Whatever happened to loving one another?
Jesus is building his church. Repeatedly, he announced the key: “Love one another.” So what does that look like? And why is it so rare in the church today?
Checklists, idols and loving God
A preacher said: “You cannot love the Lord if you do not do these things.” Paul wrote: “I tried keeping rules. It didn’t work.” How checklists lead us astray.
Obsession with power, in the church
You begin to see something distressing in the church. Can it, might it, be an obsession with power, eerily like the Baal worship of old? Whatever do you do?
Weak but strong: Write and speak by the Spirit
“I am weak, but he is strong.” When we know that, ahh, then we can learn to speak and write the powerful words given to us by the Spirit of Christ within us.
Bucking the system: Shunning, submission, Jesus
Jesus grew up in a religious system God had instigated, and people had hijacked to use for their own ends. Jesus’ life shows us when and how to buck the system.
Woman walking on the water
When asked if I wanted to be ordained, I waited on the Lord. I’m still in awe! And I can encourage you: When he calls you to walk on the water to meet him – GO!
Recognizing the world in church clothing
Lord Jesus, show me when the church is not the church. Expose the world in church clothing – a system competing with God for my heart.
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.
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.
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.