A page from my journal: April 1-2, 2024 Not giving up is more than just continuing to mindlessly do all of the things that everyone can see. Not giving up is a heart stance; a hope; a way of looking…
Cultivating Incorrigible Hope
“Isabelle would think of me in the present tense [I thought]. She was incorrigible when it came to hope.” It’s a line from the book I’m currently editing (shared with permission). The narrator is “presumed dead,” but she knows her…
Faith Doesn’t Have to Be Loud
What does great faith in action look like? The problem with trying to define faith is that we mostly see its outcome rather than what it looks like during the “in between” – the time between when the faith is…
Jonathan: An Example of the Gift of Faith
Yesterday I was thinking about Jonathan, son of King Saul. He’s a remarkable man in that he was the best friend of a man who was slated to usurp his own position of authority. He knew it, and was perfectly…
The Gift of Faith vs. the Gift of Prophesy
When we think about spiritual gifts, we tend to think of them as different and individual: The gift of leadership is different than the gift of teaching, the gift of decerning of spirits is different than the gift of hospitality,…
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Newton’s Third Law of Motion is simple: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, when you push against a wall, the wall resists you with an equal and opposite push (that’s why the wall…
Faith is Action
I was reading a book this week that talked about faith. The book said that there are two words for faith in the Bible – Pistis (Greek) and Aman (Hebrew). While they’re related, the two words don’t mean exactly the…
Faith and Authority
We hear a lot about authority as Christians. It seems every Christian organization has its own definition of what Biblical authority is and what being under authority looks like. I’ve been in places where the pastor was the supreme authority;…
From Generation to Generation
This past week, I’ve gone through dozens of boxes of family heirlooms, memorabilia, toys, “rare” garage sale finds, clothing, mid-century Christmas china collections, and nothing short of junk. Everything had to be sorted out – the heirlooms from the junk,…
Authorized Vehicles Only!
The other day, I was walking through a local park when I came to a sign next to a gate. “Authorized Vehicles Only,” said the sign. Without a second thought, I walked around the gate and continued on my hike.…