When peace is the enemy of God

August 22, 2015 by 3 Comments

A long long time ago, there was a man name Jehu who was sent to overthrow the kings of Judah and Israel.  They learned he was coming and so they set out in their chariots to meet him and plead for peace.  And his reply was simple:

“What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” (2 Kings 9:21-22 ESV)

Hmm… Nice job with the Gospel-centered response, Jehu. 

Except, it really is a Gospel centered response. See, there was a pattern with the people of Israel and Judah.

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Filed Under: God's bigness

My terrifying treasure

August 13, 2015 by 2 Comments

My computer battery has 13% as I start to write this blog post.

Reason says to wait until it is charged.  Logic says that I have a folder of drafts that I could share with you.  My common sense says that the thought I want to share is not fleshed out enough, not polished enough to share in this brief moment, (not when only 10% remains now.)

But I can’t breathe in and out right now without a catch in my breath at the glory of the Gospel.

This truth we call the Gospel – guys – it is insane. Offensive. Confusing. Terrifying.

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Filed Under: God as Savior, God's bigness, God's promises

Words I thought I’d never share

June 26, 2015 by 5 Comments

Every now and then, I click the ‘drafts’ tab on my “ALL POSTS” page out of a desire to diminish the disturbing number of posts begun and never completed.  

My drafts folder is a graveyard of thoughts.  Thoughts that I never had the time to flesh out or thoughts that I lacked the discipline to fully birth. And sometimes among the words that never made it – I find a draft that I don’t even remember writing, but that still feels so achingly familiar to me somehow.  

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Filed Under: Fighting apathy, Fighting discontentment, God's bigness, Hard days

The danger of demanding things from God

June 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment

This is the story of the God of Israel: He provided for His people.  He heard their cries. He delivered them from slavery. He led them through the darkness of the wilderness and provided water for them in the dryness of the desert.

And this is the story of how the people of Israel responded:

Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? (Psalm 78:17-19 ESV)

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Filed Under: Fighting discontentment, God's bigness, God's promises

Be Valuable

June 2, 2015 by 1 Comment

The Tuesday after December 5th, 2013 I drove with a friend up to our church offices to pick up a DVD I needed.  It was late.  Past midnight.  But I needed that DVD for the memorial service that was happening later that week.

I walked into that office that night for the first time since hearing that my co-worker had been taken from us. I wanted to get in and get out, afraid of that place and the feelings it would force me to face. I knew the DVD was on the far side of the office in my mailbox, but I went straight for the cabinet by my desk.  I knew there was something unspeakably precious to me in the top drawer: a scrap of paper with a joke written across it in sharpie.

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Filed Under: Fighting discontentment, God's bigness, Ministry
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