Toward the end of Chapter 3 of One Thousand Gifts, author Ann Voskamp remarks that sometimes her quest to list 1,000 things for which she is thankful seems quite juvenile. In the midst of mundane existence, is making that list merely a ridiculous experiment? The truth is, Ann explains, that learning requires practice- and at […]
In Chapter 4 (“How to Know When You’re Hearing from God”) of The Power of a Whisper, author Bill Hybels clearly states that, while God’s whispers rarely are tangible, there are specific and concrete steps (aka “the whisper test) we can take to discern “if we’re hearing from God or hearing from the sushi we ate last […]
In Chapter 7 (“The Gospel of Suffering”) of Glorious Ruin, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian quotes his friend Scotty Smith, who once said the “God will use the pain in our lives to make us cry uncle, so that we might cry Father.” The author adds that as Christians we serve an unrelenting God who desires that […]
Why do we often respond strongly to criticism? Why are we so concerned with what others think of us? Why is our self-image so bruised by the emotional and spiritual devastation of adversity? John Ortberg discusses these issues in Chapter 10 of The Life You’ve Always Wanted. He labels the tendency to fixate on negative […]
In Chapter 4 (A “Dee-Dah Day”: The Practice of Celebration) of The Life You’ve Always Wanted, author John Ortberg describes a time when he was giving his 3 young children a bath. One of his daughters was out of the tub and John was trying to dry her off, but she joyfully was running around […]
John Ortberg begins Chapter 1 of The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People with a statement by his childhood hero, cartoon character and philosopher Popeye the Sailor Man: “”I yam what I yam.” Popeye would say this whenever he felt frustrated or had no idea what else to do. Pastor Ortberg notes […]
In Chapter 2 of Ruthless Trust, author Brennan Mannng discusses 4 characteristics of a life lived in gratitude: 1. Gratitude is inclusive. Henri Nouwen encourages us in his book Bread for the Journey: “Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see […]
Continuing his discussion of Jesus healing the paralytic (Mark 2:1-5), author Timothy Keller (King’s Cross) recognizes that at the moment the paralytic was lowered through the roof to Jesus, Jesus had the power to heal him right on the spot- just as He has the power to immediately act on our requests. However, Jesus knows […]
In Chapter 11 of Fear Not Tomorrow, Ruth Graham uses the Biblical account of the Feeding of the 5000 to underscore our human tendency to limit God by going full-speed ahead with our own plans or by playing to our inadequacies. As Ruth notes, we impatiently rush ahead of God with our own agenda. Yet all […]
In Chapter 1 (“Trust at My Doorstep”) of Fear Not Tomorrow, God is Already There, author Ruth Graham discusses the question most people ask when adversity hits-“Why, God?” When we ask this question, Ruth notes, we’re expressing our deepest emotions, hurt and disappointment to God. Although God already knows what we’re feeling, we need to […]
In Chapter 4 (“Woe, Be Gone”) of Fearless, Max Lucado tells the story of a friend’s 6 year old daughter rushing to get dressed for school. In her hurry, she tied her shoelaces in a knot. With the school bus coming and the clock ticking, her thoughts were so focused on untangling the knot in […]
Ron Carpenter Jr. begins Part 5 of The Necessity of an Enemy by discussing what he terms ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that the enemy uses to sabotage God’s purpose for our life. Unlike more devastating forms of adversity that show up as Goliaths, Ron notes that these weapons “. . . tend to be unobtrusive. […]