What do you do when it starts raining and then it never stops? Somebody asked me that question yesterday. I was sitting across the table as this friend poured out the details of some really difficult things that are going on in his family right now. Really difficult things that I honestly can’t understand or…
Posts Tagged
pain
The Thing I Don’t Like About God
I know a guy, a pretty young guy, who is battling cancer. And the cancer is winning. I know a lot of people who have battled cancer, but something is different about this one particular guy I know, even though I can’t explain what it is. I don’t even really know him well, but I haven’t been…
In the Furnace: Keeping Your Faith Through the Fire
Maybe I’m not supposed to say this because I’m a pastor, but I’ve never questioned my faith more than I have in the past 18 months. I’ve never doubted God. Not His existence, not His love, not His presence. But I have done a lot of asking, searching, and chasing after answers to some tough questions…
Small Miracles
I just got off the phone with a guy who got some devastating news today. He just found out that his dad has inoperable brain cancer and probably only has 4-6 weeks to live. As soon as I picked up the phone, I knew something was wrong. I don’t know this guy well at all. We’ve only…
A Franciscan Benediction
I came across this prayer recently. Something about the simplicity of it resonated with me. It’s ironic and profound that the things we would consider to be a burden, the writer considers to be blessings from God. I’ve been praying through this every morning and I hope it will be helpful to you.
Plans
A few years ago I read through the entire book of Psalms. I hit Psalm 13 and it hit back. I was in the middle of a very hard time, and I was pretty stressed. I was quickly reaching my limits and I knew it. Then I read the first verse of Psalm 13. “Oh…
Lord of the Fleas
If your house was infested with fleas and you had to live with that every day and there was nothing you could do about it, how would you react? I read a story a while back that changed my entire outlook on life. It’s from the book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Corrie…
Hostage: Part 1
A few weeks ago, our entire region (and most of the country) was captivated by the news that three women who had been missing for years had been found in a basement in Cleveland. (Even if you weren’t captivated by that news, I guarantee the related, autotuned YouTube video will captivate you…) They had been…
Handling Conflict
I originally wrote this blog post in December of 2011. [bra_border_divider top=”15″ bottom=”15″] I don’t know if it’s the weather turning cold or the fact that the Cleveland Browns are terrible again this year, but lately I’ve been particularly sensitive to negativity. Conflict seems to stand out in a way I can’t remember it ever…