My Hope

Part 3 A call to Acts It’s easy to fear those that are different than us, but we are told that perfect love drives out fear. How then should we react? How did the early church react when they were persecuted from all sides? Did God call for the annihilation of those that martyred Stephen. No. He welcomed at least one of them into His church and changed his name to Paul. I don’t blame the apostles for being skeptical (Acts 9:26). I have no doubts that they wanted to make sure this was the real deal, that he wasn’t trying to sneak his way into the inner circle in order to gain insight and bring greater destruction. We have the advantage, we’ve gotten to fast forward to the end and see how God used Paul throughout his life. The early disciples just had to trust in the changes they saw (I’m sure it also helped that God gave a vision to Ananias). Paul went from persecuting to being persecuted. He did not seek suffering, but he did not run from it either; nor did he return vi...

Part 2 The World divided The rush to suddenly stop welcoming refugees who only a few months ago were being welcomed with open arms is making my head spin. Can we guarantee that all refugees will be law abiding residents? No. They undergo vigorous interviews and background checks, but there is no way to give people 100% assurance. Can we guarantee that all U.S. born citizens will grow up to become law abiding residents? No. There are untold things that will influence them. There are no guarantees that our citizens won’t leave and join terrorist extremist groups, then return and carry out mass killings. There are no guarantees that our citizens won’t stay and carry out mass killings as lone gunmen. The bottom line is we don’t have any guarantees in this life. We never have. We never will. We are called to love despite these uncertainties. NAS Hebrews 13:1 Let love of the brethren continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have ent...

I’m breaking my thoughts down into three parts this week. I realize I’m not in the vocal majority at the moment, but I hope you’ll hear me out. Part 1- The Church divided We came to Clarkston to prepare to go overseas. We expected to minister to the people around us, but we could have never expected the current events and politics to put us in the middle of such a heated controversy. That being said, I feel since we are here and have seen a different side than most Americans, I feel compelled to speak. My voice must be heard because many of the refugees have no voice in this country. Is the world a scary place? Absolutely! I don’t think anyone denies that. It’s been filled with sin and turmoil and strife since Adam and Eve. The first murder occurred in just the second generation of humans. Do we just sit around and watch the world go down in flames? No. We are called to pray for the world. We are also called to love everybody, because Christ died for us all. First...

So I’m pretty much over the nausea, gagging and vomiting. Most people would be thrilled. But oddly enough, I miss it. This is my least favorite time of pregnancy. I’m always ready for the morning sickness to go away, but then when it does, I long for it. You see, it’s too early to feel consistent movement. Every now and then, if I’m super still I may feel a flutter… but not always. So I’m stuck in this land of limbo where there isn’t much sign at all that I’m pregnant (besides what my scale and clothes tell me). I can’t wait for the day that the kicks are so strong that even the girls will be able to feel them. I know that will be weeks from now though. Sometimes we get discouraged when our faith is like that. When times are tough, it brings us to our knees. Often when times are hardest it is when we feel closest to God. We can feel God’s comfort when we’re in the midst of suffering and see His love shown through the body of believers reaching out and lifting us up. Wh...