Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “living loved”
Dr. Ellen Charry, a professor I once had, explained the incarnation this way: “The story of God in Jesus is not the coming of God to us … rather, in Jesus, God comes as us, so precious are we to God.” Prior to Jesus, God came to humanity through Israel (through Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the prophets, and others). For that …
When I was a kid, every scrape, cut, bruise, and bee sting got the same treatment. My mom used something called “black ointment.” I don’t know if you’ve ever used it, but … it’s pretty gross. It’s like Neosporin, but instead of being clean and clear looking, it looks like it’s been scraped off the bottom of a stagnant pond. …
Have you ever noticed how Jesus had a way of turning things inside out in the Gospels? He was repeatedly criticized for healing the wrong people, in the wrong places, at the wrong times. He hung out with the riff-raff (Luke 5:30), he ventured off into Samaria (John 4:9), and he even healed people on the Sabbath (Mark 1:21-26). And …
“I feel like I can’t win, no matter what I do,” my friend said. “The deck is stacked against me.” My friend was in a tough season. A series of disappointments had left her feeling numb and alone. The dream job that seemed to fall into her lap? It turned out to be a nightmare, requiring long hours and vanishing …
By Beth Demme When you hear the phrase “the kingdom of God,” what do you picture? Do you picture a throne room with a powerful ruler? Do you hear a loud booming voice? What if it is much more … unassuming? What if the kingdom/reign of God is simultaneously so big as to be beyond description, and yet somehow also …
Do I Need a Jesus Realignment? Or, Why It Matters to Me that Jesus Healed on the Sabbath By Beth Demme Was Jesus a rabble-rouser? Was he a rebel with a cause? Is that why Jesus broke the rules about the Sabbath? When Jesus allowed his disciples to pluck grain and when he healed the man with the withered hand …
The Irony of How We Use John 3:16 By Beth Demme 16For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. There are different opinions as to how many verses are in the Bible, but everyone agrees there are thousands of them. One …
By Beth Demme Do you remember Paul Harvey? He was on the radio back in the day, always sharing “the rest of the story.” Well, in Christianity, Ascension is the rest of the story. As much as my faith is based on incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, it is also about ascension. I declare this every time I say the Apostles’ …
Yes, You Are Like The Eunuch By Beth Demme Sometimes we read about an incredibly beautiful moment in the Bible, like the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and we think “good for him!” without understanding it’s really about us, too. And while it can be potentially dangerous to make everything in the Bible about y-o-u, maybe that’s a risk …
The Surprising Connection Between Dependence and Abundance By Beth Demme I don’t know anything about actual shepherding, like, with sheep. Literally, nothing. My visions of being a shepherd come from church Christmas pageants when I was a kid. The 10-year old boys were the shepherds and that meant they carried a cool stick and wore their dads’ bathrobes. That’s probably all …