The mood of our culture is "be true to yourself, find your truest self within, and you do you." Is this how God intended identities to be formed? Did God purpose that we would find our pleasure in ourselves, in the identities we came up with?

When you regularly serve with a ministry team, you get to know your brothers and sisters better and you have the opportunity to see them grow in loving and serving others.

As we move forward in a post-Roe world, life-affirming organizations are even more dependent on the church to live out the kingdom of God here on earth.

This isn’t a history to rest on, it is a call for more involvement. As needs increase we should be prepared to meet those needs in even greater ways.

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Even demons have knowledge of God. We must have more than knowledge alone. The Lord has convicted me of my dependence on knowledge and lack of faith recently.

If you’re like me, there wasn’t much said about the Holy Spirit. The Father is our Lord, and our Sovereign Creator. Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Yet, I heard very little of who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.

So what do we do when we see our brokenness and pride? We humble ourselves. We remember the truths of who God is, what He has done, and who He has made us in Christ.

This is why rhythms are so important, because they help us to see the things we are already doing as opportunities to be disciples and make disciples. Rhythms are all the normal things of life that allow us to see God’s work in us as disciples of Jesus and God’s work through us that He uses for the discipleship of others.

What could it look like to make disciples on this very mundane Thursday, with dishes to wash, reports to file, and people asking what’s for dinner again?

My responses to the Executive Committee’s report have ranged from disappointment and despair to disgust and anger. I am filled with hurt for the HUNDREDS of KNOWN victims of sexual abuse who have been ignored, pushed to the side, bullied, and maligned.

"So, to be worthy of God, I must make disciples, do all the works Jesus does, suffer as he suffered, and live righteously, and keep all of his commandments. If I do all these things, will I be saved?"

My friend agreed with my summary and said, “Yep!”

I lovingly said his name and asked, "How long have you been perfectly doing all these things, and how can I perfectly do all these things?

It wasn’t until the day before my biopsy, as I read those words of Jesus, that I realized the truth. I had been praying and preaching to myself, but I wasn’t really trusting God to hear and answer my prayers, to be who He says He is, or to do the things He has promised.