I should not be allowed to visit REI by myself. The impulse to buy is fierce. The eye-catching buffs beckon to me. The chacos call to me. The trucker hats seduce me (even though I am aware of how silly I look under their puffy perch). Even the stickers and patches beseech me to gander. […]
You are obsessed with something, and you always over-spend on your obsession. Examples: golf, your home, food, entertainment, your kids, your image, your hobbies, etc. Once upon a time The Boss of everyone sat down to watch people tithing. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow put in two small copper […]
Yesterday I devoted myself to gathering with a group of humans at a title 1 elementary school in East Charlotte. A man named Jon asked the group, “How do you grow in faith?” A fanatical man named Paul (a guy who wrote a bunch of letters a long time ago) says that faith does not […]
O Christ who supplies my every need, I praise You for all provisions and for the means by which they are provided. For my current employment, in this season of life, I give You thanks. By it, may I meet my own needs and contribute to the needs of others. Let me work and serve […]
I woke up this morning with an urge to grumble against a friend. My flesh was eager to go with the urge, but The Holy Spirit hijacked the impulse and turned it into a burden to intercede. While praying for my friend, God mercifully made me aware of the unhappiness of harboring contempt, and the […]
I am a fan of The Rabbit Room (thank you Corndawg for introducing me to TRR!). Their mission is to make things good, beautiful, and lasting, and I see (and have often been the recipient of) the humans of ECPC striving and struggling in this mission as well. I want to pastor you toward the […]
Good morning faithful blog readers! I hope you are finding it impossible not to be enthralled with your Maker this week; and I hope that you are finding it impossible to avoid repenting of your personal, specific, and substantive errors and blunders …and having thoroughly wrestled against your own selfishness and against the rulers, authorities, […]
Picture a person with unsurpassed supremacy and influence. You overhear this person conversing with someone else, and they make mention of YOU! It is odd to hear your name upon lips as formidable as this, but it’s unmistakably true – he is talking about you. The unparalleled renown of this person would cause you to […]
Why do I choose anger over lamentation? Anger feels powerful. Anger promotes the lie of transcendence over limitations. Anger creates the sensation that I am “in control.” Lamentation on the other hand, feels powerless. Lamentation tells me to accept my limitations. Lamentation situates me in sorrow amidst calamity AND sorrow over the arrogant cancer of […]
Last week I was reading the Maker’s book. He mentioned something very important, and I thought, “This is important! I must never forget this!” And I resolved to always remember what the Maker had said. After my time in the Maker’s book, I decided to mow the lawn. About 20 minutes into mowing the lawn […]