My life is in flux—my husband and I are entering a new chapter and both of us are in the waiting mode to see where God leads us now. He is retiring from full-time teaching; I am, after a 4-month re-entry into part-time work at the Write Place, again approaching the great unknown—on what will… Read More
The Emporer’s new clothes
Hans Christian Anderson’s story (the brief version) goes like this: The Emperor’s new clothes were the talk of the town. The weavers (swindlers who spun tales, not cloth) showed them to the Emperor and his court–lifting up their arms as if holding something and describing the splendor of each article of clothing. “The whole suit… Read More
God breathes
God breathes our spirit into us, and our spirit is eternal. The only question is where will it spend eternity? As our spirit encounters life, we form a soul—character, personality, emotions, will, mind, and so on. These structures we erect of heart and mind, character and personality, are what we call the soul. In some… Read More
Sound asleep
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 Jesus was a dinner guest at the home of a Pharisee. He didn’t ceremonially wash his hands, he sat… Read More
End the vicious cycle of one-upmanship
In order to forgive, we need to identify with the person who sinned against us. Isn’t that what Jesus did when he came to earth? He became one with us—became our sin. That is how sins are forgiven. In order for us to forgive, we need to enter into the Gethsemane prayer with Jesus: “Abba,… Read More
Sow forgiveness…reap forgiveness
Jesus is God, and he became who we are—he became our sin. Because he was both God and man he could accomplish the task that God the Father gave him of being the perfect lamb that was sacrificed to take away the sins of the world. Jesus reached across time and space and identified with… Read More
Forgiving is not optional
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians… Read More
