When You Don't Believe that God is Near

Sorry if I'm overwhelming you in any way (that's never my heart, promise), but I'm writing over at a few different places today. If you're not tired of me already, maybe you'd consider joining me in one of them?

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Seth Haines asked a few of the Deeper Church writers if we'd contribute to his Creeping Prosperity Gospel series and I was all too happy to comply.

I am not worried about her because she is wrestling. She has taken the Lord near to her, she turns over Hebrew verbiage in her mouth, she murmurs on His goodness, she builds Ebenezers with her faith, "Thus far, the Lord has brought us."

I do not worry about her because she lives in the tension. Continue Reading...

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I'm also visiting a bit at Emily Miller's place today as well. She's been doing a series on hospitality and asked me if I'd join my voice in the group there.

When we condition our hearts to stay safe, we condition our hearts to be an anti-gospel. 

When we rule our hearts with principles and patterns, instead of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we forget that He has set boundaries for us in pleasant places. And nothing He has made for us is not for our good and His glory. Continue Reading...

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And last, but not least, Dan Schmidt from Toucanic approached me earlier this year about contributing a chapter to his upcoming compilation Letters to Me: Conversations with a Younger Self. Today he has a short interview with me up over at his page.

I think sometimes we want to believe that God’s best interests and our best interests are the same—the world and church only reinforce that belief with watered down theology and self-help mantras. That is pragmatics though and they’re not helpful when we’re faced with real suffering, the kind that 12 steps can’t get you out of or through.  Continue Reading...

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Hopefully all that doesn't overwhelm you and there's no pressure, of course. Just love to have you join over at one of these places. If you're looking for guest writers, November is the last month I'll be doing guest posts for a while, so if that's something you've been interested in, let me know so you can get 'em while the gettin's good.

This picture means nothing. It's just my dream kitchen that's all. It reminds me of the kitchen in the house where I grew up and so I figured I give you a peek into what I love.