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God Works Best in Chaos, and He Brings Beauty Out of It
In the beginning, God made something out of nothing. The world was dark, void, and chaotic. There was no shape or beauty to be found, and the atmosphere was desolate. But with one word, one breath, light sprang forth and everything the Spirit of God touched became alive. He brought the chaos into order and filled the void with Himself. The shapeless gained beauty, and suddenly, earth was bursting with life. It’s in the emptiness that God can work in us and fill us with His life, giving meaning to every crevice of our hearts. God did this to the world when He created it. He also did it with…
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How God Works In Spiritual Winters
I’ve always thought there was something magical about spring. It’s the season where snow melts, flowers blossom, and the world casts away its winter blanket to greet the warmer days. I live in a place where spring looks like the dry season and not the picture-perfect version I mentioned above. So this visual of fresh life and shedding of the cold has always had a unique appeal to me. I believe it holds this special appeal because of its sense of hope, resurrection, and overall newness. But here’s the thing. For spring to arrive, winter must first run its course. How many times does it occur like this in our…
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Grow Closer to God Through Wonder and the Redeemed Imagination
Why is it that the older we grow, the more we lose our sense of wonder? Time and again, I’ve asked myself why imagination is viewed as childlike and cynicism as a sign of maturity. But let’s not forget that wonder and imagination are the reason we have airplanes, the Eiffel Tower and Ratatouille (the movie, although the food looks great as well). Wonder is a quality that Jesus highly values. He even told His disciples that unless they became like children, they wouldn’t enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). I believe He wasn’t saying disciples must be immature; rather, they should have the same trust, faith and open-mindedness…
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Why We Need More Cinderellas in a World of Mulans
The more I read fiction, the more I come across one type of female lead: the strong, independent girl who is a boss and doesn’t need a prince to save her. This is a common archetype in today’s fiction. But while we need stories of strong women who are just as capable of leading and conquering as men, my concern is that we are drifting away and forgetting that soft femininity is just as valuable. There are countless girls out there who need the reminder that not all women are the take-charge and outgoing type, and that is alright; in fact, it is admirable. The Rise of Strong, Female Leads…
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When Faith Runs Out, God Has Enough for Both of You
“Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. Or ‘who beyond hope in hope believed.’ He took God at his word, and as a result he became the father of many nations. God’s declaration over him came to pass: ‘Your descendants will be so many that they will be impossible to count!’” – Romans 4:18 Sometimes I wonder what our lives would look like if we took God at face value and actually believed that He will do what He says He will do. Many of us have gotten used to praying without expecting answers, believing without expecting to see, and…
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Magic and the Hand of God: Why Does Magic Always Originate from the Hands?
As I’ve read many fantasy books and fairy-tale retellings, I’ve come to wonder about one thing: why is it that most of the time magic comes from people’s hands? Think about it. While, yes, many stories have magic systems that rely on the mind or voice, many have magic systems dependent on the main character’s hands. Elsa’s powers, from Frozen, all come from her hands. The Force in Star Wars is primarily channeled through the hands. In numerous fantasy novels I’ve read, the hands are the main source or exit for one’s power. In noticing this trend, I had to wonder, why? Why is the hand so dominant? This led…
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Fall in Love With the Classics: Five Books I Recommend
Happy February! To begin the month on a lighthearted note, I wanted to shift from the weekly devotional content and share with you five of my favorite classic books. The classics, in literature, are books which have stood the test of time and serve as standards of excellence and recognized value. For many people, hearing the term “classic literature” carries an ominous or serious ring with it. Delving into this genre can sound overwhelming, especially if you have never explored it before. And yet, it is the classics which are the building block of the modern literary world. You will constantly find references to the classics in modern literature, movies,…
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Owning My Place in Church with Integrity
To finish our January series, “Stronger Me, Stronger Church”, I want to talk about a fundamental part of church life: integrity. Integrity could be described as wholeness of character. It is being who you say you are at all times, regardless of whether you are being watched or not. Merriam Webster defines integrity as firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility. Being a person of integrity means that your yes is a yes and your no is a no, regardless of circumstances. Jesus put it this way: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”…
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Learning to Receive Feedback and Offer Forgiveness
Welcome to part three of the mini series “Stronger Me, Stronger Church”. Today we will talk about feedback. Some months back I heard of a consulting group that visited organizations and taught people to give better feedback. After years, they noticed that while it helped, it wasn’t fully successful. So they shifted their approach, and began teaching people not to give better feedback, but how to better receive feedback. They saw more positive changes in the organizations they helped when they created this shift. I want to say that in this article I talk about feedback that is given with a mostly well-intentioned heart and in a relatively healthy environment.…
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What’s the Difference Between Being Discipled and Becoming a Discipler?
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19, NIV Followers of Jesus are called to make disciples, not followers. There is a key difference here that I want to highlight in part two of our series, “Stronger Me, Stronger Church.” What Did the Original Disciples Do? First, let’s examine what Jesus’s disciples actually did. In Jewish culture, it was customary for men of different trades to take on apprentices. These apprentices would study under their master and learn to do the same work the master did. Similarly, Rabbis (or teachers…
