“It is not only wrong to worry, it is real infidelity because it means we do not believe God can look after the little practical details of our lives; it is never anything else that worries us” (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount).

“Worry is the act of imagining a future without God.

When you strip it down to its bones that’s what it really is. I worry when I imagine a future devoid of God. I worry when I project my current feelings and discouragements and struggles into the future. I worry when I take God’s love and faithfulness out of the equation. When I imagine a stark and bleak future, a screaming void in which my faithful and loving Father does not exist or act on my behalf. Underneath all the anxiety and fear and confusing emotions worry is actually a form of atheism. It’s acting as if God does not exist.

Psalm 18:46 provides three words which destroy worry and fuel faith: ‘The Lord lives…’

Don’t pass over those words too quickly. The. Lord. Lives.

My budget is flatlining and we are financially tanking and I don’t see hope for the future! But the Lord lives. The same Lord who owns everything and provides for ravens and sustains galaxies and calls us his children is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t provide for yourself but your budget is not too tight for God. The Lord lives.

My child is not doing well spiritually and I’ve tried everything and I don’t have any hope that anything will change! The Lord lives. The same Lord who has saved murderers and prostitutes and Pharisees and drug addicts and money addicts and pastors kids is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t save your child but your kid is not too hard for God. The Lord lives.

My marriage is on the rocks and we’ve tried counseling and we’ve read all the books and I don’t see things getting any better! The Lord lives. The same Lord who created a bride for himself out of rebellious, wicked, God-hating sinners is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t rescue your marriage but your marriage is not too hard for God. The Lord lives.

My spiritual life is dry, and I’ve tried a thousand different things to get it kickstarted, but nothing seems to work, and honestly, I don’t think things are going to get any better. The Lord lives. The same Lord who caused you to become spiritually alive is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t breathe fresh life into your heart but your heart is not too dry for God.

Your circumstances may be bleak. You may not see a light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see any silver lining. But circumstances and tunnels and silver linings are not the basis of our hope, God is.

Don’t be a functional atheist today. The Lord lives. Let’s live in light of that reality” (Steven Altrogge).

“Everything about which we are tempted to complain may be the very instrument whereby the Potter intends to shape His clay into the image of His Son–a headache, an insult, a long line at the check-out, someone’s rudeness or failure to say thank you, misunderstanding, disappointment, interruption. As Amy Carmichael said, ‘See in it a chance to die,’ meaning a chance to leave self behind…” (Elisabeth Elliot)

That’s exactly what I needed to hear, so I decided to post it.

When you stop seeing all these annoyances and aggravations and insults and wrongs as things done to you and start seeing them as the means of God shaping you into something brand new, your outlook changes.

When you see every hardship, every pain, and every loss as God’s means of making you more like Jesus, you understand that God really is working all things– even the worst things– together for good.

Every time I don’t get my way, when my plans get frustrated and my dreams come to naught, I can see in it a chance to die– a chance to leave my old self and all its selfishness and self-centeredness behind.

Maybe then I can even start to give thanks in these circumstances, if not for the actual events then what God will bring out of them. Maybe I can learn to give thanks for every no from God because I know there’s a much bigger yes in store down the road.

“In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride. As soon as we start walking with Him we find that He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. Getting into God’s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. Don’t give up! Get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose” (Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest).

For me, it’s not truly fall without Oktoberfest. This year turned out to be rainy and short-lived, but I still got to experience it in all its German glory.

I miss the old location with all the old houses you could walk in and out of and all the historic charm. I’m also not the biggest fan of all the condos going up everywhere.

That aside, I got my German food and walked around a bit in the rain and a good time was had by all.

Hopefully next year it will be back to the regular sunny weather.

It’s all about perspective. It seems to me that the default setting for most of us is to focus on the negative. Comparison really is the thief of joy, making us envious and anxious instead of peaceful and content.

But if you’re reading these words and you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, money in your wallet, a car to drive, and people who love you and whom you love, you are more blessed than you know.

I’m trying to start a new habit: when anyone asks me how I am, instead of saying “Fine” or “Good,” I say “I’m better than I deserve,” because it’s true. I don’t deserve to be so blessed, but God saw fit to bless me anyway. I’m sure the same applies for you.

Choose to count your blessings and realize that if you have God, you really have all you need. May we all (me included) learn to give thanks more and complain and worry less.

“Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come” (Henri Nouwen).

Lately, the main topic at my church has been gospel conversations, which are how you can gently broach the subject of Jesus and salvation in such a way that doesn’t come across as preachy or condemning.

That’s been on my mind a lot lately.

I confess I’m not very good at these gospel conversations. Most of the time, I chicken out. I either don’t say anything or I make small talk.

I think most of us feel inadequate when it comes to initiating spiritual conversations.

Maybe the way to get started is with random acts of kindness. Perhaps it will be peace or a smile. Maybe it will be forgiving when you have every right to hold a grudge.

Kindness can open a door for gospel conversations and give you the right to be heard but it can’t ever replace the actual conversations. The Apostle Paul says that salvation comes through hearing and not just seeing. The words matter.

But the good news is that God has promised to give you the right words in the right moment when you need them most. He will guide your conversation if you enter into it prayerfully, humbly, and sincerely. He will also prompt you when the time is right.

May all believers have the courage to not only act with kindness but also to speak words of lovingkindness that those around us desperately need to hear.

I’m just gonna leave this right here. I think it says everything about how much I love fall and all the things that go with it.

According to the calendar, it’s been fall for two weeks, but anyone in the great state of Tennessee could tell you that it has felt like anything but fall. Those annoyingly humid and hot temperatures were lingering and it felt like they would never go away.

Yep, fall didn’t feel much like fall.

Until today.

In my opinion, this was the real first day of fall. That coolish temperature and those crisp autumn breezes gave me all the feels. Hot-tober is now finally October. I can drink my pumpkin spice beverages in seasonally appropriate weather again.

I hope fall stays awhile this time.

I hope the leaves don’t just fall off but turn into a riot of colors before they let go and fall to the earth.

I hope that I’ll take time to experience this autumn with all five senses, breathing in the fall air, feeling the brisk winds against my face, smelling the sweet decay of dying leaves.

I hope there will be lots of warm beverages, bonfires, s’mores, and possibly a hayride or two.

I’m ready.

I’m still in the midst of my nerdy quest to rewatch all the classic episodes of Doctor. And by nerdy, I mean cool, because nerdy = cool, right?

I finally made it to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, who gamely took over when the first Doctor, William Hartnell, became too ill to continue in the role.

Thus, the idea of regeneration was born out of necessity to keep the show going in the face of the original actor’s failing health.

I love all the old, black and white episodes with all their cheesy special effects and (sometimes) overacting. There’s a magical quality to those old shows, I think.

Currently, the two companions are Michael Cruze as Ben and the lovely Anneke Wills as Polly, trying to keep that old doctor in line and sometimes just trying to keep up.

I’m thankful to Amazon Prime and Britbox for making these old episodes available again for nerds– I mean cool people *wink, wink*– like me.

“‘I must keep praying’ ‘I feel like just giving up!’ How often has this thought passed through our minds (both yours and mine) in recent months? If I am honest, then I must admit it’s been quite often. I find myself so often in hopeless situations where I know full well that only God can deliver me but God doesn’t seem to have the same urgency as I do. Impatience and unbelief are at least a root o…(tharr be more)f all my problems, and pride isn’t far behind, along with frustration (the fruit of my sin). Deep down I know that the Lord is working in my life and that I would be better off if I waited patiently for His time and His way of deliverance, but there seems to be a constant conflict between wanting to honour my God by doing His will and at the same time worrying myself sick over things which may never happen” (Apples of Gold).

That’s the story of my life.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worried myself sick over things that never happened, yet I know I’ll do it again tomorrow. Or possibly the next day.

It’s human nature to worry. It’s almost like anxiety is the default setting for our brains when stressful circumstances occur.

But it’s God’s nature to deliver. That’s what He does best for His children. He delights in glorifying His own name and that often means rescuing His own out of impossible odds or bleak circumstances.

The choice is either to fret over what is beyond your control (and worry is simply imagining your future while omitting God from it) or to rest in the God who has the whole world — and your future– in His most capable hands.

I know what I choose.