BLog

Image by Frederik Lower on Unsplash LEAVING ROOM FOR GOD "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room  for the wrath of God, for it is written,  'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12:19, emphasis mine) Don't go getting out ahead of me now, I'm not actually going to be talking about not getting revenge or getting back at people, or "avenging yourselves"!  We're going to keep things pretty simple and straightforward today. I happened to be reading R

Photo Credit: Ralph Felzer WHAT SHALL I RETURN TO THE LORD? Do me a little favor as we get started, would you?  Take just a minute and consider how good God has been to you.  Not just that He's been good to you, but the delightful, precious gifts–however big or small they may be–that you are grateful for.  Go ahead, I'll be here when you get back! …. Ah, there you are!  Surprising, isn't it, just how much there is?  And it's not all sweetness and roses either, is it?  And yet

Photo by Ralph Felzer THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS Have you ever wrestled with the thought that you're just not doing enough?  Or that all the things you spend your days on just don't ever seem to add up to very much?  Or that you'll never really change the world or even the lives of those you spend your days with in any significant, meaningful sort of way?  If that's you, I want to encourage you today! If you know Mary Brack very well you know that every January she chooses a wor

Photo Credit Ralph Felzer A HUMBLE PRAYER FOR YOU Since our prayer service this past Sunday (wasn't that awesome, by the way?) I've been thinking quite a lot about prayer and trouble and humility, so I thought I would share a few insights with you, and then I want to pray for you!  I hope you'll be blessed.  Let me know! We are coming off of a Christmas season that, as always, has been wonderful for some but sorrowful for others.  It's good for us to think back on the past ye

Photo by Ralph Felzer A LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS We all know that God spoke the whole of Creation into being in Genesis 1.  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…."  Day and night, sea and sky, stars and planets, and human beings.     And then, in a work of incredible beauty and profound complexity, the Apostle John picks up this creation melody at the very beginning of his gospel.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

Image by Makoto Tsuka on Unsplash INTO THE DEEP END Okay, so I know it's Thanksgiving week, but I also know that many of us are going to be struggling our way through it, so this won't be your typical Thanksgiving piece.  My hope is that you'll find God's peace in the season you're in, and that these words might serve as a sort of lifejacket while you struggle through whatever deep waters you find yourself in today. When I was forty I learned how to swim.  Yep, that's right,

Photo by Ralph Felzer STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY "I am severely afflicted– give me life, O Lord, according to Your word."  ~Psalm 119:107 It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of griefs, sorrows, and sufferings going on in our midst these days.  They run the gamut from threats to the roofs over our heads, to the safety and well-being of our children, to our own chronic illnesses and disease.  When a great sorrow hits, the weight of it just seems to collapse onto o