June 2012
Discernment as a Way of Life
Discernment is much more than mere decision making; it is, first of all, a habit, a way of seeing that can permeate our whole life. As it makes clear in John 9, it is the movement from seeing things merely from a human perspective to seeing from a spiritual vantage point, continually looking for evidence of the work of God in order to join him in it.
Discernment is a quality ...
Noticing
Do you ever wonder why some things seem invisible? Why don't you see the salsa in the refrigerator door? How can you walk right by someone you know and not see them until they say your name? You see right through them. It is an irony, I suppose, that even the sighted can be blind. And the hearing can be deaf, too. You tell a friend, "I didn't know!" They ...
Living the Line
Scripture is full of one-liners. I'm not referring to jokes, although there is humor in the Bible. The one-liners I'm speaking of are people.
Significant people who are summarized in single sentences show up all over the Bible. But we don't notice them the same way we gravitate toward characters whose stories fill chapters. When we talk about examples of faith, we talk about ...
Don’t Pretend
There are a lot of things about God and Christianity that are a worthwhile debate, but the fact that we all sin is typically not one of them. I have never met a person so brave as to say he was perfect, but I have met a lot of people who think they are good people.
What do they mean by that? Do they mean they have good motives, do good things? Or do they mean they are just ...
Nice Girls Don't Ask
Feeling underappreciated and overlooked, I decided to talk with my team leader. I'm embarrassed to tell you I allowed my frustration to fester for several weeks before I said a word. I didn't want to be "that" girl—whiny, needy, and demanding.
As I nervously asked for what I needed and even wanted, I was surprised to hear "yes" to many of my ...
Rise Up, Part 2
As I mentioned in my previous post on Gifted for Leadership there's a movement rising up within this generation of young adults. Among these young people are committed Christians who are determined to remain faithful to Jesus and make a positive difference among their peers. Not all of us know what this movement is calling us to do, but we do know we have an itch to participate. ...
Rise Up, Part 1
When you look at statistics about young adults, their faith, and the church, well, they don't look pretty. More and more 20- and 30somethings are walking away from the faith of their childhood simply because they've yet to make it their own.
But there is a remnant––similar to Daniel and his young friends in Babylon––who desire to rise up and make Jesus famous in every part ...
Managing Conflict in a Church Setting
Some of Jesus' best known words promise, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Most of us prefer to focus on the second part of the verse, but the first part is also a promise: in this life, we should expect some trouble.
Something about working in a ministry setting can easily deceive us into ...