Come with me friend, I’ll motion and sign. I’ll walk slow and if you need to stop I’ll take the time.
There's a handmade wooden sign in the hallway leading to my bedroom with these words in black: " And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20 I walk by that sign daily and don't give it a thought, but the other day I stopped and read it over and over. I considered whether… Continue reading Remember the mystery
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com I’ve been in a church since the week after I was born. Every church I’ve been part of has impacted my life in a unique way. Like an arm is different from the liver, these churches were all very different. Among them were bad teachings. But at each church… Continue reading How four flawed churches helped me love Christ more
A Culture Born from our "Of Works-ness" I'm listening to Dane Ortlund's audiobook version of Gentle and Lowly- The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers on my commute to and from work. Driving home the other day, the narrator read the title of the 20th chapter, "Our lawish hearts. His lavish heart." And as… Continue reading Purity culture: The fruit of our “lawish hearts”- A book review
Photo by Victoria Borodinova on Pexels.com Whether your church calls it family ministry, children's ministry, kids ministry... whatever it's called, here are three reasons people often give for why they shouldn't serve in a ministry that involves children. I propose these three reasons are exactly why you should sign up this Sunday to serve in… Continue reading Three reasons you think you shouldn’t serve in your church’s kids ministry
In the days after the November 3rd election, I scrolled through my Twitter and Facebook feeds, reading posts from people with crosses, fish symbols and scripture references in their taglines, that left me grieved. They used words like, "go to hell,” held up their Bibles, guns, favored-candidate's flag, and accused other Christians on social media… Continue reading Words, walls, and the winning way of Jesus
Yesterday while scrolling through Twitter I read the heartbreaking news from Tim Challies about the loss of his son. Along with many other bloggers today who have been encouraged by Tim, I am praying for Tim and his family. Father, hear our cries for the Challies. Surround them. Hold them close. Send your people to… Continue reading For the Challies
Photo by Myicahel Tamburini on Pexels.com Despair. That's the word that comes to mind when I hear the news stories of late. This morning, while I was getting ready to go to church, my husband sat at the kitchen table shaking his head. The news story about the two L.A. police officers, shot while they… Continue reading What’s your hope?
On May 27th, the New York Times published the 100,000 names of people who died from Coronavirus. If you scroll down the screen of the online piece, you'll see the images of humans scattered sparsley at first, then densly as time moves forward. Next to many of these human icons you'll read the name, age… Continue reading Christians- get close. Stop idolizing and breaking others. Start serving them.
Tomorrow, people all over the U.S. will go to a local church. I have an opinion about what most of us going to church tomorrow think doing ministry means. I'd guess if you asked the average church attender, who among them is doing the work of the ministry, I bet they'd point to the… Continue reading Christian, you are in ministry
“Who’s Jason Vance?” you may ask. Nobody famous. And that’s the whole point. He’s the young church-planting pastor of my local church. A few years ago my small church closed. My pastor retired, went into a teaching ministry role and moved to Oregon. That sent me and my two sons into about three years of… Continue reading Why I stopped listening to Matt Chandler and started listening to my pastor, Jason Vance
