I’ve worked at five different churches over the past 20 years. Not one of them was all good or all bad. But each one shaped me spiritually, emotionally, and theologically.
One question has emerged through them all, one I think we each need to answer: What kind of person is my church forming me to be?
Sometimes the hardest part of spiritual growth is feeling like you’re going in circles.
Same struggle. Same questions. Same heartache.
But what if you’re not stuck? What if you’re actually going deeper?
What if this is what spiritual growth looks like?
As the sunrise peaks over the mountains and through my dining room window, I sit on my blue armchair, thinking of the day ahead. Suddenly, I hear the door open. My seven-year-old wakes up and, without hesitation, walks right up and climbs on my lap. He doesn’t think anything of it. I’m not even sure he’s fully awake yet, but his first inclination is to sit with me in silence as we watch the sunrise.
There are no right words to share with those in grief, but there are definitely wrong words.
Grace isn’t free, it always comes at a cost.
On character formation: “Who we are becoming is more important than where we are headed…”
We’ve long been convinced to remain silent, that whatever burdens lay on our hearts need not be spoken; can’t be spoken. There’s no way we can say it. After all, we’ve been conditioned not to say our inside thoughts out loud.
Is it possible to miss God’s will? How should we go about making God-honoring decisions? Does God care where I live or who I marry?
We’ve all heard the story of David and Goliath. Chances are, though, we’ve been getting it wrong this whole time.
When I have a bad day, I often think of Denathor and feel better about myself. In case you don’t remember, Denathor was the Steward of Gondor, as read about in Tolkien’s The Return of the King. He was not the king; he was the steward.