Don’t ever condemn someone to the “friend zone.” If you do, that person will become a stripper. That’s the moral of the stage musical Rock of Ages, which some of my co-bloggers and I caught during a weekend trip to Las Vegas last month. The first act launches a love story between Drew, a busboy who dreams of being a rock star, and Sherrie, an aspiring actress who’s just moved to Hollywood. The two form...
When I heard that we were receiving communion as a church staff, I was thankful. I needed it. I was wearied from two stressful weeks of constant ministry. Lots of counseling, lots of planning, lots of situations in which I had no idea what to do. I was tired. That morning, it had taken everything within me just to get out of bed. Hearing that we would receive communion was a ray of sunshine in...
This past weekend, our youth ministry began a series exploring the ins and outs of worship. As a way to ease into the series, our middle schoolers (5th-8th) spent Sunday morning practicing prayer through the acronym PRAY (praise, repent, ask, yourself). The students progressed to different stations where they explored different Scriptures that related to each theme, and then were given space to write out their own prayers to God. As you can expect from...
As I settled into the book of Deuteronomy this evening for a little devotional reading, I was taken aback by the following verses: “Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say.” (Deut....
If you happened to be sitting between rows 24 and 27 on the American Airlines flight from San Antonio to Dallas last Sunday, you might have heard the following rhyme playing repeatedly during the 38 minute flight: I’ve got a remote/ and I’m ready to roll/ making things happen/ ‘cause I’m in control! While I won’t say that the battery powered toy remote is my favorite gift my son has received, it has definitely gotten...
About the author: Lindsey has a BA in Sociology from Cedarville University and a MA in Education (math) from the University of Colorado. After having taught 5th grade for four years, she currently stays at home and spends her days wrangling three toddlers while anxiously waiting for the sound of the garage door. Growing up, we didn’t do Santa. My sisters and I didn’t write lists, my parents never took us to visit Santa, nobody ever...
I used to believe that all evangelical theologians were a gift from God. This is what my Reformed background taught me. My honest confession in this short piece is that I no longer believe that. In fact, evangelical seminaries and Bible schools are turning out a great number of men and women who are anything but such a gift. They are turning out men and women who while they may be intellectually brilliant, are spiritual...
Sometimes in life we have the opportunity to be something especially beautiful: we have the opportunity to be the answer to someone’s prayer. I was staying at a friend’s house one night, and we were sitting together watching TV when I got a call from my sister. She was sad and overwhelmed and had no idea how she was going to pay for her next semester of college. After cobbling together student loans, government grants,...
We have been conditioned by society to think that we are exceptional people. By exceptional here, I mean that we believe we are the exceptions to the rule; that we are the diamond in the rough, the hero of a story in which the camera is always centered upon us. In essence, this means that we often believe that we are the exceptional heroes of a story destined to end well (and by this I mean that we think we are entitled to a story that ends well; this is not to say that no one will have a story that ends well; rather, it is simply arguing that we are not inherently entitled to have stories that end in this way). This belief is, for all intents and purposes, an illusion. That being said, how did we arrive at this place as a culture?
“Your love never fails. It never gives up. It never runs out on me.”* I stood, watching a gym full of hundreds of college students, singing these words of praise and truth. Arms-raised, dancing, clapping, and shouting – I admired their passion. The pulsing drums, the rocking guitars, the melodic keyboard, and the passionate vocals all came together to celebrate God’s relentless love. I joined them in singing these words, and I remembered sitting in...
© 2024 — Highend Theme
Created with in London, UK.
Recent Comments