life. faithful.

  Who is this man? The Jewish chief priests and elders accuse him of crimes their people say deserve his death, yet he doesn't open his mouth. They say he is claiming to be the King of the Jews, staging a rebellion, yet he just stands there, silent. He listens to the crowd calling out for his crucifixion, be he doesn't defend himself. What kind of man does that? Who is this man, that he just walks like a lamb to slaughter? He is mocked and beaten, spit on and with thorns pressed into his brow--and yet he doesn't resist, doesn't protest, doesn't respond to those mocking him as King. He is offered wine to dull his pain, but he refuses. What kind of man can take such pain? Who is this man, who even when hung on a cross doesn't curse his executioners? Even now as he dies they mock him, yet his only response? " Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. " He hangs on a cross, yet he promises the criminal beside him that he will be...

 I know I should trust You. I know Your promises are true. I know You are ultimately in control of everything happening in this world. Sometimes, though, it's just so hard. Even though I know it never works out when I do, there's still a part of me that wants to try to control all the things. I look at the world around me and see it spinning out of control in a way I never would have imagined seeing just a few years ago. My nature is to try to reach out and stabilize everything I can, to attempt to keep "me and mine" from being thrown off-kilter. I start thinking that if I can just do enough, plan enough, and prepare enough, I'll be able to hold things in place for the people I love. It's not like I don't know better. I've watched some of my best laid plans go up in smoke. I've tried desperately to cling to things and had them slip through my fingers. I've begged and pleaded for You to just do things the way I expect only to sit back in disbel...

"I respect people's right to believe in whatever they want to believe in their God. But if you believe something that hurts another person, or does not give someone the same rights or freedoms, not necessarily under the Constitution because this is under God, I think that this is wrong, and I think that the Catholic Church and many other churches really need to re-examine themselves and their teachings. Because that is not what God is about. God is not about hindering people or even judging people."~Don Lemon These words were spoken close to two weeks ago, and I've been struggling with what to say in response for a while now. Not because I think Don Lemon will ever read my words, but because this is an idea that has become more and more prevalent--sometimes even from the pulpit. We were talking last week at church that it seems like people look to extremes when they try to picture God. They either see God as this horrible, vindictive tyrant ready to throw lig...

 There is no doubt that the world is going crazy. People seem to have collectively lost their ever-lovin' minds and are running toward a future that is full of broken hearts, shattered dreams, and days of darkness that we can't even imagine. Those who see the direction the world is headed are called bigots and conspiracy nuts and enemies of the state. And honestly? We should take that as a blessing. Jesus was despised by the world. Isaiah wrote,   " Out of emptiness he came, like a tender shoot from rock-hard ground. He didn’t look like anything or anyone of consequence—      he had no physical beauty to attract our attention. So he was despised and forsaken by men,      this man of suffering, grief’s patient friend. As if he was a person to avoid, we looked the other way;      he was despised, forsaken, and we took no notice of him." ~Isaiah 53:2-3 If we are truly His followers the world should despise us, too. Ma...

Recently, the New York Times published an article singing the praises of President Biden's Catholicism, saying that he is " perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century." The mention how his life has been " steeped in Christian rituals and practices" and talk about how his Catholicism directs his life and his policies. They cheer about how his faith doesn't focus on all the divisive aspects of Christianity like abortion and sexuality, but instead focuses on climate change and racial equity. They hold him up as a bastion of what truly tolerant, liberal Christianity should look like--someone who doesn't do the bidding of the horrible Conservative Christians who have been in power for way too long. Like so many are so quick to do, they praised liberal Christianity for being quick to unite in love and quick to ignore all those "hateful" aspects of the Bible that point out sin. One of the things the writer of the arti...

I've written about what I believe --we were challenged to do so many years ago at a church we had started attending. It was something I had never been challenged to do before, and I would encourage you to do the same. I've also written my testimony, probably more times than I can count (I grew up in a Baptist church, after all). It's been updated time and again, which should always be the case if you ask me because I should always be learning more about God and realizing what He has done for me (which is somewhere I very much fall short). Today, though, I realized that I've never sat down and thought about why I believe. Honestly, that's not a simple task. It seems like why is always the most complex question to answer. My first why comes from something most of us use as a basis for belief--it's what I've been taught, and the people I learned from were/are trustworthy. As Paul wrote to Timothy: "So surely you ought to stick to what you know is c...

"You just have to believe." Just. It's a tiny word with big implications. Just believe . It sounds so simply--just believe, and everything will fall into place. Just believe, and it will all work out. Sometimes, though, "just" is a really big hurdle to get over. It becomes a mountain looming over me, in between me and... well, whatever lies ahead. Because it seems like that "just" is blocking my view of the road God has laid out for my future. Don't take this the wrong way. I believe. I believe in God, and I believe the promises that tell me that God planned my place in this world and in His story long before I ever drew my first breath. Sometimes, though, my prayer has to become the desperate prayer of the father in Mark 9:24. "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" It's a short prayer, but I've found that sometimes those are the most meaningful. For me, it means something along the lines of the following: Lord, ...