When King Solomon had finished praying to dedicate the temple in Jerusalem, he stood and turned toward the people of Israel.
“May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us,” he shouted.
That’s 1 Kings 8:57. The whole dedication ceremony was a beautiful picture of reverent worship, but even that single line speaks volumes. Read More
“There’s no greater feeling than winning a race.”
–Jeff Gordon, NASCAR driver
This is the story of a beautiful girl who won lots of races. It’s about a close family that grew around that girl and protected her, swords drawn. It’s about unconditional love, and a precious gift disguised to some as a burden. It’s a story that changed more people than we can count. Read More
Walking with God through hard seasons: The people who have shared their stories during our Broken Wholeness series talk about the beautiful benefits of being broken. Read More
“I knew I needed help. But I couldn’t say it.” Brian Wahl tells his story of addiction, recovery, repairing broken trust … and finding Jesus. Read More
“God, is this really what following you looks like?” Brandy Pardee checked all the boxes: Christian woman, Bible college grad, pastor’s wife, mom. But she realized she wasn’t becoming more like Jesus. Today she carries a fresh perspective on her faith, knowing that none of her questions were too big for God.
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For Katie Jo Sanderson, much of her life as a teen revolved around cancer. Today, she looks back with gratitude … and with encouraging words for others dealing with anxiety. Read More
“Depression is something about me. But it doesn’t define me.” Bethany Timmons talks about how walking through dark places draws us to depend on God — and can help us better serve others.
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“God, you don’t understand what it’s like!” Even as Kari Heckler shouted those words from a place of deep pain, she felt God gently telling her: “Yes, I do.” Read More
I love to run. It’s my time to decompress, pray and just be with God in his creation, doing something I believe he’s created me to do. Back in March, I was praying for a way to bring joy to others during COVID-19. While I was running, an idea popped into my head to create a virtual run. I wanted to give people something to look forward to, to have fun with and to bless the community during these challenging times. I’d charge a small fee to participate, make the medals myself and we’d donate everything to charity. Read More
COVID-19 continues to run its course and affect each of our lives. No one is excluded. I know many in our church family, especially our elderly, are sheltered in place and feeling cut off from life, family and friends. Our tendency in such times is to become downcast, negative and to blame God. We don’t like being placed in situations we can’t control.
And yet, unknown difficulties have always come into the lives of people. God has often been blamed and questioned “why.” Martha and Mary’s lives were thrown into a tizzy with the death of their brother, Lazarus. Human nature wants to find someone to blame, and they found Jesus to be the culprit in their brother’s death. Why? Read More
