Robust peace might sound a bit odd first. That’s because we’ve learned to think of peace as of lack of something. Peace is a lack of hurry or lack of pestering people. The peace the world ever is able to give is this kind of peace: a removal from busyness or a subtraction of something from our lives. But this kind of peace is not lasting and it diminishes our lives. This kind of peace is not robust peace. This…
Who is in charge of your life? A dead man or the living God? You see, this is a question of life and death. As long as we are in charge we are living in the world of dead. But when we surrender to Jesus, we take a giant step to the world of the living. “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father,…
Do you (sometimes) feel inadequate? Do you wish you could have managed things differently? Do you struggle with your shortcomings? Do you start your sentences with “if only…if only…if only”? We desire to be but we are not perfect. We fail. We are weak. Most often we can somehow deal with our inadequacies and shortcomings when they don’t affect our loved ones. But when we feel that we have failed as parents or spouses or children it is incredibly hard….
This message will be short and sweet but extremely important: Don’t let anything keep you away from God. Don’t let anything keep you from receiving the gift of faith. Don’t let anything keep you from embracing grace day by day. There’s nothing in your past that could make God love you less. Don’t give in to shame. There’s no mess that big that would keep God granting you grace. Don’t give in to shame. There’s nothing that makes you unqualified…
It’s Good Friday, the day we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? What’s the meaning of Good Friday anyway? Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no…
What do you think? Is holiness old-fashioned? Fasting during the Lent is (for most Christians) a voluntary thing. But too often we think all the discipline and growing in grace is optional, too. Even if you are not interested in hidden blessings hidden through discipline, you are called to be holy like God is holy. Holiness is not voluntary. It is the new normal for children of God. Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those that shaped you when…
Do you remember the story of vineyard workers(Matthew 20:1-16) who got paid the same no matter what time they started their labor? The workers who had labored the whole day and got the same pay as the ones who started late in the afternoon complained. I used to see this unfair, too. Why on earth would the master pay everybody the same? The logic behind this is fair: there is plenty of grace for everyone. The workers who started early…
I’ve always thought that we should only serve one God and we should not have idols. God should be number one in our lives. I had thought those possible idols would be other people or work or hobbies, somebody or something else than me. But then I read this from Isaiah: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress…
Do you feel rejected? Are you afraid that you have failed so miserably that there is no hope? Do you think your past makes you unlovable? I have good news for you. Because of Christ you are never out of reach of grace. Because of Christ you have hope everlasting. Because of Christ restoration is possible. For every single person on this green earth. No exception. All because of Christ. The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby…
Are you ready for 2013? Or do you know how to become ready for a new year? The web is bursting all kinds of self-help articles of how to make the best of 2013. But they leave me empty and unsatisfied. No matter how much planning I’d do for the new year, it does not solve the problems. If I have not ended this year well, the new year will be same old, same old. So the best preparation for…
