rebelling against low expectations
“God, please show me how to live with this!” Three years earlier, Jesus had captured my heart and I was excited about new opportunities he was giving me to serve him. But as my health deteriorated through the next year and a half, one thing after another was taken from my life. Now, laying bed-bound at home, sick, helpless, and grieving, I prayed for God to show me how to live with this chronic...
“You know how something in my relationship with God has been off lately?” I asked my friend over the phone. As soon as I asked the question, I heard a quiet sigh as she replied, “Yes.” I went on to tell her what I theorized the problem to be. That happened many times over the past several months, when I finally came to realize the root of it all: my passion for Jesus was gone. However, what I...
The tradition of Christian apologetics has a long history, from the apostles in the book of Acts, to writers in the early church like Justin Martyr, to modern recent authors like C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and John Lennox. The term itself comes from the Greek word apologia—meaning defense—and refers to laying out a logical case for why the faith is true. At some point, every Christian will be in a...
My mom and I were at Fred Myer buying seeds for our garden. We both had masks on—and I was also wearing my sunglasses (for some reason, I had forgotten to take them off as we were entering the store). Now for some time, it had been my usual routine to verbally vent to those around me (usually my mom) about how my mask kept me from vital access to oxygen. “I can’t breathe!” I would exclaim...
We’re all being directly affected by the Coronavirus, and many of us are homebound. We went from a busy schedule of church, school, work, and extracurricular activities to an empty social calendar and nowhere to go. With so much concentrated time together under pretty dire circumstances, it doesn’t take much to get on each other’s nerves. Siblings’ loud playtime during school hours, antsy pets...
This is probably not the first time you’re reading an article about glorifying God during the lockdown. And this probably won’t be the last time either. But have you ever stopped and thought about how your life has progressed during the lockdown? What have you accomplished? What have you done for God? While I often dream about doing great things for God, I easily get so caught up...
I don’t care if I get fired. I thought jokingly, I’ve got to get a drink. I had been bringing carts in from the parking lot for the past few hours–not exactly easy work in South Florida, where it’s in the 80-degree range, even during the winter. I was pretty thirsty. It had been a couple hours since my lunch break. By now, I felt parched. It might sound cliché, but the water from the Publix...
In a time of worldwide suffering, we must face our true beliefs about the character of God. Maybe we believe that God must be absent. He must be apathetic toward humanity. Maybe he’s paralyzed because the suffering of his people is so great and he doesn’t know what to do. Maybe God unleashed this on us as a sort of punishment for our unrighteousness. Or Maybe we’re just wondering how God could...
Right now, many people across the world are either quarantined or just simply avoiding going anywhere. We are hearing phrases like “social- distancing” or “self-quarantine,” which really mean that we are avoiding contact with anyone. Schools are online, businesses are either shutting down or running online, events are being cancelled, and everything seems to be quite a mess. Through all of this...
Cold stones surround me. Little light drifts in through the window, but the darkness doesn’t stop me from hearing. Nothing can block out the noise. Not even the heavy doors and firmly built walls that hold me captive. The sound increases and I wonder how many people are standing outside. There must be hundreds. My chest tightens. I know the effect a mob can have. Tilting my head, I concentrate. A...
rebelling against low expectations
