I'm not sure I like how limited the phrase "I was saved" can be, that it refers to salvation in the past tense. When I hear the phrase "I got saved" I always picture Jesus scooping up someone from the "nonbeliever" box and then dropping them in the "believer" box. Poof. There you go. Finis. The transformation is complete! It isn't. But sometimes we act as though it is. [Click title to read more.]
Tag: faith and growth
It’s Okay For Us To Be Wrong
We want to have the "right" answers all the time. We want to look like we know what we're doing. We hate the idea of "looking bad" in front of the world. We like to focus on the positive. But we're human. [Click title to read more.]
Knock-Down Days
A knock-down day is not a tragedy, not a disaster, but is made of the tiny little griefs and irritations that eventually topple you. [Click title to read more]
Cultivating A Sense Of Wonder Is A Christian Act
Wonder is a quality that we must embrace and cultivate as believers. We live in an often-cynical world, heavy with pessimism. Unironic enthusiasm and delight sometimes seems out of style, and out of step. But as Christians, wonder is part and parcel of our experience. [Click title to read more.]
Weekly Round-Up
Happy Friday! Wow, it was a productive week for me. Hope it was for you too. This week we talked about drive-by evangelism, how we talk about sin, embracing the beautiful mystery of God's invitation, and one reason children raised in the church tend to leave it behind as adults. There's also the most recent … Continue reading Weekly Round-Up
Embracing the Beautiful Mystery
The story that we see in the Bible is only one side of a coin; on the other side exists God's work in the cosmic realm, His shaping of the universe, of us, of our souls. [Click title to read more.]
How We Talk About Sin
I worry sometimes that in my own life I fall into the trap of believing there are "acceptable" Christian sins like pride and arrogance and envy. That there are sins that are shameful and sins that are, somehow, not - sins that should be hidden from the world and from others, and sin that it's okay to admit. God has been convicting me about this lately. [Click title to read more.]
Weekly Roundup
Let's catch up, pray, and rest together. [Click title to read more.]
The Strength In Mercy and Grace
Mercy and grace somehow have a reputation as "soft" virtues. But I don't think that's quite accurate. Mercy and grace, too, can convey astonishing power. Just as the silence that follows the thunder can be more devastating than the thunder itself, so can God's grace and mercy cut through the sorrow and pain and hardened hearts of the world. [Click title to read more.]
I’ve Seen The Monster, And It Is Me
We were not saved because we were good or special; God's grace is not something we conferred upon ourselves. Acting as though being a "sinner saved by grace" is a personal credit to us is like a beggar acting as though it's a noble act for him to nod his head "yes" when someone offers to drop food into his shaking hands. [Click title to read more.]
Samaritan's Song 