How Does the Father Feel?
Perhaps you’re like me, feeling burdened and heavy-hearted over the increasing cycle of violence and death in the Middle East. Less than four weeks ago most of us couldn’t believe […]
Perhaps you’re like me, feeling burdened and heavy-hearted over the increasing cycle of violence and death in the Middle East. Less than four weeks ago most of us couldn’t believe […]
Our theme verses for our series entitled “In the Arena,” are I Cor. 16:13, 14: “Be on your guard, Stand firm in the faith, Be men of courage, Be strong. […]
Right now I think it’s easy to wonder, Is God paying attention? What’s on his mind? The words, music and facial expressions in this powerful collaboration by dozens of churches […]
Today I’m filled with sadness.
This doesn’t often happen to me. I try to go about life with a spirit of gratitude and joy. Yet, I have known for several years now that the tragedies we encounter on almost a daily basis—whether personal, related to family or friends, or on a global scale—pierce me on an increasingly deeper level with each passing year.
I first noticed this deeper piercing a few years ago when I read of two local college girls, home on a brief break, gassing up a father’s SUV for a trip into the mountains, whose vehicle was hit by another car pulling into the adjacent gas pump. One of the girls was in the gas station buying snacks; the other pumped the gas, standing between her SUV and the gas pump. The collision caused a spark which became a conflagration that burned the girl alive. Paralyzed bystanders could only watch in stunned horror.
I’m not much of a poet, but Psalm 124 provides a template that even I can follow in writing a personal expression of praise.
If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the Name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
“I desire something I vaguely recall; I long for something in my future that somehow I remember.”— Cindy Crosby Have you ever found yourself longing for something undefinable? Some spiritual […]
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I think one of the struggles that Christians and non-Christians share is understanding how God, who says He is the embodiment of love, allows the horrors we see around us […]
In the past few months I’ve grown increasingly weary by a series of unmet hopes and regular-life challenges. I recounted to a friend the technical disruptions that began first with […]
I thought this was an extremely honest perspective from a person struggling with church as she has known it. Does she represent a large slice of her generation? What do […]