• Featured - obedience

    Of God and Grocery Carts

    - By 

    When the Lord first nudged me to wheel the grocery cart into the stall specified for them, I did it without question.  But then there was a next time, and a next time.  Every time I went to the grocery store, I felt the Holy Spirit gently reminding me to put the cart back. I found it a little irritating.  I have to confess that I very rarely put the cart back before this, and my conscience did not suffer for it.  I wasn’t  inconsiderate.  I put the carts where they could not damage any cars.  I often anchored them…

  • delight - Imaginative Prayer - prayer - relationship

    The Power of Delight: Four Ways to Experience It

    - By 

    When I think of the power of delight, I think about my mother’s mission trip to China. In 1980, China opened its doors to the Western world to tourists.  My mother took part in the first Christian envoy into China after decades of exclusionist policies.  The difference in the quality of life between the Chinese and the Americans was striking. Of course, this phenomenon is still not unusual when one travels.  The little group was only the second American group allowed in; the first honor going to Bob Hope, the late actor, and his entourage. The Wretched Power of Complaint:…

  • Heart - Imaginative Prayer - prayer - relationship

    Prayer as a Competitive Sport

    - By 

    Sometimes it is possible to read too many books on one subject.  One’s head gets filled with all theory and no practice.  I found myself in this position a number of years ago when I had read as many books on prayer as I could get my hands on.  I became very sensitive to the various approaches to prayer and observed carefully the people around me as they prayed.  Some seemed to be in earnest, actually too earnest, as if trying to prove their sincerity. Others shouted at the devil, and still others read long and eloquent prayers out loud. …