United Methodist people long to love God and serve their neighbors. Unrelenting Grace by Bishop Ken Carter shows us how to come together and embrace grace, seek holiness, and build meaningful connections promoting strength and healing. Unrelenting Grace evokes insights and courage to overcome feelings of isolation, loneliness, and alienation. Amazon book description Unrelenting Grace was a good book.Continue reading “Book Review: Unrelenting Grace”
Tag Archives: Faith
Cleaning Up
When the breaking was done, I grabbed a broom as others started picking up the bigger pieces. As I swept, a whole host of emotions unexpectedly rose within me. The cleaning up part seems harder, takes longer, has more potential for getting unexpectedly hurt.
It Is Well With My Soul
Horatio Spafford had a choice. He could respond with anger and rage and turn his back on God. And maybe at some point those emotions crossed his heart. The legacy he leaves behind, however, is a response based on his deep faith. He responded in a way that lives out a knowing of Jesus’ words in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Perspective
Time in the woods is always healing for me. I took a familiar path down the trail, off the trail, and by the stream. This time I saw something new.
Go Back to Go Forward
We’re doing the best we know how to do. We take the cards we are dealt and do the best we can. And some of us have been dealt some pretty crappy cards. Some of us have personal and extended family histories that include abuse, extreme poverty, infidelity, divorce, addiction, emotional abandonment, family secrets, untimely deaths, crime, instability, and a whole host of other stories. Our family stories influence who we are and how we are in the world.
And they do not have to define us.
Book Review: The Wounded Healer
The Wounded Healer reminds me that my painful experiences in life do not have to be hidden.
Book Review: One Faithful Promise
I’m not sure how long this book has been on my shelf. I’m not even sure where it came from. It’s small, about the size of my hand, and thin. Not much to it. And yet it for sure packs a spiritual punch. One Faithful Promise, by Magrey R. deVega, is a must read forContinue reading “Book Review: One Faithful Promise”
Book Review: Embraced
There tucked into the pages were reminders for me, words to encourage and guide.
Book Review: The Next Right Thing
All with the guidance of that sweet aunt who listens to you, makes you hot cocoa, and speaks lived truth that guides you in the right direction.
Book Review: The Grace-Filled Life
The Grace-Filled Life: 52 Devotions to Warm Your Heart and Guide Your Path was something I picked up several years ago, intending to maybe use it for a small group or something. This year, however, I tried to commit to reading only books already on my shelf, and this was one I wanted to get to.
Rev. Kris Mares 