A Focus on Jesus

Jesus tells us in John 14:16 " I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you." That "Advocate" is the Holy Spirit, to whom we are introduced more and more in the rest of John's Gospel, and who replaced

Lent: Drawing Near to God

Some take Lent as a time to beat themselves up for every sin they find. Perhaps they think that by being hard on themselves, God will be easier. Others take the course of long hours of prayer and self-examination. Some make sure to give up something dear to them, as a means of remembering where our true joy comes from. Ruth HaleyBarton describes this in her blog eReflections: "We allow some of the external

Your Bootstraps Just Broke (reprise from 2014)

When I was a boy, people used the expression "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" -- referring to the loops at the top of some boots that helped get them on your feet. It meant something like "trying to succeed all by yourself, and failing" because physically, it's an impossible stunt! Studying Colossians 1:28-29, it strikes me

Doing it for Him

My niece is a Registered Nurse. Her career is all about taking care of the sick and the dying, and for her it's a very rewarding career. But she can tell you, the

Invited Into our Father's Business

By Randy Bloom, Regional pastor for GCI

Trinitarian theology teaches us that God (Father, Son and Spirit) is “on mission” in the world and we are invited to participate! We participate as we actively engage with Jesus, by the Spirit, in

Bearing Fruit For a Long Time

A Chinese proverb asks "What's the best time to plant a tree?" The answer is "Twenty years ago!" Trees are symbols of stability and strength (Psa. 92:12), long life and contributing to one's surroundings (Psalm 1). Jesus uses a grapevine in John 15 to

How do you say 'Thanks' for That?

I've been feeling bad about my sins lately, because I still have some. Of course, if you don't have any sins, you don't have to feel bad along with me. But here's a question: once we have know we've been forgiven of our sins, should we work hard to reform ourselves, cleansing

Your Bootstraps Just Broke

Long ago, when I was a boy, people used the expression "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" --those were the loops at the top of some boots that helped you get them on your feet. It meant something like "trying to succeed all by yourself" and usually included "and failing" because

The Holy Spirit Invites Us All to Dance

Is Christian life just a different list of required activities than a non-Christian life, but with the same feeling of chores and fatigue? Not at all. It's about a relationship, a friendship with Jesus Christ that deepens as we go through the years together, and about how he comes in and changes our thinking, then our words and actions too. Christian discipleship is a relationship of being filled with

Relocated, Forgiven, Loved

I know people who have tried to get past a difficult time in their lives by relocating across the country. After unloading the moving truck, they stand in front of a mirror

Working at It Too Hard?

We can always be sure of this: God will always act in love. Why? Because we know he IS love (1 John 4:8 etc). To put it simply. God does what God is. The same is true of me and of you -- our actions come from

By the Spirit, or Nothing!

Every once in awhile a funny quirk takes hold of human nature, especially in the West, and we begin to think we can conquer the world all by ourselves. Maybe it's from watching those Bruce Willis movies where he keeps going and going, and eventually the bad guys meet an unpleasant end; or

The Holy Spirit in Community

My six siblings and I love getting together to catch up on life. We tell stories on each other, share memories of growing up together and laugh -- a lot! Sometimes we're all talking at the same time and have