We live in a me-culture of self-absorbed people with self-focused agendas, reluctant to serve the people around them. “I just can’t be bothered with that…or you.” But if we aren’t careful, we can fall into the other ditch that says, “Yes, I will be anything and everything you ask of me from now until the […]
Truth
Truth
Sexual Exposure and Modesty & True Empowerment
“Any and every time we indulge in pornography, we deny the precious gospel truth that every man and woman possesses inherent dignity, not to be solicited and sold for sex, but to be valued and treasured as excellent in the eyes of God. People are not inferior objects to be used and abused for selfish, […]
Don’t Worry, I’m Not All I Seem Either
Right before Christmas, I wrote down the top 19 memories from 2019, but truthfully, they weren’t necessarily my top memories: they were just the ones I wanted to remember. After all, sometimes we just want to forget the painful events that pushed us over or left us gasping for air. Social media has deluded us […]
Iron on Iron: Why Accountability Counts
Proverbs 24:11: ” Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” For many Christians, accountability hovers over the same category as humility, perseverance, and character. We know we should have it, but the thought of accountability makes us uncomfortable too. Ironically, having accountability upfront with safe and healthy believers makes […]
That’s a Gift? How Sometimes our Hardships Are God’s Fulfilled Promises
I’ve been reading through Scripture and Advent devotionals for myself (and the kids). We are so familiar with the story of Christ’s birth, sometimes we don’t slow down long enough to contemplate the implications of Immanuel, God with us. Or how Jesus fulfilled numerous prophesies foretold hundreds of years before He came. Or that He […]
12 Things We Want for Christmas
“Back in 2013, the LA Times reported that the average American home has over 300,000 items in it and there are over 50,000 storage facilities nationwide (and this is the fastest growing real estate segment!)” We have so much stuff, we are drowning in the waste of it all. This year, we’ve decided to cut back […]
Birthdays Make Me Do This
More than New Year’s day, birthdays serve as a catalyst to analyze, to ask the questions: what am I doing with my life? Am I where I want to be? What do I need to change to be where I want to be (in relationships, in my health, at home, in my spirit, etc.)? Five […]
Shut All Other Doors
I’ve been reading through I & II Kings lately and am astonished at how many pagan practices God’s people adopted. Depending on the king and whether he submitted to the law of the Lord or not, the people often threw their children into Molech’s fiery mouth or set up idol worship in their own homes. […]
You Belonged to Me Before You Belonged to Anyone Else
We all belong to someone: even if your life is so broken, you can only claim the foster system or the government, you are associated with another entity besides yourself. Sadly, we identity ourselves by tag lines that don’t give us a complete or accurate picture of who we truly are:_______’s spouse, ___________’s daughter, __________’s […]
Rethinking Mondays and House Size
Recently, my family made the trek to Oklahoma to visit my husband’s extended family. Four generations of Hanley men in one house was a precious and rare privilege. Ralph Hanley, my husband’s grandpa, raised up a heritage of men and women who then raised up a generation of men and women who love and serve […]