There are days when the weight of my sin is overwhelming. Do you ever have days like that? Simple prayers and Scripture verses expose the great wickedness in my heart that wants to come out (and unfortunately, often does). In those moments, I don’t even want to show my face to people for fear of exposure—or worse, sinning against them. It is then that I wonder, “Can I really change? Is it really possible?”
Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?
Resurrection Day Reflections
It’s easy on this side of the resurrection to look at the disbelief among those who followed Christ and think, “how could they miss it?” I mean, they had all they needed, Jesus, the very Son of God, told them that he was the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophesy. And yet, it took them a little while to come around.
Thoughts on Celebrating Easter
Earlier this week I mentioned to Daniel that I didn’t feel like I had prepared my heart to celebrate the Resurrection this coming Sunday. I realized that I had allowed all of the busyness of life to overshadow the coming celebration. But then I realized something even greater—I never let that happen with Christmas.
Missions Wednesday: Russia
It is hard to read or watch the news these days and not be overwhelmed by the tragedies that surround us. In a lot ways, and I know this is true for me, it is hard to not be desensitized to the horrors of suffering and bloodshed. On Monday two Russian women, strapped with explosives, committed suicide taking many victims with them. As Christians, our initial reaction to these acts of violence should be a missional one. We should be broken over the souls lost and be broken over the evil taking place. To believe in the finished work of Christ is to believe that he can and will one day make all of these things right. In the meantime, we have work to do. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation and hope to a lost and dying world.
Why Can't We Be Friends?
I don’t read the Christianity Today Women’s blog frequently, but the topic caught my eye the other day. It was a post from a resident director of a dorm at Cedarville University. She was talking about the need for Christian colleges to provide meaningful friendships between the sexes. She poses the question, “will Christian colleges teach men and women to be friends?” and suggests that believers need to begin thinking of “new paradigms” for friendship between men and women. I think Christian students need opportunities to mingle and meet the opposite sex—but not primarily for the purpose of meaningful friendships alone.
Happy Monday!
Hospitality as a Ministry, Part 2
Perhaps you have an extremely demanding job and are not home often, ask God to give you wisdom to live out this command in the midst of a hectic schedule. For you, it might mean one guest a month. Maybe you are a young mother and are spent at the end of the day. For you, it might mean inviting an unsaved mom over to befriend her and allow your kids to play. God cares about a heart that desires to minister, not duty for duty’s sake.
Hospitality as a Ministry, Part 1
The past few weeks I have been taking a class on the ministry of hospitality at the Seminary. It is a class for wives of seminary students, and it has been extremely helpful. One of my assignments in class was to put together a devotion on hospitality, so I will be posting what I learned through this devotion in the next few days. God has really opened my eyes to what his vision of hospitality is in this class. Hope this helps!
Missions Wednesday: Nigeria
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with over 130,000,000 living in this coastal country. While Nigeria practices freedom of religion, the country is split between Muslims living in the north and Christians living in the south. This split has always caused tension, and often violence between the north and south, with Christians being the recipients of horrific persecution as of late. Carolyn McCulley responds to this violence after watching a documentary on Nigeria. Her insights are very helpful as we pray for, and think about, Nigeria.