Last Sunday our family was leaving church without attending the coffee hour because it was already 11.30am. I was explaining our children that there were no lunch served just coffee and dessert this time. Our son responded saying “Right, they served the main course in the worship.” Pretty profound theology for a 5-year old! This exchange came into my mind while reading the 10th chapter of Luke in the Message. The story of Martha, Mary & Jesus got a whole…
We all want to live well. Just too often we mess up things and forget how to live blessed in God’s way. Instead of praying we worry. And by worrying we forget the most important thing of life: our relationship with God. Too often we want something our way so badly that we forget to see what’s happening around us. Our fists are so tightly closed that we receive nothing God tries to give us. “Cursed is the strong one…
We are halfway through Lent already! The first half is over and now it’s time to evaluate how we are doing. How are we doing with our resolutions? Has anything changed? What has God been teaching us? Have we learned something? Have a seat! I will share how my journey has been going and I would love to hear about your experiences! I guess fasting in any form brings us little distress. That is a good think if we use…
What are your biggest fears? We might fear losing our home, losing our job or losing people that we love. But we are not to build our lives around our houses, jobs nor people! We are to build our lives around Jesus Christ our Lord. Then we will never be sorry. When Jesus Christ is our cornerstone of our lives we are never homeless, we are never jobless, we are never…
What can we learn from the temptations of Jesus? Or are they inapplicable in today’s world? But it is not just about big temptations, it’s about our daily choices. It’s about putting God first in everything. My thoughts on Matthew 4: 1-11 were inspired by Eugene H. Peterson’s sermon notes found in Conversations – the Message with its translator. The core of the temptations is to put something else first in our lives and God second. The things can be…
One of the important decisions in life is to choose how we frame our life. Because our focus leads us to choose the elements that will define and refine us. Do we frame the troubles and disastrous elements of our lives? Or do we frame the grace of God and joys of the Lord? The choice is ours. Do we want the troubles and hardships to define us? Or do we let God define us? Living in grace does not…
Last week a Twitter friend asked me: “How can I be blessed? How can I receive blessings from God?” I realize there is a lot of yearning in people’s hearts. People want to be connected with God but they don’t necessarily know how to do it. Or they are yearning for a deeper connection with their Maker. This is all good. This is what God wants. God wants to be in touch with each and everyone of you. How delightful…
Believe it or not: fun is good. Too often people think that Christians should not have fun. But if Christians are not celebrating God’s love for us who is? If Christians are not dancing with angels and praising the Lord cheerfully who is? If Christians are not embracing God’s awesomeness who is? Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! (Phil.4:4, MSG) We are meant to love life and the Giver of life. We are not to…
I was delighted to see how enthusiastically people responded to the God’s Love Letter yesterday. People seem to crave assurance of God’s love for them. The wonderful thing is that the Bible is full of God’s unwavering love for us. Anytime you want to be assured by God’s amazing love check out some of the Bible verses that include these two little words “but God”. They’re small words but they declare God’s powerful ways to operate in this world in…
Are you feeling right now that God is way too silent or, at least, the connection is static at its best? Don’t worry. Help is near. God is near. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize Him or not recognize Him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly. –Frederick Buechner There sure are different seasons in life….
