• Hope in Suffering

    Leaving Your Son in an Assisted Living Facility (Because You Love Him …)

    November 5, 2010 /

    I never read “Wrestling with an Angel” without tissues nearby. Tears are inevitable because, as I tell Sophie every time she weeps when saying goodbye to someone she loves: “It’s OK to cry. It’s good to cry. Our tears mean that we love.” And MAN does this father love his son. Yes, he obviously loves his wife and other kids too, and he is a man greatly loved by God—but his love for his disabled son, and his strong verbal gifts to communicate that love to us, make this blog a must read. Well. As long as you don’t mind crying a bit. Enjoy this taste of grace even in…

    read more
  • Uncategorized

    The Role of the Law in Our Sanctification

    November 4, 2010 /

    I am LOVIN’ my re-read of Dennis Johnson & Elyse Fitzpatrick’s excellent book: Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ Let me share a few extended excerpts with you to hopefully encourage you on this brisk Thursday morning:   “We must believe (and continue to “beat it into our heads daily,” as Luther once said) that God is perfectly satisfied in Christ’s sacrifice for us, that we have obtained full adoption, and that God is pleased with us and calls us “beloved.” These truths will stimulate joy and expand our faith … If we live by faith in Jesus Christ rather than by faith in…

    read more
  • Hope in Suffering

    So Hard to Believe Because it is So Hard to Obey

    November 2, 2010 /

    While visiting with a friend recently, I was struck again at how important it is that we encourage one another with testimonies of God’s grace at work in our lives and the lives of people around us. As she said at one point during our conversation about biblical peacemaking, “It can, at times, be hard to believe that these peacemaking principles work in real life because it’s so rare to hear of people ACTUALLY persevering in relationship, doing the hard work of listening, discussing, confronting, repenting, confessing, and truly forgiving.” How right she is. I think this is one of the reasons why I find it particularly distasteful when someone…

    read more
  • Uncategorized

    Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.

    October 31, 2010 /

    My pastor was preachin’ in this morning! I really think I need to go back and listen to the entire sermon again, not just for my own edification but because I’m prepping a new women’s retreat on fear (to be given for the first time in March 2011) and MAN am I convince that the first session needs to anchor on the doctrine of justification—our only hope (and our confident assurance!) for peace with God. This was one of my pastor’s many points and I won’t try to restate them all for you. But I will give you the one quote that has stuck with me all day long: “Fear…

    read more
  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Are You Ready to be a Leader?

    October 27, 2010 /

    I’m not familiar with this book (Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders), but even just the summary questions listed by Kevin DeYoung in a recent blog post are worth contemplating: Are You Ready to be a Leader? In reflecting on my own strengths and weaknesses, and in thinking (and praying!) about potential future leaders for our church’s women’s Bible study, I was particularly challenged by these: 2. Do you retain control of yourself when things go wrong? The leader who loses self-control in testing circumstances forfeits respect and loses influence. He must be calm in crisis and resilient in adversity and disappointment. 4. Can you handle criticism objectively and remain…

    read more