as soon as he stops giggling? “Do it again!” And again! And again! G.K. Chesterton writes about how this joy points to God’s joy: “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit... Continue Reading →
The Deepest Love 