Some speak of the church as an institution, but I think of God's church as a family. When I refer to "God's family," I am not talking about your physical family, or even about your local church group, although I hope that those things are included in your Christian family. God's family is much bigger than …
Continue reading Hearing God’s Voice (Part 7 of 7): Hearing Within God’s Family
Knowing when and how to share what we hear can be a tough part to navigate in our journey to hearing God. In this post, I would like to focus on three things that have helped me greatly. First of all, hearing God is not equivalent to having the permission to share what I hear. …
Continue reading Hearing God’s Voice (Part 6 of 7): Telling Others What I Hear
I can't pinpoint a moment when I first started hearing God, but I know even as a young child I already heard Him. It could be that the limits imposed on me by my handicap developed a spiritual sensitivity in me. I remember when I was only six or seven years old my dad asked …
Continue reading Hearing God’s Voice (Part 1 of 7): an introduction
"Everyone thinks I am weird!" I swept the kitchen floor late that night and cried. The house was silent except for the small sounds of slumbering. I hung up my broom and restlessly moved around the living room, straightening a pillow, putting away a few forgotten pieces of laundry. I switched off the last lamp. The streetlight shone …
Know how it is sometimes when you're bustling about your work, distractedly juggling lists in your mind and trying to pull everything together to accomplish a torrent of tasks? Then amid the whirl, something pierces your spirit, and you find yourself absolutely still, pondering... That happened to me this week. We're trying to get ready to …
I'm sorry that you feel rejected, you mean more to me than you'll ever know. I grew among you, wrapped in love, cradled in grace. You laughed with me in my joys, and held my hand through my pain. When my unborn baby died, you brought roses and wept. Then later you dandled my fat, wriggling babies, …
The toad beneath the harrow knows Exactly where each tooth point goes; The butterfly upon the road Preaches contentment to that toad. -Rudyard Kipling This poem has been running through my mind as some of our dearest friends are walking through a valley of suffering (and I have a few sorrows of my own, …
While Will was home for his lunch break, I read to him out of T4T (a book written by Steve Smith with Ying Kai). The book uses a verse from Proverbs to show that a lot of mess is normal for vibrant churches. Here's the verse: Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come …
As long as I can remember, I have loved reading missionary stories. Recently, I read (or re-read) three: Bruchko by Bruce Olson, Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger, and The Word Came with Power by Joanne Shetler and Patricia Pervis. While reading these stories, different things catch my attention and fill my ponderings for the days …
What do you do with those deep desires lodged under your heart? In my post Delight Yourself in the Lord I talked about how our hearts ache for both fellowship with God and partnership with Him, mostly focusing on our longing to be one with Him. This post is directed toward the second part--our longing to be part of what He is …
arabah rejoice 