True confession: I’m not a huge fan of books on dating. I’ve always focused more on marriage. This is a personal preference. However, I LOVED Godly Dating 101. I think it’s an incredibly useful book - whether single, dating, or married. Why? Because the title is a sneaky one.
Read MoreAs a former social worker, I was extremely excited to review Anthony Evans and Stacy Kaiser’s new book When Faith Meets Therapy. The entire premise is advocating for therapy for Christians - in the right context. At Tirzah, we have always been open about mental health and the need to grow for ourselves, so we can serve other people better. However, we are aware that a lot of stigma comes around therapy.
Read MoreI’ve been thinking about prayer lately, how God has always been faithful with every yes and no. But the way He answers prayer always seems to be so different from the way I imagined He would. Lately, I have been reminded of God’s goodness in that.
Read MoreWhen I was a student at Bain School in Chennai India, this was one of my favorite choruses. I wrote my own Tamil version for Sunday School years later and sang it often. When I saw my young cousin Kalpana wearing a WWJD bracelet (What Would Jesus Do) I thought of how hard it was to actually live like Jesus in this world. Today we will look at Jesus and learn 3 specific ways we can be more like Jesus, every day.
Read MoreI pray you will be encouraged and uplifted as you build your own Quiet Time library and use it well. There is no particular pattern to follow when we meet with Jesus. We can relax with him, talk, read and listen.
Read MoreTo the first man, the one who held me in his arms when he was only an 18 year old. The young man who I watched grow because of our closeness in age. Thank you for loving me and taking me with you while you worked and served. Some of my fondest memories are seeing the houses you helped build, taking a college class together, and learning how to start non - profits. Thank you for protecting, providing, loving Jesus, and loving my mom.
Read MoreI wrote this verse wondering why it is that we grieve when tragic things happen to us - why should we care when tragedy is part and parcel of this world, that we created? This is the question I am essaying - attempting - to answer today. In the end, we grieve because we care about our relationships. Whether it is estrangement, divorce, or death, we grieve because we love the one who is now lost. How is it, then, that we as Christians can grieve with hope?
Read MoreWhen we leave our children in God’s safe arms, we allow God to be God in their lives. May God grant us time, creativity and grace to pray for our children.
Read MoreDear woman in the field,
I know there are days you wake up wishing things were different.
I know there are days you feel like giving up.
I know there are days you lie wide awake with mountains of stress and anxiety looming over you.
I know there are days you cry in the nooks of your homes, cars, workspaces, public bathrooms, and any place you can find to release the heaviness in your hearts.
But, I write to you to remind you that your God hears your cries and prayers – He sees you in these intimate moments and is with you.
Read More3 true life stories- from North Berwick, Auckland and Ashford to inspire you to send out invitations of love!
It was a bright summer day in the UK. We were visiting our son who works at Milton Keynes. Today, the three of us were on a train to visit Wendy at North Berwick. Bob, Wendy’s dear husband of 50 odd years had passed away a few months back. Wendy insisted that we should join her for dinner at home.
Read MoreTwo months ago, my life was playing out like a movie. Then two months later, the plot drastically changed. In essence, I feel like I am falling - my future was laid out before me, then the rug was pulled from under me and my plans were snatched.
Read MoreTransition (v.): the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.
Transitions are hard. It’s the move from one state to another. When you were excited to be married, but realized you were transitioning out of singleness. The time God called you from one church to another. When the state of a relationship, ministry, family or company transitions to something new. That seems to describe the state of August.
Read More'Loving Others As Christ Does' is Unit 101 in the Bible College of life, wouldn’t you say? Yet, as I meditated upon the topic, the Lord said, "Yes, but there's more (greater depth)". So, I've been praying, "God teach me. Show me."
Read MoreWhat is it to love? It's to surrender everything I think about a person, and to lean in and pray, "Lord, teach me to love them as you do". There is no checklist. It's different for each person we relate to. It's a matter of growing to learn to love. Beginning to see the person through the eyes of the Creator.
Read MoreAs an architect, I loved this one-on-one chat with my clients, especially the lady of the house. But where the house was built and how strong it was to weather the storms were important. Ranjit who designs structures to weather earthquakes tells me that a house built on the rock would even withstand earthquakes as it could the storms!
Read MoreThough many Christian women would rightly push away feminism, Courtney Reissig believes that despite this, many women have embraced aspects of feminism unknowingly as our culture subtly influences us. The book’s introduction presents this, revealing ways Christian women may have become accidental feminists and giving a brief but important history of the feminist movements. The following chapters are packed with theology and practical advice for living out our roles as women. While rich in depth, readers will still find the book approachable.
Read MoreOne of the most underutilized descriptions of Jesus in the American church today is that of Jesus as the truth, I think. We tend to focus on Jesus as the only way to God, and as the Life, considering how Jesus has given us abundant life. Whether it is out of ignorance or willful blindness, I cannot say. But being that truth is connected to love, such that love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), we must consider this relationship and see what it reveals about the love of God.
Read MoreWhen I decided to write about ‘giving’ I wrote down all the verses I I could find in the Bible about the topic. From them I learnt that we could give of our money, our time and what we no longer need or use. Jesus talks of the importance of giving and a lifestyle of generosity.
Read MoreImagine for a moment, two women, both of similar socioeconomic backgrounds and both unexpectedly pregnant. Today is a scary, life-altering day for them. At 24 weeks of pregnancy, both mothers learned of their baby’s gender four weeks ago, and could have heard their baby’s heart beating 18 weeks ago. The women and babies will undergo procedures performed today by physicians who took the Hippocratic oath to “do no harm.”
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