Deep-End Discipleship

"...I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me."              - 2 Samuel 7:11-14a I have two of these necklaces...well, really two halves of them. My BFF in middle school was Chrissy Holder, and then my BFF in high school was Jenny Griffith. I write "was" because we no longer talk. I can't even find Jenny on social media. The weird thing is, I couldn't tell you what happened to our friendships. We just drifted apart. With Chrissy, I did something behind her back that hurt her feelings, and although I apologized, we were no longer "best friends forever....

“David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.” - 2 Samuel 6:5 NRSV - “When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.'” - Mark 6:22 NRSV - I’ll admit it. I’m not a dancer. I lived through the days of ballroom dancing, square dancing, disco, country-line dancing, creative dance, expressionist dance, jive, hip-hop, and grunge. I am not a dancer. My body moves to the rhythm of music in ways never intended by human beings. And yet, you will see my toe tapping in church, my head bobbing in the car, and hear my whispers singing along in with the choir. My one brush with liturgical dance in a worship service proved near disastrous and will never be spoken of in public. And yet, I love to dance. There is something about dance that is freei...

He said to me, "My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness." So I'll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ's power can rest on me. Therefore, I'm all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I'm weak, then I'm strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NRSV - In high school my youth pastor used the image of a clay jar with a candle inside to explain how we can find strength in weakness. If a clay jar is perfectly intact and closed with a lid, the light of the candle inside is hidden. From the outside no one is able to tell that the candle exists. However, when the clay jar is cracked and broken, the light of the candle shines through, revealing its existence. This is how we can find strength in weakness, thereby glorifying God. If humans were perfect, there would be no need to point to a savior. From the outside no one w...

  “Help, God —the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ears!   Listen to my cries for mercy.   If you, God , kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,   and that’s why you’re worshiped. I pray to God —my life a prayer— and wait for what he’ll say and do. My life’s on the line before God, my Lord waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.   O Israel, wait and watch for God —   with God ’s arrival comes love,   with God ’s arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,   buy back Israel from captivity to sin." - Psalm 130 MSG - Is it ever hard to have hope when you are in a hard situation? How does that feel? What about when you are waiting for a big decision in your life? How are the two different? This passage is very insightful into how God is listening when we are call...