This past year I decided to read and listen to more books to stretch, grow, and push myself to think bigger, better thoughts while engaging on a deeper level. I found it helpful to listen to audio books as I was travelling, doing yard work, building a retaining wall, and walking the dog. Now, you may be thinking: how much are you retaining when just listening to books? I can give you two responses to that question: more than if I don’t read at all, and way more if I listen to that book a few times over.

Do you ever feel like you are under a measure of spiritual attack Yes? Well, then you are not alone. If you are a follower of Jesus you are in a spiritual battle whether you are aware of it or not. It goes with the territory. You have a very real enemy of the soul who doesn’t like you and is bent on taking you down and making life more challenging than it needs to be.

Earworm songs are those songs that somehow get to have real estate in your mind and embed themselves in the internal world. They get locked in on repeat and are incredibly challenging to dislodge once they become entrenched into the mind. Like the earworm song, we all have songs, words, thoughts, narratives and embedded cultural themes that play consistently in our minds and hearts. Some of these are positive, empowering, and life-giving and some of them are negative, dehumanizing, and can be life-altering.

There are times is our lives when we know, or become aware of the fact, that we are about to shift seasons, or about to shift into a new place in our faith journey that’s deeper, somehow further along than where we just were. We become aware of a feeling of discomfort where you know you’re about to grow, but you’re just not there yet. We often refer to these as Threshold Spaces. A Threshold Space is that inbetween place from where you have been and where you are going or growing, but you are just not there yet. The work that we do in preparation for these seasons of change, or the spiritual season of growth, is incredibly important and helpful as we seek to navigate through these seasons well. 

Are you feeling weary today? Where do you go when you need a boost of energy or renewed strength?  There are many things that we do or places that we go to try to recharge our batteries, or to get a quick burst of energy in order to minimize the deep feelings of tired and weariness. Renewed strength, energy, and capacity do not just happen. A solid night’s sleep, or some flavourful energy concoction cannot impart renewal that is sustained and ongoing.  

How often have you thought to yourself recently, “I am so tired”? If you are feeling like you need a serious break, even after some time off, a long weekend, or a vacation, you need more than a really good nap. You need rest. Rest is different than a break, or even time off. So, what is rest?

When we take hold of the bread and cup and remember Jesus, we are not simply reminding ourselves of a historical figure that lived and died. Rather, we are reminding ourselves and those with us, of the incredible reality of the most important and pivotal moment in all of human history.

We are in a season where many are needing to do some relational restorative work…it is a season to mend fences. This can be hard work, it is often humbling, but in the end there is always the possibility of restoration and healing if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

As I have come through the last few months I have been repeatedly reminded through conversations with people who do not claim to be Christians or followers of Christ that not everyone is closed off to God. And most importantly, they are not closed to having genuine encounters with God and his people, who themselves are having regular encounters with him.

In the short few chapters of the gospels that Joseph is present we get a glimpse of a man that walked in such a deep and obedient faith in God that when God spoke to Him, even it if called for a major shift in lifestyle, geography or comfort, Joseph responded and did so in a very quick manner. This is a key to his walk of faith…

Far too often we allow our fears to factor too heavily into our decision-making process, and as a result, we don’t act in faith and walk in love into the places God is calling us.

Have you ever had a moment like this, where you got into mud or a puddle with footwear that you thought would be sufficient to get you through to the other side only to find that once in the mud that you became stuck? As you found yourself wrestling to try to dislodge your mud-shackled appendages it probably didn’t take you long to come to the awareness that the boots that you got into that mess may not be the footwear that you walk out with shortly. These boots might just need to get left in the mud.