I Gave Up ___ For Lent, and Look What it Got Me

This year, I gave up bread for Lent. Sandwiches, burgers, donuts, cake...well, you get the picture. Maybe for you it's coffee.  Now, you don't have to actually give up something for Lent, in order to please God or prove your obedience. Giving up something is an exercise in learning what you've grown

The Fake Snake, or the Real Deal?

If one day you realized you had been living in a fantasy world that you had constructed for yourself, a world that let you be in control but that was going to end badly, would you

The Door Is Open

This time of year, Christians talk a lot about God's forgiveness. But we humans so often think that we need to clean ourselves up of at least some of our sins before we can become 'acceptable enough' that God will forgive us. We're trying to keep our hands on the steering wheel, so to speak, even if we think that what we're doing is just 'repenting harder' so God will

He Did it Because He Loves You

We're only a few weeks away from Easter, the celebration of our Savior's resurrection. But before he could be raised, he died a horrible death: an innocent in the hands of sinners, the Just One killed unjustly, the Sinless One thrown in with criminals, the Ruler of All betrayed by everyone in power in his time. The one who made humanity from dust was laid in the dust for us, the One who breathed life into Adam breathed his last so he could bring eternal life to us all.

He did it 2,000 years ago because he loves you today. As the

Tribute to an American Evangelist

It's all over the news today. Billy Graham has died. Or as he famously said, "if you hear I've died, don't believe it. I've merely changed addresses." He spoke in evangelistic gatherings to over 100,000,000 (one hundred million!) people during a career spanning more than 60 years, and there was never a hint of scandal about him. What made him so special? Or another way to ask the question would be, what practices

40 Days of Fast Can Go Slowly

An Olympic athlete recently posted on Twitter that she became "hangry" from not finishing her breakfast. 'Hangry' is becoming angry because of being hungry, and it points up one of our weaknesses as humans. Not eating, or abstaining from something we enjoy, can leave us cranky, and needing to apologize for mistreating others (and yes, an apology is necessary!). This season of Lent is one in which many people 'give up something for God' but often, we can simply get

From Ashes to Glory

Next Wednesday, February 14, is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent (Easter Sunday is 40 days later, April 1 this year). Ash Wednesday is a day that reminds us of