God’s Everlasting Mercy
It’s the end of the first week of school around here. Everyone’s tired. Everyone’s grouchy. And I had one of those afternoons with my kids where my patience was thin and I had just had enough. Enough of telling them not to fight, and to pick up toys, and to find their...
God’s Everlasting Mercy
It’s the end of the first week of school around here. Everyone’s tired. Everyone’s grouchy. And I had one of those afternoons with my kids where my patience was thin and I had just had enough. Enough of telling them not to fight, and to pick up toys, and to find their...
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Does God Give Second Chances?
I'm a sucker for second chances. I guess that's because I've needed them so many times in my own life. From forgetting a dear friend's birthday to not watching my words and tone when "discussing" an issue with my husband, or not having the patience I needed with one...
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Seeing Through the Eyes of Mercy
These days I'm in a beautifully refining stage of parenting. My kids are getting older, and daily life lessons are shifting beyond the playground. We're navigating culture together, resulting in the development of deeper Biblical world views. The questioning "whys"...
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The Drastic Actions Of God
Jonah 2 is the famous part of Jonah’s story where he gets swallowed by a great fish. It is while he is in this smelly belly that Jonah cries out to the Lord. Put yourself in his shoes for a minute. He has been thrown overboard, which in and of itself must have been...
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Can God Always Hear Our Prayers?
If you've ever wondered if God can hear your prayers when you're deep in the consequences of your sin, look no further than today's verses. Make no mistake; Jonah had sinned and run away from God. He allowed hatred and fear toward a specific group of people to poison...
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You Can’t Run From God
Think about a time in your life where you wish you could have just disappeared. I can think of many occasions where I have felt awkward and uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to be far away. Other times I have felt immense dread of something I knew I had to do...
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To the Girl Who is Running from God
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same...
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Because of YOU We Are Able To…
When Jesus told His disciples, “Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15),” His great commission, if they obeyed it, meant they would be apart. Our translators are apart as well. They are separated by continents, cultures, multiple time...
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Week 1 Jonah: God’s Will Vs. My Will
Nineveh was a wicked, wicked city full of people who were known for their cruelty in war (Nahum 2:12-13), evil plots against God (Nahum 1:9), and exploitation of the weak (Nahum 2:12)...and Jonah hated them. Have you ever hated someone or a group of people so much you...
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Love The Loveless Introduction
We need the powerful reminder found in the book of Jonah today. The reminder that God’s salvation is for all people, no matter their history or their past sins. We need to hear God’s call again to go, go to those who are far from God and tell them about Him. We don’t...
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A Different Kind of Happily Ever After
We have come to the end of Ruth, but instead of ending the story with Ruth living happily ever after with Boaz, we end with a genealogy. If we are honest we'll admit that most of us don’t like reading biblical genealogies. We often skim over them or skip them all...
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Life is hard. It’s complicated. It’s messy.
Life is hard. It's complicated. It's messy. I have a friend who was unexpectedly, prematurely widowed. A friend who is an alcoholic but won't admit it. Several friends fighting cancer in their thirties. A friend in the throes of an affair. A friend who's been...
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Love The Loveless Materials Now Available!
Ohhhh, friends! We begin our NEW Love The Loveless Bible study on MONDAY and we couldn’t be more excited! Now is a great time to reach out to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers and invite them to do our fall study with you for these next 4 weeks! Our online Bible...
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Week 4: Investing in a Legacy that Lasts
Oh, don’t you just love how Boaz is a man of his word? Right after Ruth heads back to Naomi with a shawl full of barley - and I’m sure a heart filled with hope - Boaz wastes no time and travels into town, just like he said he would. Boaz is ready to make good on his...
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Doing Right in a Tempting World…
"[The book of] Ruth is a portrait of beautiful, noble manhood and womanhood. In a day when movies and television and advertising and the Internet portray masculinity and femininity in the lowest ways, we are in great need of stories that elevate the magnificent...
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Ruth Was a Proverbs 31 Woman…
Can I tell you a secret? Ruth Chapter 3 has always made me a little nervous. I mean, am I the only one who cringes at the thought of Ruth going to the threshing floor that night and following Naomi's orders? Ahhh, talk about awkward! My heart begins to beat faster,...
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Week 3: A Daring Proposal
Good morning and welcome to week 3 of our Ruth study. Can you believe that we are now halfway done?! This study is flying by, you guys! We begin this week in chapter 3 and it is guessed that a couple of weeks have gone by between the end of chapter 2 and the...
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Announcing Our Fall Study…Jonah
The story of Jonah is more than just a story of a disobedient, runaway prophet and a hungry fish. It’s a story of a compassionate God who longs for everyone to come to salvation, even a nation who has done great evil in His sight. His heart of compassion is not...
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There’s No Such Thing As Luck!
I used to believe in “good luck” - that events and opportunities in my life happened by chance and some people are just more “lucky” than others. Then in college, my roommate challenged me one day and said, “Angela, that isn’t random luck. That’s God.” And you know...
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Sheltered Under His Wings
This weekend, I rolled down my window at a red light and tried to speak God’s kindness to a homeless pregnant woman who was panhandling for money. I felt the crushing pain of her desperation in her bitter response. I can’t stop thinking about her. As I offered her...
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Week 2: The Sovereign God Who Goes Before Us
"So she set out and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelich." - Ruth 2:3 If you came into this study expecting only a love story, you know by now that the story of...
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Pleasant to Bitter
It seems impossible to have hope when you are filled with pain and loss and your dreams have been shattered. Although it is difficult to believe that God is near, His sovereignty never sleeps. When our pain is the deepest and our doubt the greatest, God remains with...
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The Depth of Loyal Love…
I am currently living in the land of teenagers, and within that privileged territory, I get to engage in some lively conversation around the dinner table each night. Shallow topics can range anywhere from food (and the fact that they're always hungry!) to the latest...
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Ruth Week 1: When We Make The Wrong Decision
Welcome to the first week of our Ruth Bible study! I am so glad you are joining us and look forward to spending the next four weeks with you as we read through the whole book of Ruth! If you haven’t already done so, make sure to subscribe to our blog or download our...
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Ruth Introduction
We are very excited to be studying the book of Ruth with you. Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges, and as we begin reading we see the curtain lift on a scene of the tragedy. Naomi, who had already lost her husband, now mourns the loss of both of her sons....
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