Okay. I thought I’d better explain why I am so in love with Wild Grace! (Romans 5:1, MSG) pretty much sums up the case of Wild Grace: By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he…
“Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and where…you should go next.” (Frederick Buechner) This is the quote of the week for me. I keep reading and re-reading it. Tasting the words, reflecting on…
Welcome to the first Melodic Monday blog post! I will be featuring some of my favorite contemporary Christian songs or old powerful hymns every Monday from now on if God’s willing! Christian music has been a blessing in my life and I hope I can share some of the moments when I have found a particular song very meaningful to me. Today’s song is Somebody Is Praying Me Through performed by Allen Asbury and written by Darrell R Brown and…
When I moved to Minnesota to teach at Concordia College, Moorhead I purchased a shiny white car that I dubbed Grace. I felt it would be wonderful to drive around with Grace because grace was the best thing I knew. I heartily agreed with John the Baptist testifying “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.“(John 1:16-17, NIV). Grace enabled…
In the first part of the series I presented a formula for spiritual health. We need to have a healthy diet and a good balance of exercise and rest. All that together equals as the spiritual immune system. God (the Spiritual Immune System) : Father (Rest) + Son (Nutrition)+ Holy Spirit(Exercise) This second part of the series will be about the Father/Rest in the equation. The third part will be about the Son/Nutrition and the fourth part will be about…
Why do we need to have a spiritual immune system? That’s easy. Life is hard, life is rough, life is difficult, even if we don’t talk about spiritual battles. Our faith is on line every day. In order to be able to feel spiritually well and live our lives according to God’s will we need to have the best spiritual immune system possible! But make no mistake: God is our source of health and healing. Praise the LORD, O my…
Is joyful living a sin? Is it wrong to have fun and enjoy life? Is it okay to love life? These are questions that used to haunt me as a teenager. I was on the verge of independence, eager to start out my own life. I had grown to love the Lord more than anything but I didn’t know if it was okay to have fun, enjoy life. I have a bubbly personality so this was indeed an important question…
Father, Son and who? The Holy Spirit seems so untangible that sometimes we seem afraid of approaching the subject all together. But let’s check out what living in the presence of the Holy Spirit could be! Jesus told his disciples:”And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he…
Is receiving the grace of Christ an amazing race or amazing grace? It is a relief to know it does not require to be the winner of the amazing race to receive the grace of Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn the grace of Christ. It is the amazing gift from God; it is amazing grace. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when…
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is…
