Recommended Reading: Unshockable Love How Jesus Changes the World through Imperfect People

How easily shocked are you by the lives of others who are different from you?

When we continually surround ourselves only with people who have similar belief systems and values, it can result in fear, judgment, and distancing ourselves from others who are different. But this is not Christ-like. In fact, it is more like the Pharisees in the Bible. The Pharisees were the religious ones, the rule-enforcers, the ones who lived a separate life. They judged and condemned others while being blind to their own sinful ways. In contrast, Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), He ate with sinners (Matthew 9:11) and touched untouchable lepers (Matthew 8:3). He didn’t withdraw from them. He drew near to them. John Burke, the author of Unshockable Love: How Jesus Changes the World through Imperfect People, challenges us to examine our hearts to see whether we are more like Jesus or more like the Pharisees.

Why should we accept this challenge?

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New Year’s Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions

By Sheri Ellington

At the end of each year, we look back and we look forward. We evaluate the past and set new goals for the future. Or maybe we realize that we didn’t meet a goal, so we roll that goal over to the new year. I want to share about my recurring New Year’s Resolution, how I finally achieved it, and how it changed my life. In fact, I hope that you will consider setting this as a goal for yourself, and at the end of this article, I will offer you some practical tips to get you started. My New Year’s Resolution started way back in my childhood, about forty years ago.

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Gravy, Grief & Glitter

Gravy Grief and Glitter

By Sheri Ellington

If you’ve followed my story thus far, you know that my family has experienced much loss over the past year. Reaching out to our extended families, I can count nine who have died. The closest to me was my mom. The closest to my husband was his brother. Both sides of our family are grieving, but not like those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Praise the Lord for the hope we have in Jesus Christ! Still, dealing with the grief is a daily battle, and our first holiday without these two proved to be a tougher battle than I reckoned it would be.

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