Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. Romans 12:14 (NLT)
I remember watching a video not too long ago of a police officer dragging a black girl out of her school desk and not knowing what story about the context to believe. I also remember feeling a strong sense of anger emanating from the student and from the officer. It marked the first moment of my awareness of the deeper issues we're now facing...
I'm not waiting for another opportunity. I am not waiting for a chance to make it big in life, strike it rich, or become famous. The truth is that I am famous to God. Being known and adored by God is the most elevated position in the universe. I'm already at the pinnacle of success, fame, and wealth. I am now free to pursue everything I do without a worry in the world because I'm not looking for personal gain, I'm looking to share the...
I'm done with waiting for my next encounter. I'm going to give thanks for everything I consume and everything I partake of and everything I engage with as though they were each different expressions of God saying directly to me: "I love you."
I refuse to live like a love-starved beggar. I am not love-poor. I do not live in a poverty of love. No one lives in poverty—they waste away, they decay, they die.
I will subvert every experience of the...
This is the second time it's happened—hitting a wall, that is. You know, the emotional kind. You know you've hit the metaphorical wall when you can't think, you can't process conversation, you can't make a sound. The air gets stuck in your throat and the universe seems to pause. In moments like these, I'm not sure if it's easier to know why you've hit the wall or easier to not know. All I know is I knew. I knew why I hit it and I know now. It...
Whenever I speak out of frustration: I end up partnering with someone else's demonic opposition I fail to partner with God's answer of provision for the person or issue I'm speaking about I act as though I believe the person I am speaking against does not hear from God I neglect my ability to contribute personal meaning to the conversation through the lessons and growth that I am learning and experiencing I stunt the personal growth I could have...
When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food... she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them opened...
To be honest, now Adam was hurt. It was personal now. He had told her that God put this tree off-limits, yet she violated his boundary right in front of his face! If God wouldn't allow him to eat of the tree, how could Adam...
It often feels to me like there really are no safe or reasonable assumptions in life. I think my feeling is based on the experience that hurt happens and people die and flowers grow and the supreme court makes people angry. I don't want to change my assumptions based upon my experiences. I want to choose my assumptions based upon the values they cause me to embody. I assume (based upon the suggestion of scripture) that God is a comforter. This...
"Wow, this is deep," I mused. I find myself enraptured by the words I read on the screen, when the inevitable moment arrives: I disagree with the author. "No, that's a horrible way to look at it. This is exactly the mindset that irritates me about people today." Then I remember a crucial detail: I'm reading my own posts from 3 years ago. At some level, I wonder if this points to growth. It surely shows change of some kind... I'll just call it...
I struggled greatly trying to title this post. I came across this shot completely accidentally. I was attempting to take a picture of the wire mesh at an askew angle for fun when I noticed the gleam of light from the sun's last rays. It's like a light that strikes your peripheral vision. Have you ever had that happen to you and had it catch you unawares? Something about the idea of a sudden, unexpected ray of light speaks to me of the way God...
To me, there's something mysterious about the period of day we know as twilight. It doesn't matter whether it's the morning twilight or the evening twilight, because both represent hope to me. Something about having the sun below the horizon yet still radiating its light across the sky gives me assurance that there is still hope. It could be an analogy for how though I cannot see the sun, I can see evidences of its existence—kind of like...
