Living A Life of Love… [the Believer’s Calling]
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Living A Life of Love… [the Believer’s Calling]

A Fallen, Wounding World God didn’t call us to a life of wounding, friends. He called us to live a life of LOVE. But because of our human-ness, we’re born into a world inherently wounding. And sadly, as creatures of a fallen, imperfect world, we inflict our own wounding behaviors on those around us. “With…

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever… [a holiday movie review]
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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever… [a holiday movie review]

I had no idea what to expect when I walked into an early screening of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever🌟 last Saturday. Since I hadn’t read the book or seen the stage production, I guess I expected something of a Junie B. Jones, elementary reader nature. But instead, I encountered a wondrous story of God’s…

Perfecting God’s Love… [Our Life-Giving Gift]
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Perfecting God’s Love… [Our Life-Giving Gift]

Our Human-ness Brokenness became our human-ness when sin entered the world. Our perfectly axised world suddenly set un-straight was forever imperfectly tilted towards disobedience, enmity, and darkness.  We’re called, as Christ followers, to peel back the darkness and live in the Light; becoming increasingly more like Him. We’re called to love like Jesus loved. And…

The Best Kind of Friend… [and God’s Purpose in Suffering.]
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The Best Kind of Friend… [and God’s Purpose in Suffering.]

The best kind of friend is a praying friend. It’s no secret 2024 has been a hard year for the Rains’ household. Little by little, I’ve pulled back the curtains in this season of life and let friends in…  I might’ve overshared a time or two. But the reality is when we share our “stuff,”…

10 Years Ago…. [Looking Back and Pressing Onward]
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10 Years Ago…. [Looking Back and Pressing Onward]

10 years ago this summer, two incredible things happened…   A New Calling… “See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19 10 years ago this summer, at the height of the Ice Bucket…

Trusting God’s Goodness [in the Darkness]
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Trusting God’s Goodness [in the Darkness]

If We’re Being Honest Neither the church nor our broken world needs more SHINY PEOPLE who hide behind the veneer of an audible “fine.” The world needs more Christians willing to process and wrestle publicly. Because when we are honest about the world’s brokenness and our struggles within it, we underscore the futility of our…

How to Love the World… [one challenging circumstance at a time]
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How to Love the World… [one challenging circumstance at a time]

When I issued the very first LOVE challenge to myself and asked others to join, what I really desired in this world more than anything was to be one of those “rare Christians” Tozer talked about. A Christ-follower whose very presence compelled others to become “better Christians” themselves. Apart from God, none of us are…

How to Have Joy [and Be Joyful] in a Not-So-Perfect World.
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How to Have Joy [and Be Joyful] in a Not-So-Perfect World.

Joyful people see with open eyes the hard reality of human existence and at the same time are not imprisoned by it.” – Henri Nouwen  Radiating hope ✨ and Shining God’s love in a weary, not-so-perfect world is what the manger message is all about, friends.  God’s love for us does not change like the…