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Jesus’s love restores
Fear comes in a lot of different shapes and sizes, but the Bible tells us that perfect love casts out fear! So today on Discover the Word, be part of the group as we look at how Jesus’s love restores the intimacy that fear breaks down. Tune in for another inspiring discussion based on Elisa’s […]
How not to struggle with comparison
We live in a culture of comparison. And compared to some, we feel we’re doing great. Compared to others, we don’t measure up. But today on Discover the Word, we will examine how our often inaccurate view of ourselves can also distort our view of God. Struggling with comparison? Well, be part of the group […]
Lessons From A Shooting Tragedy
August 19, 2013, began like any other Monday at Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago, USA. As usual, I handled routine administrative tasks and worked on my sermon for the evening service at our soup kitchen ministry. The church employees were in the office working and chatting. No one knew it would become a day marked by tragedy.
God really does love us
God loved us before we ever put our faith in Him. And our doubts about whether He does, then or now, can’t remove us from His love! That’s the subject of the conversation today on Discover the Word when we examine our fears and doubts about whether God really does love us. It’s a freeing […]
Learn to see yourself as God does
Is it possible to have a right view of God, but a wrong view of yourself? Today on Discover the Word, we’ll explore how often our theology needs to move from our head to our hearts. Learn to see yourself the way God does with a discussion based on Elisa’s book, “Beauty Full Beings.” Listen […]
Beauty Full Being
Studies reveal that most people struggle with their self-image to a certain degree. So it stands to reason that how we see ourselves and how God sees us doesn’t always match up! Today on Discover the Word, we will be led in the discussion about what it means to be a “Beauty Full Being.” Listen today […]
Unraveling the Mysteries
I have always enjoyed the wit and insight of Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz. One of my favorite cartoons drawn by him appeared in a book about young people in the church. It shows a young man holding a Bible as he tells a friend on the phone, “I think I’ve made one of the first steps toward unraveling the mysteries of the Old Testament . . . I’m starting to read it!” (Teen-Ager Is Not a Disease).
Psalm 119 overflows with the writer’s hunger to understand and experience the power of God’s Word each day. “Oh, how I love your law!…
God Provides
One snap of the shutter, and there it was . . . one beautiful moment captured in time for eternity. The late summer sun reflected in the breaking wave made the water look like liquid gold splashing onto the shore. If my friend had not been there with his camera, the wave would have gone unnoticed, like so many others that have come and gone, seen only by God.
Who can imagine how many waves Lake Michigan has sent rolling onto the shoreline? Yet each one is unique. As seen in every wave, God makes extravagant beauty out of seemingly mundane…
Our “Engagement” of others stems from God’s “Engagement” with us
Today on Discover the Word, we welcome Darrell Bock back to the table to discuss how as Christians we’re called to engage the world around us. And as we near the end of this two-week conversation, Darrell will bring us back to the basics. Explore the basic message of the gospel, and how our “Engagement” […]
Exceedingly Better
My birthday is the day after my mother’s. As an adolescent, I would scramble to think of a gift that delighted my mom yet fit in my budget. She always received my purchases with appreciation, and on the following day, my birthday, she would present her gift to me. Without fail, her gift vastly outshone mine. Her intention wasn’t to diminish what I’d given her; she simply gave generously from her resources, which far exceeded my own.
My desire to give to my mother reminds me of David’s wish to build a home for God. Struck by the contrast between his…
Surviving the Wilderness
In the 1960s, the Kingston Trio released a song called “Desert Pete.” The ballad tells of a thirsty cowboy who is crossing the desert and finds a hand pump. Next to it, Desert Pete has left a note urging the reader not to drink from the jar hidden there but to use its contents to prime the pump.
The cowboy resists the temptation to drink and uses the water as the note instructs. In reward for his obedience, he receives an abundance of cold, satisfying water. Had he not acted in faith, he would have had only a jar of unsatisfying,…
Brother to Brother
My brother and I, less than a year apart in age, were quite “competitive” growing up (translation: we fought!). Dad understood. He had brothers. Mom? Not so much.
We could have fit in the book of Genesis, which might well be subtitled A Brief History of Sibling Rivalry. Cain and Abel (Gen. 4); Isaac and Ishmael (21:8–10); Joseph and everyone not named Benjamin (ch. 37). But for brother-to-brother animosity, it’s hard to beat Jacob and Esau.
Esau’s twin brother had cheated him twice, so he wanted to kill Jacob (27:41). Decades later Jacob and Esau would reconcile (ch. 33). But the rivalry continued…
Your Safe Place
My daughter and I were arranging to attend an extended family gathering. Because she was nervous about the trip, I offered to drive. “Okay. But I feel safer in my car. Can you drive it?” she asked. I assumed she preferred her more spacious vehicle to my compact one so I responded, “Is my car too cramped?” “No, it’s just that my car is my safe place. Somehow I feel protected there.”
Her comment challenged me to consider my own personal “safe place.” Immediately I thought of Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run…
When Beauty Never Ends
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to…
Held by God
As I was nearing the end of lunch with my sister and her children one afternoon, my sister told my three-year-old niece Annica it was time get ready for her nap. Her face filled with alarm. “But Aunt Monica did not hold me yet today!” she objected, tears filling her eyes. My sister smiled. “Okay, she may hold you first—how long do you need?” “Five minutes,” she replied.
As I held my niece, I was grateful for how, without even trying, she constantly reminds me what it looks like to love and be loved. I think sometimes we forget that our…
