Love God, and Do What You Want
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 ESV) While sitting in silence recently, contemplating my Lenten devotional, I came to understand something that had been worrying me for nearly my whole life. It’s been my dream to write books ever since I realized that books come from people writing them. I’ve planned to do it, poked away at it, spent time and money and credit hours on it, and frequently felt guilty for doing so. Last September, circumstances finally came together to allow me to quit my day job and write full time, and it’s been...
Read MoreA Missionary Heart
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9 NIV) When I was growing up, I heard plenty of inspiring stories about missionaries who went to exotic and dangerous places. I admired their hearts for God, their willingness to say “Send me,” but secretly, I worried that God would call me to Africa or someplace else that I didn’t want to go. This past Sunday, Pastor Claudio presented the Biblical case for helping immigrants. He pointed out something that, to my embarrassment, I had never thought of before:...
Read MoreOne and the Same
“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:11-12 NIV) I was talking with a friend the other day about the 2016 presidential election. I was a little further along in processing what seemed to me a disastrous outcome than I was when I last wrote. “I believe God is still in control,” I told him, “I just wish I knew whether he’s working ‘all things…for the good’ or delivering us to our enemies for punishment.” (See Romans 8:28 and, for example, Ezekiel 23:28.) When I...
Read MoreSuch a Time as This
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 NIV) I couldn’t sleep on the night of November 8, 2016. I had woken up that morning excited to live on the west coast, because the outcome of the presidential election would probably be known before my bedtime — never expecting that come evening, I would be mourning the results. At the same time, I know what the other side feels like. I voted for George W. Bush in 2004, right after I moved to Washington state. I had been invited to a large election watch party, where most of the people were drinking away...
Read MoreMeaning and Mystery
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV) My mom has lately been reading memoirs of Christians who became atheists. (How she got to these books is a long story, but so far I’m not worried that she’ll go down the same road.) I skimmed one of them, about a pastor who left the faith. In it, he concludes that the role of pastors is “making meaning” for people. He thinks doing so is no less important or valuable as an atheist, he just no longer believes that it comes from an...
Read MoreMilk Guilt and Absolution
Here’s another one from the archives, originally published in April 2006. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other…” (James 5:16a NLT) I live alone. (Well, I’m owned by a high-maintenance cat, but she doesn’t help with the housework; rather the opposite, in fact.) As such, certain chores in my apartment occasionally get neglected — like cleaning out the refrigerator. It may happen that after a week or two of eating no meals at home but breakfast, I’ll notice that something in my fridge has, er, aged past its prime. Now, I don’t know for sure that it’s bad yet (you can drink...
Read MoreTruth in Love
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV, emphasis added) In this season of public discord and divisiveness, with so much negativity assaulting us on the airwaves and the Internet, I thought I’d let the Word speak for itself on the matter of speaking. I know I am often guilty of...
Read MoreA Change in Perspective
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2 NIV) (This is another post from the archives! I originally wrote it in June of 2007, six weeks after my broken-heart post. As a side note, if you have something to share with other Creeksiders, be it a question you’ve been pondering or a lesson you’re learning, we’d love to hear from you. Email me for more details. Editing and brainstorming help included!) This past Saturday, under the firm conviction that glorious weather should not be wasted, three friends and I drove up to the Granite Falls area and hiked to Heather...
Read More(Not) This Again
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45 NIV) I can’t believe I have to write about this again. Again. Yet another mass shooting, this time in Orlando, has rocked America and splattered itself all over the news and social media. This one touches so many hot-button issues — Muslims, immigration, gay rights, gun control, terrorism — that it was politicized before it even happened. Every...
Read MoreCry Out to Jesus
(I’ve been writing FYI articles for ten years. Wow! This post, written almost exactly nine years ago, is the only post anyone’s ever asked me for a copy of. I’ve never thought of resurfacing a post until today, so perhaps God had this in mind for you, dear reader.) “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25 NIV) Sometimes trials in our lives are like Seattle rain — misty, intermittently obnoxious, but overall a minor inconvenience. Other times, events in your life hit you like an earthquake; without warning, they just knock you right over, and...
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