Three Times Hosanna
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11 NASB) A year ago, on Palm Sunday, our two grandsons were staying with us and joined us at church. They loved walking around waving palm branches. I lapped up Pastor Mark’s sermon on “hosanna,” a Hebrew word that can mean, “He saves, He saved, Save us!, He will save us.” (The sermon is on our website titled “Follow Me Into Death”.) Just two...
read moreTrusting in the Invisible
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:24-25 NIV) When Nicole and I were struggling with infertility, the passage of the Bible that I kept coming back to was Romans 8:24-26. The promise of hope, that God will bring about the desires of our hearts that we cannot physically see or grasp, allowed me to keep praying and stay positive in the midst of the difficult worldly truth that we could not...
read moreThe Plight of the Palestinians
What does Palestine have to do with us here at Creekside, 6,753 miles away? Besides, with so many problems in the world—North Korea, trade with China, Syria, refugee issues—why be concerned with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? For two reasons. First, as Christians we should be concerned about injustice anywhere in the world. Second, in my experience speaking to people from the Middle East especially, this unresolved issue is a huge stumbling block to world peace. In January, I spent two weeks in Israel with a group of 25, led by Pastor...
read moreThere Are No Accidents
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV) This past Sunday, Keith Ferrin preached from Romans 8, which is consistently my favorite passage in the Bible. An old study Bible had a note that compared the book of Romans to a cathedral and Romans 8 to the pinnacle of the cathedral. One of the things we’ve been talking about at Creekside is clarifying the language around our mission statement with a strong focus on encountering Jesus. While it was...
read moreHuman Misconceptions
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19 NIV) Writer’s block. In all honesty, that’s what I have while sitting here writing this article. Usually when I write an FYI, I feel like God is telling me a theme or a verse. I don’t know how to explain it any more than that. Or I find something in my devotions that sticks with me for a couple of weeks. This time? It seems like silence. If memory serves me well, I’ve written...
read moreForgiveness: A Story
(This story was originally written in 2008.) “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13 NIV) I’m sitting here huddled against the armrest on my side of the couch, seething and pondering my next move. My boyfriend is sitting at the other end of the couch, feigning petulance. He never actually gets angry, but he’s also refusing to let me get away with picking a fight. Well, he started it. I mean, sure, he probably didn’t mean to say it in the...
read moreRemember for the Future
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. (Deuteronomy 15:15 NIV) People are terrible at remembering things. Sure, we all forget car keys or birthdays or why we went downstairs just now. But we’re also prone to forget the lessons we learned. We’re creatures of routine. It can take people anywhere from 18 to 254 days of focused effort to form a new habit, and one of the easiest ways to sabotage a new routine is to lose sight of why you’re doing it. In the book of...
read moreBoth Sides (S)now
Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. (Job 38:28-30 NASB) Snow is polarizing. On the one side, when those flakes start falling, there’s hope and delight in the hearts of most school-age children. (Just today, after two and a half weeks of snow, my grandson cheered at the thought of more!) On the other side, there’s foreboding in the heart of many a parent, or anyone...
read moreSnow Neighbors
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:1-4 NASB) Just in case anyone hasn’t noticed, we’ve had a little bit of...
read moreThe Least of These
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40 NIV) Many of you have asked me how I’ve been doing now that I’m a licensed RN. Well, I’ve been doing more school—I have 8 months left—and two jobs that are vastly different from each other: a pediatric nursing home and an eating disorder residential treatment center. As I’m about to brave the ice and snow for work with the kids today, they are on my heart and mind. Not many have heard of a...
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