Sometimes we live our lives for our own experiences, for our own purposes, and for our own convenience. This is what we are called to place aside when we come to faith. We are called to start putting the needs of others first and to fight against the injustices of the world. We are asked … [Read more…]
Today’s scriptures are all about God’s call in the lives of humanity. We all experience some kind of call or draw to God in our lives. So we all can relate to these accounts. I remember when I first became aware of my call. I was a young child of 12 years old. I remember … [Read more…]
During the Depression, there was widespread hunger, lack of employment, and homelessness. My Great Uncle and my Grandmother often told me that they knew of people who suffered greatly in town but being children of farmers they suffered very little and barely noticed the Depression. But what my grandmother remembered the most about that time … [Read more…]
I was watching the news the other day and like many people I find it increasingly more difficult to find reports that give me hope in the future of this world. There are reports of all consuming fires, bullying, more people dying from the flu, people dying from war, and copious amounts of political infighting. … [Read more…]
Since the very beginning of Christianity, churches formed rule, regulations, and ways to try to control and understand the movement of the Spirit in the lives of those who call themselves Christian. When I was in college, I attended a lot of different churches from various Christian traditions and what stood out to me is … [Read more…]
My husband and I watched a Ted Talk given by Margaret Heffernan on Monday night for his new job. And the speaker used a study as the illustrative story that really stuck in my mind. This study called Super Chickens was first conducted by Dr. William Muir and it studied pecking order in chickens. In … [Read more…]
I love the annunciation scriptures because it depicts the shear grace with which Mary handles being approached by the angels of the Lord and finding out that as an unwed teenager she is pregnant. And she is not only pregnant but she is to bear the Christ child. No pressure. The average person, I feel … [Read more…]
True hope can be a very powerful thing. Hope can bring out the very best in us. Biblical hope is different from desiring and wishing for something to occur. My Biblical dictionary defines hope as “trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God’s promises. It’s the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God’s … [Read more…]
My holidays are always jam packed with events, visiting, and friends home for the holidays. Every year it is a mad dash to figure out Christmas gifts, thanksgiving plans, cooking and baking, birthday gifts and celebrations, church events, and by the way add in seeing our friends when they are home seeing their families. And … [Read more…]
Today is Reformation Sunday. This is an important day for Protestants around the world because this is where our religious sects originate from. But for many of us we have little concept of the radical ideas that went behind such a movement and the courage of many believers and clergymen to stand up to the … [Read more…]
