“You don’t have to bow to your feelings.” Sounds pretty simple, right? My emotions have a place, and rightly so, God made us to be feeling creatures, but emotions shouldn’t have the final say about what is true in a situation. God, in his severe mercy, has given me a number of opportunities to practice this lately. I have been thinking about the analogy of being a racquetball court instead of a sponge. I think somewhere along the way I got this idea from the book, Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Jankovich. For me, being a racquetball court (and … Read More
Edwards | Family Moment
The Edwards family gives us a peek into their quarantined life and Sherry opens up the Word.The Edwards family gives us a peek into their quarantined life and Sherry opens up the Word.
Laish
Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else.Judges 18:27-28I have been working my way through a Bible-in-a-year plan the past few months. One thing I’ve learned: the old testament is wild. While stories occasionally leave me shocked, often angry, and sometimes inspired, I’ll admit that much of the Old Testament has left me … Read More
CDM | Total Depravity
The Committee on Discipleship Ministry posted this short devotional about Total Depravity. It’s worth checking out.The Committee on Discipleship Ministry posted this short devotional about Total Depravity. It’s worth checking out.
Real and Lasting Hope
“So be careful how you make sense of your life. What looks like a disaster may in fact be grace. What looks like the end may be the beginning. What looks hopeless may be God’s instrument to give you real and lasting hope. Your Father is committed to taking what seems so bad and turning it into something that is very, very good.” Paul David Tripp I don’t know about you, but these words stopped me in my tracks. Found in the last paragraph of the March 31st entry of Tripp’s New Morning Mercies daily devotional, I was struck with … Read More
Is Everything Sad Going To Come Untrue?
When I joined my first New City discipleship group five years ago, we began the process of memorizing Romans 8. Scripture memory was a new discipline for me, but over the course of two years I did commit that chapter to my memory. These words that are hidden in my heart have come to the surface over these past few days when I’ve felt tempted to succumb to fear and anxiety. Out of my meditations in Romans, I have been reminded of three disciplines that I need to practice daily when my feelings start run away with me. First, I … Read More
Even if …
“Sometimes God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” Joni Eareckson-Tada Guilty confession: I sometimes live in a fake future; a future of my own projection where God is not present, sovereign, or good. This happens when my nervous system stops sending signals to lift my foot while on a hike, or when there’s a pandemic, or just on a normal Tuesday morning … Well, as it turns out, that fake future is a bad place to live. Not only is it gut-wrenching, but it’s simply not true. It’s a lie that Satan, my flesh, and the world … Read More
A Mighty Fortress
It is well worth your time this morning to read the encouraging words of Cartee Bales, a teaching elder within our church, about Martin Luther’s response to the Black Death that swept through Luther’s hometown of Wittenberg.