but God

Pivoting from But to God

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Sometimes it comes out as a whine. “But God, I’ve been waiting for so long.” On my worst days, I hear it coming out of me like a toddler-style tantrum, “But God, I just can’t do it!” In these “but God” prayers, my emphasis is in the wrong place. Instead of “but God,” I need to pivot to “but God.” From “but …

Spiritual Maturity and Wisdom: Not Leaving Jesus Behind

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One of the wonderful, but sometimes frustrating, things about the New Testament is how little biographical information it gives us about Jesus. The Gospel of Luke spans 18 years of Jesus’ life (from age 12 to age 30) by telling us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). This is reminiscent of …

Advent: How I’m Preparing to Prepare

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This might seem redundant, but it’s time to prepare for Advent. Of course, Advent is a time of preparing to receive Christ, so this is a case of preparing to prepare. This year I’m using three folks from the Bible as my guides: Mary, Simeon, and Anna. We often celebrate Mary for her willingness to say yes to God (Luke …

Blind Bartimaeus Sees Mercy

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Have you ever had an experience where you felt like God opened your eyes and allowed you (or made you!) see something in a new way? I’ve taken a handful of mission trips to Nicaragua. On one of my first trips, I got to walk in the jungle and hand out bags of grocery essentials. I’m not normally a fan …

serving_food_after_hurricane_michael

God Seeks to Serve

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There is a lot about God that I don’t understand. And, yes, that is a huge understatement! But even the little I think I understand about God leaves me feeling amazed. First, there’s the fact that the Almighty, Loving, Holy, and Righteous Creator chooses to be known. The idea of an imperfect human like me being loved, and in relationship …

Can Storms Activate Hope?

Beth Demme Blog 1 Comment

<<As this blog post goes live, Hurricane Michael is nearing landfall not far from my home.>> A couple of weeks ago I changed the background on my phone. As Hurricane Michael invades my part of the world, it feels especially apropos. I changed it to an image of a Jack Pine forest. I’m certainly not an arborist or horticulturist or even …