Peace. Whisper the word to yourself and you can almost feel your heart relax. When you’re at peace, you feel an inner confidence that things are not running wild—regardless of the circumstances. Your mind is at rest. Your heart doesn’t flutter with anxiety. Your focus is clear. But far too often, peace is like that […]
Read MoreTag Archives: Philippians
It Takes Grace to Get Along
In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, joy is one of the main themes, along with perseverance and hope. These make Philippians one of the best-loved of the New Testament letters. Quarrels don’t readily spring to mind. But chapter four specifically names two women who were at odds. Paul names them, and recruits help […]
Read MoreFollow Me
The tension has been building for many years. The rhetoric has gradually been increasing after each of the last several local and national elections. But at the start of 2016, we began to hear from our elected MPs on what they believed was best for Great Britain as a referendum vote was called for by […]
Read MoreLaughter and Tears—Generously Given
Have you ever had one of those experiences where joy welled up so deeply inside that you laughed and cried at the same time? You know what I mean—when joy is so overwhelming that your emotions span the extremes. You don’t know whether to giggle or shed a tear. You fight to hold the emotions […]
Read MorePrayer – Letting Your Compass Rest
Did you know that a compass needle is just a little magnet that aligns itself with the much larger magnetic field of the earth? What’s more, you can confuse and distract a compass needle by bringing another magnet near. The distracting pull of something like a fridge magnet drags the compass needle off its true […]
Read MoreThe Problem With Prayer
For many, there appears to be a problem with prayer. “It’s a one-way conversation.” “It doesn’t seem to work.” “God takes too long to answer.” “God does what He wants anyway.” Crushed between the mortar and pestle of life, it’s easy to think there’s a serious problem with prayer: God. When God doesn’t answer according […]
Read MoreWooing the Wayward: Loving Your Prodigal until He or She Comes Home
Shattered. Your dreams of your children growing up to be godly Christians now lay like splinters of glass on the marble floor. “Mom, I’m gay,” your son announces. Your daughter reveals, “Dad, I’ve moved in with my boyfriend.” These words take your breath away. Your adult child is running not only from God, but from […]
Read MoreFinding a Middle Way through the Midway
With excitement in her eyes, Sarah kissed her parents goodbye. John and Judy’s decision to let their sixteen-year-old daughter attend the girls’ summer art camp wasn’t difficult. They had heard great things about the program and believed it was an excellent opportunity. Then John and Judy learned the famous art camp was a magnet for […]
Read MoreAnalyzing Unselfishness
Read Philippians 2:1-4. To be “humble in heart” as Christ stated He was, is to be submissive to the core. It involves being more interested in serving the needs of others than in having one’s own needs met. Someone who is truly unselfish is generous with his or her time and possessions, energy and money. […]
Read MoreUnquenchable Hope
One of the first weddings I performed as a young pastor had all the promise you could hope for in a marriage. Both in their mid-twenties, both believers, he was a medical student, she was a nurse. It should have been a model marriage filled with peace and joy. Struggles would come, of course, but […]
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