"All of life is business with God…" John Calvin
Yesterday, as we watched the livestream service of our home church from our living room, the elder-led congregational prayer was lifted to God's throne from the pulpit of an empty sanctuary. The pews may have been empty, but the Spirit of the Lord was there, helping our dispersed congregation in our weakness, interceding for the … Continue reading How We Prayed
This season of pandemic and isolation has produced much writing about lament, and rightly so. We are cut off from so much that was not only familiar, but also necessary. From fellowship with one another on personal and corporate levels (think, church), to school and work, most of what was normal in our lives has … Continue reading Think About These Things
Running, they say, is 90% mental. And the other 10% is also mental. Now, while that’s a bit of an exaggeration, I have learned over the past ten years that it’s not very far off the mark. It takes an act of the will, a mental decision, to get out of bed early in the … Continue reading Keep Running, Christian!
Three whole weeks ago, on Friday, March 13, 2020, we officially began our homebound exile from society. At first it was self-imposed, as my husband discovered that he had a fever (it was just a cold—he’s fine). On that day the alarms increased hourly in the news, and the need to isolate ourselves became as … Continue reading Poverty in Prayer
Originally posted March 19, 2020, at Women of Purpose. There’s no good place to break Romans 8:31–39, really. My last post only covered the questions that Paul was asking as he built to his magnificent conclusion. If this entire passage is, as James Boice declares, “the Everest of the letter, and thus the highest peak … Continue reading Romans 8:35-39, More Than Conquerors
“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet … Continue reading Remembrance and Hope
Dear Lisa, Well, it’s been a year since I learned that you’d gone. I thought today would be worse than it is. But now that I think about it, the sadness doesn’t hurt the same way it used to. It’s there, but it no longer chokes off my breath. The weight remains, but it no … Continue reading Well, It’s Been a Year. . .
Originally posted March 18, 2020, at Women of Purpose. The recent weeks have been so fully-packed that I haven’t been able to get this final post written to wrap-up our study of Romans chapter 8. But now that I am self-isolating, and many of the things that occupied my time are now cancelled, I figure … Continue reading Romans 8:31-34, Who Can Be Against Us?
Originally posted March 3, 2020, at Women of Purpose. We now come in our study to what is probably the most well-known and readily-quoted verse in Romans chapter 8: “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (28). This … Continue reading Romans 8:28-30, All Things For Our Good
