God’s splendor is a tale that is told.
“Stable” isn’t a word I’d use to describe 2020. I’m more likely to use the year as a swear word. You feel me. Nothing has been steady, dependable, or constant. But when the mail arrived with this tiny square of big scripture attached to my jewlery, I had to sit back for a selah moment. …
Pastor Mike Todd’s message on racial reconciliation, re-presented, is the best out there on Christians’ role in racial healing. Watch the video, read the notes, change your life.
Sabbatical (noun): from the Hebrew agricultural term “shmita,” referring to a year-long break from working the land to allow it to rest and heal in God’s care rather than man’s. I have never successfully returned from a sabbatical. Every time I’ve taken a break from writing, whether personal or self-improvement or fiction, it’s ended up …
There’s a peace that goes beyond peace. One more universal than doves and olive branches.One more profound than pre-dawn silence.One more complete than your boxed set of Friends. It’s the peace that existed in Eden,that gave Abraham his strength,that steadied Jesus in Gethsemane. Not the peace of this world, the Roman “pax.”A peace so other …
Ontario is officially holding in place for the next two weeks, and the news coming from places already doing so has made people twitchy here. Specters of instability, claustrophobia, boredom, and scarcity are sending ripples of fear through the collective unconscious. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Spending time in social isolation—for the …
Have you noticed how when you ask God to give you more of some good character trait that you almost immediately run out of it? There’s nothing quite like praying for patience to conjure a traffic jam, for example. Ever wonder why? Personally, I always assumed it’s because if we want a new skill, we …
There’s this wild story in the Bible [Mark 2] where a paralyzed man is lowered through a roof in a jam-packed house. This guy’s buddies carry him up the back stairs, CUT A HOLE IN THE ROOF, and drop him onto Jesus who forgives his sins and heals his body. There are tons of great …
Yep. That’s my word for 2020. OBEY. Possibly the least uplifting word anyone’s ever had as their theme for the year. I mean, seriously. I’ve been doing this for years and had words like RISE and BRAVE and WONDER. Major transformational aspirations. So when this one came to me, I refused to accept it for …
![“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord!” [Job 1:21 ERV]](https://i0.wp.com/itwondersme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/The-Lord-gives-and-takes-away.jpg?resize=360%2C240&ssl=1)
Who do you blame when life goes sideways? If we’re feeling vindictive, we blame other people. If we’re feeling humble, we blame ourselves. And if we’re feeling exceptionally spiritual, we blame the enemy. #nottodaysatan am I right? But not so fast. Take a look at the Book of Job, where Satan is horrible to a blameless …
Attitude is everything. Especially when we don’t get what we’re praying for. I recently re-read the story of David and Bathsheba, a familiar tale of lust, murder, and trying to make things okay that are NOT OKAY. What stands out is how David grieves when God takes away the child conceived by his sin. This …
As Moses led Israel out of Egypt, he was praying constantly, fully dependent on God to walk an entire nation out of slavery fast enough to avoid being slaughtered by the furious army chasing them. Moses sure didn’t have the power to do it, what with that pesky sea in the way. The Egyptians must …