Advent is a season of waiting. We remember the world’s long wait for a Savior and we anticipate Jesus’ second return. Often we focus more on the remembering part. Advent means setting up manger scenes, sending out Christmas cards with pictures of Baby Jesus, and…
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Advent Waiting: Waiting Without Preconceptions
Advent is a season of waiting. A time of anticipation. A period of preparation. For many in our culture, the preparation for Christmas is limited to planning get-togethers and buying gifts. Children anticipate opening those gifts. Everyone is waiting for holiday programs, plays, and parties.…
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Navigating Unmet Desires
How do you deal with unmet desires? Those longings you’ve held for years? Those empty places in your heart that never seem filled? It turns out those unmet desires can be a key to spiritual growth. It’s a lesson I learned on a shopping trip.…
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Why the Reformation Matters
More than 500 years ago Martin Luther nailed 95 Thesis to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. And we might be thinking, “So what?” Luther himself probably did not realize the importance of this simple act. The church door in a German town was like…
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Book Review: A Louder Song
Are you in a period of suffering? A time of questions without answers? The book The Louder Song meets readers in the pain and ache of life. It answers the question of what to do when you’re in a period of Suffering and Not Yet.…
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Book Review: All Shall Be Well
The book All Shall Be Well serves as a perfect companion to my year of aiming to notice God. At the beginning of 2019, I chose the word “notice” as my word of the year, hoping against hope that focusing on this act of noticing…
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5 Ways to Ignore Cravings and Live By the Spirit
“Don’t do it,” I told myself as I started down the basement stairs. “Don’t do it,” I repeated as I walked toward the shelf where my secret stash sat. “Don’t do it,” I said again, as I opened the container. But I did it. I…
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The One Thing Keeping You From The Life You Want
Once upon a time a rich young ruler comes to Jesus. This man had everything: money, power, youth. Maybe he was even not-too-bad looking. But even though it seemed like he had everything anyone could want–he knew he was missing something. He came to Jesus…
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To Find Enough: Watch Out for Satan’s Lies
Why is contentment so difficult to attain? Why do we always want more? This post is part of a series on finding enough. When I was a kid, my dad had a habit of pushing back from the table after a delicious and enormous feast…