gratitude

We think of Thanksgiving as a holiday, but it is an exercise that requires some intentionality. It implies that the thanks given can be received. When growing up my mom would make my favorite dish on my birthday. I would thank her, and she would receive the thanks with a hug. It is this very thing...

If someone observed your life for a week, for what would they conclude you are living? Would they observe that you oppress others for power? Would they witness you being envious, foolish, a workaholic, or greedy? Would they say you pursue rugged individualism, or isolate yourself to gain power,...

We don’t tend to think about thanking God with our whole heart when we are walking in the midst of trouble. Instead, we often cry out for help, pleading with the Lord to deliver us, change our circumstances, or save our loved ones. Of course, it is good and right to cry out to the Lord for...

What does it mean to be happy? Well meaning people may exhort us to this end, but how do we define happiness? Some would argue that happiness is found in one’s appearance. Others would maintain that it is found in education. Still others would argue that it depends on extracurricular activities and...

J. Douglas MacMillan shares how fisherman alerted him about one of his sheep stuck on a lonely cliff’s edge with nothing left to eat. And having had no water to soften and digest the food, it later died. [1] In contrast, Psalm 23 promises that God will always guide Christians where they can eat and...

When Paul wrote to the Philippians he was confined to prison, awaiting his hearing before Caesar (see Acts 23:11; 25:9-12; 26:32). Although he was chained to a soldier at all times, he was able to write letters, have visitors, and boldly proclaim the gospel (28:30-31). During this time Paul’s...

It had been a long, hot summer. The heat wave outside seemed to match the heat wave in my own heart of anger, chaos, disappointment, fear, grief, insecurity, loneliness, and physical pain. One night things seemed particularly bad. I was overwhelmed with the different needs of each of my four...

Gudina Tumsa – Martyr and Thinker On July 28, 1979, Gudina Tumsa led a Bible study at Urael Church in Addis Ababa, one of the congregations of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). He had barely left the church when he was kidnapped, together with his wife, Tsehay Tolessa, by some...

Goodness is a word that can obviously mean upright. Think of the oft used comparison between good and evil. But the word can also point up the benefit or qualities possessed by another. We might say something like, “The teachers are good here.” Of course, by that we mean that the teachers are the...

“But the fruit of the Spirit is… joy.” Joy, that ultimate of teleological pursuits. It is the reason we exist. What is the chief end of man? It is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. [1] More than mere happiness, though not less than, joy is the deep culmination and end of all we were created...