… Then she made a very astounding statement. She said, “I am so thankful I made that choice because little did I know that less than 48 hours later I would have to identify my husband’s dead body, and that was one of the last memories we had.

Our son, who has come to meet us, issues a warning not to use the car horn. He said, “Horn blowing is considered very rude behavior, and no one ever uses the car horn.”

Our heavenly Abba is crafting the perfect set of life experiences necessary for us to learn essential truths about him and to impact the lives of others.

Why does seeking God’s kingdom require endless ongoing teaching and study? Why does the Bible uniquely feel like an alive, ever-changing, ever more to discover, textbook?

As we got closer, I looked them in the eye. They were out spreading holiday cheer among the customers. Each of them had a small bag of candy and was passing it out to customers. This was turning mostly grumpy into mostly happy. I was thinking they were the Anti-Grinch when the Holy Spirit suddenly reminded me of something important. I approached.

… The human life, death, and life again, of Jesus on earth was the most impactful event in all of human history. Even those who call Jesus a liar will admit this fact. There has never been anyone before or since who has rocked our world like Jesus. Time to remember. Time to celebrate! …

During the Summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson spent 17 days writing the Declaration of Independence.  It includes the famous sentence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (US 1776).”

 What does the Creator have to say about this?

I worked my way off the wheelie bed onto the narrow operating room table. There were masked and gowned people all around helping. Next to me on a cart was the heart-lung machine, complicated and a little frightening. The guy closest to me was explaining that he would be monitoring my brain waves and managing the anesthetic to keep me just under.

I looked up at the ceiling tiles just beyond the three giant light fixtures …

In 1863, our God-fearing President, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday in November as National Thanksgiving Day. His motivation was to heal a nation divided by the Civil War.

He also wanted the day off to watch football.

Dear friends, let me remind you that you are so greatly loved! I’ve heard that if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it! And, with that being said, please allow me to share some thoughts I’ve been noodling over.  Let’s start out agreeing with Him from His word…

Do you ever wonder what God wants us to be doing? What exactly is his will for you today, this hour, this moment? …

Over the past three months, I have been digging into this passage from the Gospel of Matthew in my Seminary studies. I’ve been writing paper after paper about the context of this passage, what the Gospel of Matthew would be missing if this passage were removed, the grammatical structure of the passage, and an outline of how Jesus leads his listeners through this perfect teaching.

Humanity's best thinkers have been tirelessly working to understand creation, what it is, and how it works. For the past 150 years or so, this has been going on at an accelerated pace. It wasn’t that long ago that the prevailing theory was that all things consisted of earth, water, air, and fire.

When I graduated from high school, I went off to ministry school and lived in a house full of fifteen girls. You heard that right, fifteen. One of the first things I discovered when moving in with young roommates was how differently each of us had been raised.

God wants our hearts. God does not always get what He wants. God always gets the free will He gave us.

Smoke a brisket and invite the neighbors to come and partake.

They will bring a bottle of Cabernet and their mostly agnostic beliefs with them. This is the predominant religion of my neighborhood.

“What do You want me to do today?” I ask the Almighty in my mind. He, of course, being God, has time for my question. This, I actually believe. I believe in a miracle when I believe that God hears me ask Him questions. I also believe that if I quiet my brain down, I can hear His whispered shout of an answer.

Why do we challenge ourselves to do difficult things?

Jake asked me, “What’s new with you?”

Nothing came to mind. I was a little disappointed with myself that nothing came to mind. Am I living in a worn-down pattern where nothing is new anymore? This is not good.

The life you have been given is the very place where God wants to encounter you. It's not about waiting until you have everything figured out, become perfect, or until life settles down and you have more time.