belief – 300 words a day

Jesus. Is. Alive.

In the midst of the chaos that is life today, I often forget that Jesus is still alive. I’m so thankful for the Bible. About 3/4 of the way through, you’ll find four books that recount the life of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each book is told from a different person’s perspective. As […]

by Paul Merrill

We want a king

Israel was jealous. Surrounding nations had kings. Their king was God – but he didn’t have flesh. They couldn’t see their king. So they asked for a king. God said yes, but He warned them having a king would cause problems. They didn’t care… “give us one anyway!” One of our problems is that we […]

by Paul Merrill

Physical Pain

Saturday morning, I turned the wrong way. My back immediately sent pain into that part of my brain that overrides everything else. Movement in any direction caused more pain. I did several stretches. My wife administered pain creme and brought out a heating pad. There was little change… simply putting on shoes was something that […]

by Jon Swanson

who else is there?

What makes you stay? When you are part of a group and public opinion shifts, what makes you stay? How much attention do you pay to the way people are talking? If lots of people are talking positively about your group, does that make you feel more attached? If lots of people start to raise […]

by Paul Merrill

God doesn’t do branding the way we do

Storms are amazing. The power of water molecules coming together to form baseball-sized chunks of ice on a warm day is astonishing. But they don’t have a stripe across them that says, “Made by God.” Thunderclaps roll across the vast valley with a roar louder and more encompassing than the best sound system you’ve ever […]