As a child, I was terrified of being lost. I understood “being lost” as being separated from my parents. When I was five, I tried to spend the night away from...

There Will Be Consequences “Whatever. . . . Been there, done that. I don’t care. . . .” A jaded callous attitude seems to pervade popular culture. I wonder if what appears as cynicism may be a...

So I Was Afraid Fear may be seen as having faith in the enemy. Fear can hold us enthralled, imprisoned. Paralyzed by the “what-ifs” and “maybes,” we decide we would rather...

Untie the Knots Deborah, prophet and judge, was a woman of heroic stature who had the courage to lay her inner leading on the line of fire. She spurred military leader...

Get Help Perhaps Christ gave us the church because it is too hard to follow him alone. Sometimes pride prevents us from reaching out to others for help. We may be...

In the Meantime . . . Much in our lives is ambiguous, uncertain, unresolved, and conflicted. What do we do while waiting for clarity and resolution? Paul advises that we keep awake. Be...

What Are You Looking At? You are still sitting on the steps. You hear the dryer buzz, but you can’t make yourself get up to go fold the laundry. You have...

Not Again! You are slumped on the stairs, head in your hands, going over in your mind what she said, what you said. You feel that hard knot of anger tightening...

Is God really so severe as our week’s passages imply? Are we shocked, even outraged, to entertain that the answer might be “Yes”? Perhaps we have domesticated the “consuming fire” of...

The passages this week have made me squirm. I want more grace and less accountability. I’ve thought, Well, that’s the Old Testament. Give me Jesus. Or, Paul sometimes speaks abruptly; Jesus...