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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: HEART OF THE FATHER
âBehold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!â ~ 1 John 3:1 (The Bible) What comes to your mind when you hear the word âfatherâ? Is it good? Is it bad? A source of inspirationâor disappointment? Do you cringe from unwanted memories or do happy tears fill your eyes? Perhaps nothing comes to mind because you never really had one, or perhaps you are one and youâre still trying to figure out exactly what that means? This past Sunday was designated and duly celebrated as âFatherâs Dayâ, yet I wonder how many of us actually had something to celebrate?…
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KIDâS CARTOONS AND RACIAL RIOTS
âYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.â ~ Jesus Christ Last Friday was a wonderful day. After weeks of busyness, my family and I were finally able to take a much needed âday-cationâ, traveling to one of our favorite places in Tennessee to sight-see, eat some BBQ, and generally enjoy the beginning of what promises to be a beautiful summer. It felt so good just to laugh and relax togetherâespecially after the tension and intensity of the past two months. When at last we arrived back home, I felt rested, refreshed, and grateful to the Lord for being able to enjoy some peace and normalcy. Then I got on Facebook.…
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MARVEL MAY: THANOS, INFINITY WAR, AND WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD
âYou do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy menâs lives but to save them.â ~ Jesus Christ {Luke 9:55} It has been said âGod moves in mysterious waysâ. That certainly can be true, and in my own life (because of how my funky brain works) at times those ways can look downright weird (at least to other people), which perhaps was never truer than when He used one of the weirdest movies ever made to teach me a profound lesson. I reference Marvel Studiosâ Avengers: Infinity War. Now, before we go any further, let me just say…
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MARVEL MAY: MEMORIAL DAY WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA
âGreater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.â ~ Jesus Christ âA symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice.â So speaks the narrator of a Smithsonian exhibit in the Marvel Studios movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The words fit Steve Rogers well. I remember so clearly watching the first Captain America movie in theaters: Captain America: The First Avenger. It was 2011, a Friday matinee on a hot day in July. My brother and I decided to go after reading a review online praising the movieâs…
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MARVEL MAY: WHAT MAKES A HERO GOOD?
âWhatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing: that you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier but a good man.â ~ Dr. Abraham Erskine in âCaptain America: The First Avengerâ Itâs May, and if youâre a story-loving, movie-going geek (like me) that usually brings two thoughts to mind: âMay the 4th be with youâ and âwhereâs my Captain America t-shirt?!â The former is due to May 4th being designated as Star Wars Day (the reason for which is far too complicated to explain on this blog post đ); the latter because forâgive or takeâa decade, superhero lovers everywhere have had a Marvel Comic movie to flock…
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THEN LIFE HAPPENED: CONFESSIONS IN A QUARANTINE
âSo Iâll celebrate the truth | His work in me ainât through | Iâm just unfinishedâ ~ Mandisa, âUnfinishedâ Okay, confession number one: this blog post was supposed to be completed and posted last Thursday, April 30. Confession number two: the first draft of my latest novel was also supposed to be completed last Thursday, April 30. Confession number three: neither one of those things happened. đ Iâd like to blame it on the Coronavirus. That would be convenient. After all, thanks to it the life of basically everyone I know has been turned upside down (or right side up, depending on who weâre speaking of) and none of us…
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LESSONS FROM A HOPEFUL ORCHID
âHope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.â ~ Proverbs 13:12 Hope. Such a simple word, just four little letters, yet what power it holds. The power to hold on when everything tells us to let go. The power to believe when all around us mocks our faith. Even the power to live when all the natural world chants âdieâ. Hope is a powerful word, indeed. And yet, to be so powerful, it is amazing the vulnerable places where it so often appears. Such as an orchid. I am not a gardener. Though I know it runs in my familyâmy Aunt…
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MOVIE NIGHT WITH THE ERWIN BROTHERS: I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
âAnd forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.â ~ âThe Lordâs Prayerâ To be honest, I Can Only Imagine is not my favorite movie to watch. Not that it isnât a great film. As with Woodlawn, Momâs Night Out, October Baby, and, Iâm sure, I Still Believe (though I havenât gotten a chance to watch it yet), if it was made by the Erwin Brothers itâs going to be fantastic. I Can Only Imagine is certainly no exception, evidenced by the fact it became nothing short of a âChristian Blockbusterâ during its theatrical run in March of 2018. The production is top-quality, the acting excellent (Dennis Quaidâs performance…
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MOVIE NIGHT WITH THE ERWIN BROTHERS: WOODLAWN
âThe Good Book says, âWhere thereâs no vision, the people perish.â That means people canât live without hope. They need it like they need air. I say: go give it to them.â ~ Mr. Nathan in the movie “Woodlawn“ âRevival comes through repentance.â My Dad spoke these words just a few minutes ago as we were discussing this movieâwhich, we both agree, is about the best ever made (though 1959âs Ben-Hur will probably always hold the top spot in my book đ). His words set me thinking. We as the people of God have been praying for ârevivalâ for years. We write books about it, sing songs about it, blog…
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“NATION CHANGER”
{This was the final entry in a series I posted on Facebook entitled âHeart of a W.O.M.A.N.â. It is a message very much on my heart during these days as both an encouragement and a challengeâto me and all my fellow sistersâto take God at His Word and walk in His waysâŚno matter what.} We all want to make a difference. Man or woman, every person is born with a desire to leave their mark on the world and, as Christians, we desire that mark to leave it a better place. But how can we actually do that? As women, we hear all kinds of messages from all kinds of…
