Renewing Faith │ Restoring Hope
Light hand knows confidence. Tight hand knows fear.
Controlling love is an oxymoron. The moment we try to control by means of love is the moment we cease loving. It matters not if our control has good intentions or is kind and gentle. We cannot and must not call this love. Therefore, love respects the other’s free will—to choose however deemed best. To manipulate or remove this choice is to simply confuse love with self-interest.
Continue reading “Love and Free Will”Tantalizing temptation of tight hand upon you returns upon me.
Surrendering to God will cost you everything. But this is nothing compared to what he gives in return. Spiritual, physical, emotional, and social health are just some of the riches we discover from submitting our hearts to God. Recently, we’ve discussed how such surrender is the best asset for healthy social relationships and today we’ll consider the implications of this claim.
Continue reading “Stewarding Love”Light hand relaxes… it knows where to place its tight hand – on God.
Human relationships rise or fall upon the currency of trust. Yet for so many, trust does not come easily. It’s difficult because it requires exposure; and few things are more potentially devastating than an exposed heart. Some people never move past such loss and most only do so with great emotional and mental effort. But if we’re willing, God can help us learn to trust again.
Continue reading “Facing the Fear of Trust”This week we launch our tenth devotional poem. The next five weeks of blog posts will draw from themes in this poem, applying Christian faith to relationships.
Light hand holds as only a steward.
Tight hand in idolatry grasps.
Light hand loosely holds, relaxes.
Tight hand fearfully grips, trembles. Continue reading “Devotional Poem: Light Hand or Tight Hand?”
I now see your ever-present love, and not just now but always before.
One of the greatest challenges to Christian faith is learning how to overcome the disappointment of unanswered questions. Here the Christian faces the glaring interrogation, “Will you believe even if you don’t understand?” This question strikes at the very center of our faith—choosing to believe in spite of rational certainty. Such resolution is, itself, necessary for taking up the call to Christian surrender. Continue reading “Faith’s Defining Moment”
When I see me honestly, I see Him accurately.
It is not very often today that we hear people talking about having visions of God . . . at least not without having their sanity questioned! Such talk, however, used to be a normal part of the Church’s vocabulary. The Christian tradition speaks of the “beatific vision” as seeing and experiencing the glory and light of God. While it is common for Christians to anticipate such a vision in heaven (I Cor. 13:12), many have grasped such an image this side of glory. Continue reading “The Cost of Vision”
I now can see, I have new eyes.
Faith is a mystery, plain and simple. It is not dependent upon what is seen yet it is able to influence what we see. As human beings we tend to believe what we see but as Christians we are called to believe what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). So what exactly is the relationship between faith and sight? Continue reading “Seeing With the Eyes of Faith”
The next several weeks of blogs will be based on our most recent animated reading, “Nothing Changes but Everything is Different.” Click here to see the full text and watch the video.
Nothing changes but everything is different.
The service was charged with excitement as the preacher man picked up the microphone and yelled, “God is good!” Then raising it towards the crowd, they all screamed back, “All the time!” Upon which the preacher repeated, “All the time!” And the crowd returned, “God is good!” Continue reading “The Rich New World of Holy Surrender”
This week we launch our ninth animated reading. The next five weeks of blog posts will draw from themes in this poem. If you like the video, please share with others.
Lord, You’re so amazing!
How do You do it? Continue reading “Animated Reading: Nothing Changes but Everything is Different”
Desperate for God. This has been the theme we’ve focused on since the very first blog and we have done so through the notion of “postures” or attitudes of holy desperation. So far we have talked about the postures of spiritual brokenness and stillness and this week we introduce the third posture—surrender. To speak of surrender is to consider the ultimate purpose of Christian faith. It’s easy to give lip service to this self-denying virtue but another to actually live it out. Continue reading “Rethinking Surrender”
