Christmas expectations: the perfect words at the perfect moment; the how-did-you-know look on someone’s face when they open the gift you took hours to find; the best tasting food ever; loving family conversations sitting around a fire; yourself looking fabulous in your outfit with not one roll showing; adorable little children in footie pajamas running up to you and grabbing your legs because you are their favorite person in the whole world; your entire list of people you love accepting Jesus because they suddenly realize that he is the true gift of Christmas.

I don’t know about you, but I have never ever experienced a Christmas like I just listed. I am a Christian. So I am supposed to treasure this season, right? Unfortunately, I am still quite in human form and often struggle this time of year, especially if I let my head wander to a list of expectations.Continue reading→

God often suffers from an image problem in our modern world. The image of God that many people have is a sour-faced angry heartless monster looking forward to the day when he gets to dangle our wretched souls over the fires of hell and then cut the string, laughing as we descend into the abyss of eternal torment.Continue reading→

There was a news story a number of years ago about a woman, who received a letter from her deceased husband, sent 56 years earlier, but never delivered to her. It had been sent to her while he was serving in the military during World War II. She excitedly opened the letter with trembling hands and tears welling up in her eyes, anticipating a love letter from her dear husband from so many years ago. But when she opened the letter a wave of disappointment swept over her. All that was inside of the envelope was a blank postcard with a stamp on it. Her husband had been an avid stamp collector. He had apparently mailed the postcard to her to have the stamp added to his collection.Continue reading→

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:8, ESV)

When I look at that scripture, it makes me feel a few different ways. First, sharing “me” is, well… risky. It denotes developing a closer relationship to another person that I don’t necessarily find comfortable. They may reject me somehow. At the same time, while it may be risky, it’s something that I sincerely desire. I can only speak from a female perspective but I suspect men feel similar, just maybe not as “gushy” about it. I long for that bonding with another person on a deeper level.Continue reading→

I saw an advertisement in a local newspaper the other day for a certain church with a slogan that read, “A Church of Search, Not Certainty.” I thought that slogan captured well the prevailing attitude and belief in our culture. We live in an age when the search for truth has become the goal, rather than the finding of truth. We are told that searching is good, but finding is bad. Can you think of an area in real life where that kind of credo would ever be acceptable? Imagine, for example, that principle being used by people who are searching for a lost child in the woods. “We are going to search for the child, but make sure we never find her.” The idea is ridiculous.Continue reading→

It is often said that there is no such thing as absolute truth. There is no truth that applies universally to all of us. Truth is an individual thing. Each person has their own truth. Each person must pursue and discover their own truth.Continue reading→

Where did evil come from? That is a good question. And my answer may surprise you. Love created the possibility for evil to exist, namely God’s love. Evil would not exist if God had not given some of his creatures the freedom to choose between loving him and turning away from him.Continue reading→