Few gifts are more meaningful than a thoughtfully chosen book. It’s a gift that can offer hope, wisdom, and even fun. As you consider your Christmas gift, here are a few books you might want to consider for loved ones.
Suffering
"Forgive me for all the times I needed to suffer and I ran from it, I numbed it.” The prayer caught me off guard. I looked up. Aspens bent in the wind outside the window. A small group of pastors gathered in the small community center in the tiny town of Summerhaven, located near the summit of Mount Lemmon, 5,000 feet above Tucson.
Who hasn’t avoided suffering? I’ve avoided suffering in countless ways: I’ve dodged difficult conversations, evaded serving, neglected the spiritual disciplines of fasting and silence, overspent our budget, and skipped leg day. But how often have I prayed for forgiveness for shirking suffering?
Christian Living, Culture, Spiritual Growth
Six chapters into the Bible and only three chapters after Adam and Eve committed the first sin against God, the hearts of humanity have turned in on themselves. They desire to please themselves alone. God’s heart is broken. Listen to the narrative in Genesis 6. It’s a remarkable glimpse into God’s emotional life,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart….
Recommendations, History, Nature, Religion, Wisdom
When God says now: Christopher Cook says, “I understand the hesitation, but you and I need discernment for this hour. We are being called to submit. Our job is not to assess our readiness (according to our perspective). It is to step forward with clean hands, a yielded spirit, and a heart tethered to the will of the Father.”
The secret things: Andrea Sanborn concludes, “Someday we’ll know the secret things that our mortality can’t fathom. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known”, as the Apostle Paul explained it. But for now, it’s okay to rest in wonder. Because wonder, in the end, is worship.”
Wisdom, Christian Living, Culture, Death, Fear, Politics
October 7, 2023 Iranian backed Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The moment I heard, I buried my head in my hands grieving that again great suffering had begun.
From that day, I have prayed anew for peace and justice as this round of tensions between Israel and Iran unfolds. Gaza, Hezbollah in the north, all of it is, at its root, the same conflict.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, like many of you, I read that American B-2 bombers dropped 14 “bunker buster” bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities. We joined the conflict. Some call it a war.
Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Culture, Sexuality
Rainbow flags might be filling store windows in your town this June. In 1978, Harvey Milk, a prominent gay politician and activist, commissioned Gilbert Baker to create a visual symbol for the gay community. Baker designed a rainbow flag with eight colors. The flag was flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade and quickly became a symbol of pride and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community.
Of course, the LGBTQ+ community was not the first community to claim the rainbow as a symbol. God gave the rainbow to Noah and his family following the flood as a promise that he would be merciful in his judgment.
