Grace and Peace The most important words you may read this week are "hidden" in the opening of a set of 2,000-year-old letters! When the Apostle Paul sat down to write, he typically began with a version of this greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus...

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from...

Certain Bible stories get down into your bloodstream. For me, Exodus 13-17 contains a series of those stories because I see my occasionally problematic, complaining spirit in the Israelites' response to God’s deliverance. (Maybe it’s not just me?) God doesn’t just help Israel...

Ringing in the New Year this year, I’ve made no resolutions. Over the past few years, I have been working on a few resolution-worthy goals with differing levels of success and un-success. And I’ll continue to. But I did go looking for old-school wisdom in Proverbs this week to think...

Every December, a quiet miracle happens without much fanfare. Our playlists change along with our calendars. One moment we’re into our normal stuff. The next, it’s O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Joy To The World, and O Come All Ye Faithful. This time of year, Christmas music takes over -...

I recently got my first pair of progressives (progressive-lens glasses). They tell you not to wear them when you drive or go up and down stairs for a while, because it takes time for your brain to process the new outlook your eyes are giving it. People swerve and fall down, apparently&hellip...

Yesterday I received a text from my dad: Charlie Kirk had been shot at a speaking event. Horrifying. Grief-inducing. (Pastor Jake shared a thoughtful response on Facebook that had me saying, “yes and amen” - worth a look if you haven’t seen it.) I went online to read about...

Every day, I ask God for grace and grit. Every day, He answers in ways big and small. I've been thinking about how God gives us what we need every day, which includes both great and not-so-great days. Grace and grit might seem like an odd pair to ask for, but they're actually perfect partners...

For many of us, periodic resets are essential. If we are to be all that we could be and live the life we are called to live it will involve gracious resets, recalibrations, and renewals from the Lord along the way. Without those, we can get into autopilot mode rather than living with...

These two quotes, one from Scripture and one not, put forward a wonderful truth about gospel identity. "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with...