“On rainbow days God’s presence is hard to miss.”- John Ortberg God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds . . .”- Genesis 9:12-13 “And when […]
“In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.”- Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child Matt Bays concludes Chapter 13 of Finding God in the Ruins by […]
“And if you doubt what happened, wondering if it really mattered, let the pain be your litmus test. Where pain is present, a wound exists.”- Matt Bays In Chapter 13 (“Someone Else’s Story- Telling Your Story”) of Finding God in the Ruins, Matt Bays asserts that telling the truth is not easy. It’s not because […]
“Often, it’s not about becoming a new person, but becoming the person you were meant to be, and already are, but don’t know how to be.”- Heath L. Buckmaster, Box of Hair “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are- no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of […]
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”- Maya Angelou “I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead. . . . And anyone who does not remember betrays them again.”- Elie Wiesel, political activist and concentration camp […]
“I imagine God is pleased when we allow the foolish things of this world to confound our wisdom- when we allow ourselves to be drawn into His love in the most peculiar ways.”- Matt Bays Matt Bays begins Chapter 10 (“Me Encanta- The Love of God”) of Finding God in the Ruins by observing there […]
It has been said that at the start of every friendship are the words me too.”- Matt Bays “Friendship . . . is born at the moment when one man says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”- C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves In Chapter 9 […]
“Sometimes the comfort of God comes to us dirty, showing up when we least expect it. I have often found God mixed into what many consider their greatest disappointments in life.”- Matt Bays As Matt Bays begins Chapter 8 (“Love Sifting- The Comfort of God”) of Finding God in the Ruins, he notes that, from […]
“Faith built on preference is capable of producing only an incomplete theology.”- Matt Bays As Matt Bays concludes Chapter 5 of Finding God in the Ruins, he reminds his readers of the Scripture verse printed on the page preceding Chapter 1: “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, […]
“When our faith is built upon a theology of no more pain, we fail to hold dark and light together and cannot experience the fullness of God.”- Matt Bays Matt Bays begins Chapter 5 (“Put Away the Glitter- God Wants You to Tell the Truth”) of Finding God in the Ruins by stating that God’s […]
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”- Jonah 2:8 In Chapter 4 (“The Age of Reckoning- Symptoms of a Deeper Problem”) of Finding God in the Ruins, Matt Bays notes that one phrase from Jonah 2:8 really impacts him- could be. Pastor Bays interprets the phrase to mean that something is […]
“And if we want life that isn’t driven by our past hurts, we must squeeze ourselves onto a tiny dirt road and trust that it will lead us somewhere good.”- Matt Bays “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”- Matthew 7:14 (NIV) In […]