Such wisdom toward revival is characterized by a discernment helping us identify, for instance, entertainment offerings that are a wise investment of time and energy from those that are trivial at best, dehumanizing at worst. For too many of us, our entertainment choices, including the hours of binge viewing and social media scrolling are made without considering the Lordship of Christ. Often, our mindless submission to the entertainment options readily available can dull our sensitivity to God’s desires for our revival.

The other day my youngest daughter walked into our kitchen and starred. The sun was shining through our kitchen window with a brilliant, warm beam focused directly to our floor. As she walked into the light, she was full of glee as she noticed she could see things floating with such intensity of light. Her two-year-old mind was curious and she giggled as she tried to grab these spectacular, new things she was experiencing for the first time.

She looked up at me with a wide smile and said, “Mom! Look!”

We find ourselves in the middle of an intersection when we just read Romans 8:37. It begins with the word “no”. It is an answer. It is a reply to a question. What question? Look back a few verses and we find the question verse 37 answers.

I love how Jesus answers questions with an invitation to do life. He could so easily have just answered the disciples by telling them the name of the place he was going, but instead he invited them to join him on the journey and figure out the answer along the way. This is called discipleship. This year I’ve been learning a lot about discipleship. Here are some of my takeaways.

The great Jewish rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, once noted that the most important question in philosophy and life is about martyrdom, “Is there anything worth dying for?” Are there truths, virtues, and principles so significant, so central to life that they would warrant such momentous sacrifice? Answers to this significant question help us prioritize our values and clarify the truths central to our existence.

Imagine yourself as Eve in the Garden of Eden. You’re walking around, completely at peace, you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear, you’ve got a hot husband, and you’re in the presence of God! Amazing, right? Now, imagine yourself as Eve as she and Adam realize the mistake they’ve made by eating from the tree.

Genesis 3:8-10 (NLT) says, “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, and the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So, they hid from the Lord God among the trees. The Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” At this moment, something came into existence that had never existed before – SHAME.

When we say someone is a “good” bricklayer or baker, we mean that their skills and experience in those categories of life generally create sturdy brick walls and delectable meals. Yet, the “good” bricklayer might be mean-spirited; the wizard baker might be unskilled in the art of sacrificial love. In other words, being “good” in a craft needn’t imply a “goodness” that is morally and relationally virtuous. We’ve all heard of “good” athletes or business moguls who were not very “good” to their teammates and employees.

Like the rest of the world, twelve months ago my life looked very different than it does today, in the middle of a pandemic. Twelve months ago, my full social schedule, ministry commitments, part-time employment opportunities, kids sports and school schedules kept my days full. In a full scheduled life, it was easy to put my head on the pillow at night and feel accomplished or at least like an active participant in the life that was whizzing quickly past. The post pandemic world has left us all a little raw, but my experience of life is different than it was twelve months ago.

I’ve spent a lot of time in 2020 sitting on my bed, with tears streaming down my face, not able to give a voice to what I was feeling. My husband would ask what’s wrong and I had no way to answer. “I don’t know. I’m just crying and I can’t stop.” It can be an overwhelming and terrifying experience to not have words to identify your thoughts and emotions. The past year has left me in a jumbled-up mess in my mental space, emotions, and relationships. It seems all the fractures I had in these different areas were brought front and center in my life. It has left me exhausted and empty, to the point where, at times, it felt as though I was dead inside.

As I reflect back on the past year, I’m reminded over and over again how God is in the details of our lives. There is not the tiniest thing that happens that God does not see. There is not a moment of my day that God does not go before me in. God is in the details.

In the northern Natal tribes in South Africa, they greet one another each day, saying Sawa Bona, which means “I see you.” The response is Sikhona, which means “I am here.” Through this exchange, they are telling one another “until you see me, I do not exist; and when you see me you bring me into existence. When you see me, I am fully present, I am here.” They are a community where everybody is somebody. The wholeness of each individual unites with the wholeness of the community. We also see this demonstrated in Acts 2: 44-47 (NIV) when Paul describes the first church: “All the believers were together and had everything in common.

A wedding is something most are excited about. It’s a wonderful celebration and joyous looking forward to the future together. This is how 2020 started for me. I was excited to embark on the adventure of a new year, a new decade, with my husband and our family. We had dreams that we were turning into goals. Needless to say, things haven’t played out as we hoped.

Saint Boniface was a missionary in north-central Europe in the 8th century. His evangelistic efforts were winning many former worshippers of Thor to the cross of Jesus Christ. Some villagers were threatened by the wave of Christian converts worshipping their new-found Lord in a makeshift church. So, they decided—axes, picks, and swords in hand—to surround the Christian congregation and threaten them with death if they didn’t renounce their faith.

As I sit down to write this piece, we are closing in on the end of 2020. Like most people, I am ready for this year to end. It has been a year of ups and downs, gains and losses, and triumph and tragedy. I wish this year was ending on high-note for our family, but right now it feels like the furthest from that. Right now, I am clinging to the cross and entrusting one of my most treasured gifts to God--my daughter.

There is something you might not know simply by reading our blog each week. You might not know that when this blog pops up in your inbox, you are actually a part of someone else’s journey with Jesus. You may not have thought about how your eyes hitting the page is actually God’s work in progress in another person’s life.

For years, Dancing with the Stars would remain a fixture on broadcast television. Websites and videos proliferate offering more and more opportunities to sit and watch. And often we read and watch because in that moment it seems there is nothing better to do.

Yet those moments are often filled with comparisons of what we don’t look like, the dance moves beyond our skills or training, and the adulation that belongs to someone else. And in those moments drenched with dance floors beyond our experience, but not our desire, we forget that we belong to the Lord of the dance and lose our spiritual bearings.

Every morning I begin the day in the same way. First, I praise God for another day and ask Him to guide me through my actions and conversations that I have with others. Then I ask Google to play one of my favorite worship songs. Lately, the request has been for “I Just Need You” by TobyMac. When the bass line hits I feel fired up and am ready to conquer the day.

I am sitting in my living room, in awe that all four of my children have decided to take a nap. At the same time. It is quiet in my home, a very rare occurrence with four generations living under one roof and half of those people being eight years old and younger. It is in this kind of rare stillness that I realize how loud things are inside of me.

In my Bible, the heading for Romans 8:31-39 says “More Than Conquerors.” Just the sound of that phrase makes me feel like Wonder Woman or something! But I think it is safe to say that 2020 has given us a run for our money in the conqueror department. Many of us are probably sitting here thinking, “I can’t even conquer my daily routine these days, how am I MORE than a conqueror?!” I get it! This has been a ROUGH season… mentally, financially, spiritually… basically in all the ways! We’ve spent a lot of this year talking about putting on the full armor of God and I firmly believe that that is crucial to being more than a conqueror.

I stood in my kitchen clinging to my mug, trying to enjoy the flavor of my now cold coffee. My four children were gleefully running around the island. As I stood there watching them, it took every ounce of strength I had to not start crying. While my kitchen was full of the joyful music of children, my mind was filled with the harsh, loud voice of condemnation.