Devotions (Page 18)

Once upon a time, WildFire went on a youth retreat! They worked their tails off to raise money and minimize costs. They plotted and planned and plotted some more. Meal Plans were made and Grocery Lists written; Costco was raided and Yummy Snacks hidden. “Iiiiii think I’ve made a mistake,” said Laura to herself.“Not about the youth retreat but about this weird format!!” I don’t think I can keep this story time going…But it’s so hard to stop when the…

We live in an incredibly fractured culture, we live with the tension of disunity every waking moment. Hate, dissension, and contempt fill our media daily. Whether we are discussing politics, racism, cultures, parenting, church practices, we set up divisions and demand everyone take a side. While this may seem normal in our culture, as God’s children, this should not be so! Our unity is crucial for the sake of advancing the Gospel. In Romans 15:5, Paul writes, “May the God who…

Dear LifeSpring Family, Recently, I have been working at my dining room table instead of at my standing desk in my office. There are two pictures (attached) on the wall by the dining table. The two pictures are of the words “believe and hope” in Chinese characters. The Holy Spirit was speaking to me as I gazed upon the two pictures. Do I really believe what I say I believe? This was connected to the verse that I was reading…

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Many years ago when I was in school, I remember learning about the story of John Landy. Landy was…

We were so blessed to have Carl & Rosy with us this past Sunday. Faithful and amazing warriors for the King – they have served, continue to serve, and plan to keep on serving Him. An example to us and a blessing to this world. As Carl was speaking yesterday, I felt the Lord highlight the following: Hebrews 12:6, 10-11 the Lord disciplines the one he loves…God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.…

Imagine you went out for dinner at a restaurant with a bunch of people you never met before and the person you sat across started making racial comments about your racial group to the people next to them. What would you do? How would you respond? As someone who is non-confrontational and a minimizer by nature, I can tell you that I’m not the type to escalate these types of situations. That does not mean that I won’t be upset…

In previous LifeSpring events like the Kidz Harbour Christmas play, Volunteer Appreciation Barbecue, and others, I would usually play a central role in setup or at least running something. For the Wildfire Fundraiser, however, I didn’t want to take care of a table because I knew I’d also be supervising the kids in the gym that same afternoon. With that in mind, I spread out all the tasks that needed to be done on Sunday amongst Wildfire, and just did…

Dear LifeSpring Family, In the past several months, I have been mulling over this question of, “Am I a Christian who prays or am I a praying Christian?” I think I heard this question/challenge in one of P2C’s weekly staff chapel time. It got me thinking about my approach to my prayer life. After much thought and listening to God, I have come to see that I am neither. I have come to see myself on the continuum between a Christian who…

Several weeks ago, Theresa showed me an impressive video of a young person who constructed a massive domino project. In the video she uses bins of dominoes and carefully lays down individual pieces following a very careful design. She even themed the project after the Mario Bros., complete with a princess castle and full cast of characters. The entire project took her 24 days where she laid down 18,000 individual dominoes. Of course, the topple was perfect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsR8WNx6qbc if you’re curious). Matthew 25:14-30…

Fun Fact: Every time I hear the phrase, “Be prepared”, I sing it back to myself in Scar’s voice. I attribute this to being a 90s kid who had a very love/hate relationship with The Lion King (okay fine, mostly only love… I just cannot – to this day –  watch that movie without bawling). Ironically, and likely not very surprisingly, I’m taking a quick break from packing my bags to write this devo… hours before I head over to…

When we talk about Kingdom Parenting we are trying to raise the huios (mature sons). Fully complete, lacking nothing. When we look at the ultimate mature son, Jesus Christ – we see a man who was raised and became a huios. He was one who did not just hear and ignore – He listened and obeyed. Kingdom Parenting is not just about one’s biological children, it is the people you influence and care for. I shared a testimony a couple…

In my addictions class, my professor made an interesting spin to a familiar quote. It goes like this: “You can lead a horse to the water but you can’t make it drink. But you can make the horse thirsty.” In the context of addiction counseling, my professor shared that we often spend countless hours and energy bringing people the information and tools necessary for change and treatment, in the hopes that they can use it and walk it out for…