Mar 25
Don’t wait. Not a minute. Not a second. Instead, praise God now. If you and I wait to praise God until after something earthshaking and amazing happens, we’ve got the wrong order. Praise comes first. Doubt that? Consider the classic praise story in the Bible–this scenario (in Acts 16) where Paul and Silas, bound in chains in …
Feb 19
What are your fighting against these days? Cancer? Addiction? Depression? Discouragement? Or what are you fighting for? Your marriage? A wayward loved one? Improved finances? Restored health? Well, as the Brits like to say: Seriously. Keeping calm in the face of impending disaster actually is a recurring message throughout the Bible. As the Israelites …
Jan 23
Fear is your enemy’s weapon. He uses it skillfully and often to great effect. Fear and its offshoots–worry and anxiety–are like a wildfire, encroaching on every area of your life and leaving destruction in their wake. Fear eats its way into your emotions, robbing you of the peace and rest God intends for you. Fear …
Jan 08
Here’s what I know about the New Year …. If your heart is beating, you have a purpose. It doesn’t matter if it’s a broken heart, grieving heart, sad heart, lonely heart, full heart…any kind of heart. If it’s beating, God has a plan for you and a purpose for each and every beat. Friend, …
Dec 18
If only I hadn’t missed that one little step on the deck, fallen and broken my wrist fourteen months ago. If only that tumble didn’t cause a nerve injury, greatly impeding my recovery and still needing prescription pain relief. If only all the trauma didn’t bring on tachycardia, requiring a complete cardiac workup and lifestyle …
Oct 30
I know many of you have suspected this about me for quite some time. Certainly my husband has. But now it’s confirmed in black-and-white. I have a screw loose. In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that this is not an x-ray of my loose screw. There wasn’t time to get a copy …
Oct 16
So how are you feeling today? Happy? Frustrated? Overwhelmed? Popular psychology tells us that feelings are “neither right nor wrong.” But I want to tell you that feelings do not necessarily mirror the facts. I witnessed this firsthand a few years ago when my husband and I headed out with my boss, Dr. Marc …
Sep 11
I distinctly remember the last time my family and I went tent camping…and why we never did again after that experience. It was the summer of 1983 and my pastor-husband convinced me that it would be fun for our daughters and me to join him on the youth group camping trip. So I packed up …
Aug 28
When you believe in God, it can be hard to come to terms with the fact that He has allowed adversity to come into your life or your loved one’s. Author David Biebel talks about this fact in his book If God Is So Good, Why Do I Hurt So Bad? Biebel says there are …
Jul 31
In those nerve-wracking few days between my diagnosis and my surgery, I announced to my husband, “We need a pastor—and I don’t mean you!” I think he could tell by the distraught look on my face that I was serious, so he called our good friend David Dunn, pastor of a sister church in …
