Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

 "He came out and went, as was his custom , to the Mount of Olives" ~ Luke 22:39, emphasis mine When we think of the power Christ had to prevent His crucifixion, we often think of the army of angels that he had at His command or the power over nature he held. Any one of the people who were responsible for His death could have been smote, scattered, or suddenly thrown into confusion with just one word from His mouth. When passersby mocked Him, they were right in knowing about His power to save others, but wrong in thinking He could not save Himself. A devotion I read Sunday morning caused me to think of another power He had that could have saved Him if He had chosen to use it: the power to choose a hidden spot to pray. The verse quoted above tells us that going to the Mount of Olives to pray was something he did often. According to the author of the devotion, "it was easy for the authorities to find Jesus to arrest him." Another verse says, "Now Judas, who betra...

 This past Sunday, I was working and missed the morning service at the church my husband and I attend. Usually, I just attend the evening Bible study and church service, but things were different this Sunday. On the first Sunday of every quarter, our church does a special Communion service instead of regular Sunday evening activities.  The first 30 minutes of the service are devoted to prayer and Bible reading, which I thought was nice. I spent the majority of that time praying for my husband and our relationship. I know that prayer is a great basis for any marriage, and I figured some dedicated time to do so would be quite helpful. I also read Song of Solomon, since it is a book solely about love and a marital relationship.  While I was reading, I noticed a verse that didn't make much sense to me, so I looked it up in another version on my Bible app. Our church uses the King James Version (KJV), so that's what I was reading, but the church I grew up in used the New Revis...

End of blog post. Well, not really.     Truthfully, I shouldn't have to say more than this, but unfortunately, I do. Increasingly it seems as though some people think the only reason anyone isn't yet vaccinated is because they haven't had the opportunity to be. I've had the opportunity. In fact, I've had many opportunities, but I haven't gotten it, and may never get it.       The reason is quite simple, I am not afraid of Coronavirus. Never have been, and never will be. I take to heart the words of Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The absolute worst thing that the Coronavirus could do to me is kill me, which is unlikely to happen. Even if it did, my future is secure. In Christ, my death secures me a one-way ticket to Heaven, where pain and disease no longer exist. I'm not in any hurry to get there, and I'd rather not get there because of a ...

"For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence ...You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness , or the destruction that wastes at noonday." ~ Psalm 91:3, 5-6, emphasis mine I'm guessing that you already know about the global pandemic of Coronavirus. You are probably suffering some of the effects, not from the virus itself, but from the panic and social distancing its path through our world has caused. Just this past weekend, the cast party for  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , the monthly Kansas Authors' Club meeting, and all services at my church were canceled. Not only that, but I found out yesterday that everything at church is canceled until April 1. I was able to go to Zumba Sunday after being gone for a month and a half while rehearsing for and performing Joseph , but before the day was over, the local YMCAs closed for the next week at l...

Recently, I asked a friend on Facebook for details about an upcoming event. When he didn't respond right away, I figured that he was still ironing out the details and would let me know when they were finalized. Much to my disappointment, less than a week later I saw pictures of the event and realized that the plans had been finalized but never relayed to me. I sent him a message expressing my disappointment, and his response to that message was full of false accusations and triggers. Though the rational part of my brain said that I likely had just caught him in a bad moment, his words still sent me into a depressive funk that I still am having a hard time shaking. Once I was calm, I forgave him, but I also realized that I needed to do something I had considered doing for quite some time but never got around to: write a post about how to respond to those with depression. So here they are in no particular order, the dos and don'ts of dealing with someone in your life who has depr...

"When the stress is on the rise, in my heart I feel You say, 'Just breathe.'"~" Breathe "-Jonny Diaz Monday morning at work, we got an announcement that the internet was down. Later, it was revealed that a cable had been cut, and we were going to be without internet all day. While we were initially feeling a bit stressed, since our 21st century classrooms rely heavily on technology, we were able to adapt, and actually ended the day feeling surprisingly calm. As one of my coworkers put it, since there was no possibility of checking emails every time she had a break, she felt freer. She didn't realize how dependent she was on checking e-mails until she couldn't, and she found that she didn't miss it. I myself felt a bit lighter, and wondered if maybe being plugged in isn't actually all it's cracked up to be. Last Sunday's sermon at my church was about spending time in silence, and how hard that can be for us. We fill our days with l...

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."~John 16:33 As my American readers know, November 8 is Election Day, and the buildup to that day has been incredibly pretentious, especially in the race for the presidency. Each of the two major parties have a candidate that is hated by everyone in the other party, and even some people from their own. Many people have made the decision to vote for their party's candidate not because they want them in the White House, but because they don't want the other party's nominee in there. There are also many choosing to vote for a third party candidate as an act of protest against their party, even though our nation's two-party system renders any third party candidate not viable. Social media has fueled this mutual hatred and release of venom by making it incredibly easy for even the most seemingly insignificant person to...