Exploited in the church, but Leah no more
As unloved Leah did Jacob, a woman can give herself to a church culture that exploits her – while rejecting her personhood, her adulthood, her worth, her.
Earthquakes, trauma – and silences that erase
Any eerie silence that minimizes or denies an earthquake - or any other trauma someone is facing - shouts to those willing to hear: Look deeper. Ask, Why?
A spirit like Caleb’s – fully following God
At a crucial moment in my life, Henry Blackaby and Caleb of old encouraged me: Regardless which way anyone else is rowing, you be filled with following God.
Dear wounded, grieving one, I pray you float
"I pray you float," she said. Hmm. When the rains came down and the floods came up, who survived that trauma? Those who floated in the ark.
The Lord who breaks open the way
“She cannot say that!” the woman yelled. Half a world from my home, she forbade me to invite the churched to repent. Then, we watched the Lord break through.
Celebrity culture in the church
It’s alluring, deceiving and so pervasive you may live and breathe it, and not see it. How to recognize celebrity culture in the church.
Tessa and the lion’s den
My finicky and beloved cat Tessa lived for 17 years. She inspired this post one night in 2004 – the year I first found myself in a den with lions that tear people apart.
The most unwanted assignment
Sitting in my car at that gas station on that winter afternoon, staring at Isaiah 58:1, I began to cry ... Oh. Lord. Not. This. Assignment.
When church leaders bully people and reject God
The day I realized what I had been seeing for years, it broke my heart: church leaders bullying people, rejecting God, leading their followers to do the same.
The flappable Deborah Bread
Something deep within me cries to be unflappable. But, as this incident from years ago reminds me, flapping can lead to laughing.