Ephesians 5 starts out with a pretty hefty commission: to be imitators of God. You know. YAHWEH GOD. The all-power, perfect Being who created the universe, Who parts seas and keeps burning bushes alive, Who raises the dead and forgives sins, Who is always fair and just, slow to anger and abounding in love. That […]
I often think about how beautiful and deep and rich the story of God’s redemption plan and His purpose for the ages truly is. It can even seem incomprehensible by mortal standards—how many threads had to be woven in. How crucial the steps were. How much was at stake and what had to happen to […]
I grew up around weapons—guns and swords. My brother and I were raised to respect them. I remember being taught over and over again that if you’re going to pick up a weapon, you’d better hold it carefully—and be aware of what it can do, so you can use it well. The Sword of the […]
There are a lot of things we can live without, but we can’t live without a head. Unless you’re fighting a hydra, the general consensus in battle is that the head is a pretty good target to aim for. It’s one of the surest ways to incapacitate your opponent. You don’t even have to knock […]
When I was fairly young, one of my favorite movies was Braveheart. I remember sitting in rapt attention on the living room floor, stuffed horse gripped to my chest, watching the scene when the Scotsmen taunted their English enemies and then promptly retreated from the reciprocating storm of arrows behind a shell of wooden shields. […]
It’s a sound we all know well: the crash, the musical tinkling of shattering glass, and the very, very delicate cleanup of the mess in the wake of a broken dish or wineglass. Most of us won’t make it through our entire lives without breaking something, and when we do, for the most part we’ll […]
No matter how tough we try to be, underneath, we are all soft, squishy people. I remember being a little kid thinking my rough-n’-tough dad was literally impenetrable. It took me a while to realize that as stern stuff as my dad is made of, he bleeds like anyone. And the same is true for […]
My husband is the master of the work aesthetic. He always makes sure he’s dressed for success, no matter what the task is. I’ve always admired how put-together he is for the occasion, from hat to shoes to belt. Always gotta remember the belt! And he’s right about that, because it’s important that he has […]
In past entries of this blog, we’ve looked at the emphasis placed on the “put off/put on” command—to rid ourselves daily of the “old man” sin nature that was once our garment and put on the heavenly attire of the “new man” nature in Christ. But there’s actually a second “put on” command, just as […]
For most Christians, it is no secret that our lives began in darkness and will end in light. While there are those, like myself, who have been born again for so long and from such an early time in life that we don’t really comprehend a time before we lived in the light of Christ’s […]