“Breathe, O breath of God, breathe”. As Justin casually used this phrase in his sermon, this felt like my deepest prayer. I need the breath of God in my dry bones. I need Him to walk with me in the grey areas. I need Him to help me feel my sorrow and my joy, without guilt, without feeling like I have to bounce back to the other end of the spectrum. I need renewal, but ...

"This past Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of the answer: my friends, we must be filled with the Spirit. When our emotions surge and our passions rise for truth and justice, we must be filled with the Spirit, for the Spirit, unlike our emotions, does not usurp the place of truth, but takes us to the person who is Truth Himself. When we think all the people around us are ...

"In these moments of waiting and questioning and being angry, Jesus meets us in our weakness. He gives me the Holy Spirit and fills me with power even in my anger. And even though I will have to march on through this virus-filled life and will stop and stare at the sky and ask, “Are we there yet?”, those are the very times that my infinite weakness will be met with his...

"The lesson of Jesus’ command “You Follow Me” isn’t just about not comparing yourself to others around you. It’s also about not comparing your own life to the one you want to have, or comparing yourself to the person you want to be, or the events in your life to what you wish had happened. It’s about trusting God that the both the worst and the most mundane thi...

"We can always debate which is more important in success or excellence. Is it Natural Ability or Grit (Perseverance/Hard Work)? But changes always with come. My Lord keeps teaching me (and He does not give up) that in it all and always in whatever comes, the calling from the my Abba Father (is again) is to find my identity in Jesus. That is the only secure place! And he al...

"Therefore, as we receive Christ in faith, we are justified and sanctified because of Him. However, sanctification is a process - a process which Justin emphasized in the sermon on Sunday. We are still broken, fallible people while we reside here on earth. Our failures, our shame, and ultimately, our sinfulness, are constant reminders that we cannot renew ourselves by ours...

"In the same way, even though Thomas doubted Jesus’s promise to rise from the dead and doubted the testimony of others that he had, Jesus was still merciful and patient with him. He showed up the next week and let Thomas see and touch him. And in response Thomas believed and acknowledged Jesus as Lord and God. "...

"During worship, we become participants, entering into the new creation. With bread and wine, we “taste and see” the reality of the heavenly Jerusalem. Corporate worship is far more than the gathering of like-minded individuals to sing some tunes and talk about Jesus. Instead, it is the intrusion of heaven here-and-now. The more we allow ourselves to enter into thi...

"In some small way I feel like I can understand how the apostles must have felt during the Saturday between Jesus’ death and resurrection. Just like then, we are in a waiting period and we do not know what we are exactly waiting for; we are experiencing loss of what we thought we knew and what we most likely took for granted. We might even be experiencing, to some degree...

"Into this uncertainty and lack of control, I see Jesus! Jesus, who is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities...