Words of Life

Hosea said that God would erect a barrier to slow down the people He loved: "I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way" (Hosea 2:6).  Have you ever experienced a wall from God that blocked your way? Forget about slowing down and thinking twice. A wall…

Jesus saw the widow walking in the funeral procession and he approached her. Interestingly, the text says nothing about the woman's faith or lack of it. Maybe she was a faith-filled woman of God. Maybe not. Maybe she was still so down from the loss of her husband, and now…

Today, our nation and our world face monumental threats, including a languishing global economy and the plague of radical Islamic terrorism. But there is another threat that we often overlook, even though it is perhaps one we can each do more to address than the economy or terrorism.  This problem…

Everybody gets a gift. And these gifts come in different doses and combinations. "Each person is given something to do that shows who God is" (I Cor. 12:7 MSG).  Our inheritance is grace based and equal. But our assignments are tailor-made. No two snowflakes are the same. No two fingerprints…

Justin “The Viking” Wren is a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter and missionary to the Pygmy tribes of the Congo. On November 1, 2014, he married Emily and the next year she went on her first missions trip with him. Justin’s journal captured some of the endearing moments from their…

If you were to ask me what I understand about the purpose of church and the Sunday service, I would say it is to meet together to remember and ingest our shared brokenness in Christ, to remember the pouring out. We meet for communion. We meet like hungry kids at…

A feast is made for laughter. – Ecclesiastes 10:19  I'm learning, slowly, a rhythm of feasting and fasting brings a rich cadence to my year. I use the word fasting loosely, as an opposite term to feasting – permission and discipline, necessary slides back and forth along the continuum of…

"If you love Me, you will keep My commands." (John 14:15) If you have a background of abuse like I do and have fallen victim to a colossal misuse of authority like I have, the thought of obeying anybody's "commands" may make your skin crawl. This is one of the…

Christmas tends to bring out the best and worst of everything – the joy, the pain, the excitement, the annoyances, and the blessings. To usher us into it, I’ve compiled twelve quotes that cover it all. I hope you enjoy it while experiencing the best for you and your family…

Over the past few years, I have come to know Dale and Shoko Araki who lived in Tokyo, Japan. Both are university professors, teaching in separate universities, but both teach intercultural communication. Therefore, they teach people about the importance of cultural sensitivity. They come to Northwest Arkansas annually. As the…