Child-like Faith

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Joan Sepp Refused to be Identified by her Losses

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Joan says, “I’m living proof that even after tragedy, life still has purpose and meaning. People need to know that.”
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Emmanuel

“I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before,” Irwin said of his Apollo 15 mission in July 1971. From his vantage point on the moon earth appeared the size of a thumbnail. It reminded him of a fragile Christmas ornament hanging in space. “It was touching to see the earth from this perspective,” he said. Irwin felt God so near He looked over his shoulder expecting to see Him. Continue reading →

Jesus is the Message of Christmas

At Christmas we think of Christ’s coming to earth as a baby, our Emmanuel (God with us). Today, let’s consider why Jesus came.From his jail cell, the apostle Paul carefully crafted a life-changing message to the Philippians. He didn’t preach … Continue reading →

Follow the Ancient Path

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In the woods behind the house I grew up in, several paths led in different directions, beaten grassless by the feet of many children in our neighbourhood. One path led down to a swampy area. If we were in the … Continue reading →

Being Misunderstood Hurts

Being misunderstood is a painful experience. Sometimes when we try to explain our true motives and make peace with the misunderstander we end up making the situation worse. Often the situation is such that we can’t say or do anything.

Once when I worked in a church office, a woman decided that a decision made by the pastoral staff had been my decision. She stopped speaking. Later, in a large group of people she brought up the subject and cast blame in my direction. I couldn’t explain that the person she wanted to exonerate had been the one who made the unpopular decision, not me.

 Perhaps I should’ve spoken privately with this woman about the matter. But at the time, I felt confrontation would stir controversy and prolong hard feelings. I felt hurt and betrayed. One day when other staff members left for lunch, I went into the sanctuary to talk to the Lord about the lump of pain that had lodged in my chest over the misunderstanding. Many tears later, I sensed the Lord say, “She just doesn’t understand.” This bit of information made it easier for me to put the misunderstanding behind me and forgive. 

Jesus was misunderstood by nearly everyone close to Him –  parents, siblings, disciples and religious leaders. Yet he prayed for His tormentors – “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) No one is better equipped than Jesus to help us when we’re misunderstood.

Lord, I lay the pain of being misunderstood before you. I don’t want it to affect my relationship with you. Move in the recesses of my soul and heal my wounds. Show me how to respond to those who’ve hurt me. Give me your strength to respond in your way.

Joy in the Present

Some day everything will come together; all the stray ends of our imperfect lives will be gathered and tied into an elegant bow. So we wait . . . for perfection, for health, for money. We defer joy.

A woman once described a day when all the stars of her scattered life seemed to align. The sun shone. She walked to a beautiful park hand-in-hand with her only grandson. They sat on a park bench, ate hot dogs, played soccer in the park, chatted with neighbours, then strolled back home to snuggle up together with a book.  “For a few hours my world was perfect. If only every day could be like that,” she said.

If only . . . so many days are ruled by that phrase. If only my child would call me. If only my husband would find a good job. If only I’d fall in love with Mr. Right. If only I had a child. If only my body would cooperate with my mind. A life lived in the “if onlies” doesn’t find joy in the present.

Finding joy in the present means accepting present imperfections – little things like messes, unpainted walls, dreary weather and big things like unemployment, pain, divorce. Joy won’t wait. It doesn’t dwell in the past or wait for us in the future. It lives in the present – as God does.

When asked, “who are you?” God answered I AM. And Jesus carried that message into His ministry. …..

Are you living in the I AM of God, in His present presence? In His now joy? If you’re like me you often forget that each day is a joy gift from God; joy isn’t put off until tomorrow, it’s experienced today.

Lord, thank you that today you and I are at peace. And that peace brings me joy. My circumstances will never attain perfection but my friendship with you is perfect. And that gives me deep, heart-warming joy, holy joy, present joy.

Keep Telling the Story of Jewish Suffering

A friend recently sent me a link to the Auschwitz Album, a rare set of photographs discovered by accident and donated to Yad Vashem.

At age 13 I stood in front of my grade 8 class, knees knocking nervously, mouth dry, to speak publicly for the first time. My subject? The Diary of Anne Frank. I’d stayed awake late into the night, captivated by the writings of a teenager’s diary. For the first time I became aware of the holocaust’s magnitude and the affect it had on an ordinary girl’s life, so aware I confronted shyness and stepped in front of my classmates to tell her story.

Anne stimulated my appetite for many books and movies on Jewish suffering. Almost two decades later, I discovered Corrie ten Boom and read about her concentration camp experiences. Corrie suffered not because she was Jewish but because she created a Hiding Place for Jews in danger. By a miracle Corrie was released a short while before all women in their fifties were gassed. She returned to Holland minus her father, her sister Betsy, her brother and a nephew. All died in camps.

Anne wasn’t released. Opportunities to travel the world and share her story, as Corrie did well into her eighties, never came. But, through her simple diary, she touched millions.

Anne, an ordinary teenager. Corrie, a humble spinster watchmaker. People powerless except for the power of their pens and their stories. The woman who discovered the Auschwitz Album is akin to them. She used a few pictures found in the pocket of a prison guard’s coat to let the world see the faces of people who died because hatred is irrational and violent.

My heart was moved by the faces of Jewish suffering, much like it was when I was 13. Some say we’ve had enough reminders of the holocaust. A glimpse of middle-east turmoil makes the possibility of another extermination seem possible. For that reason, the world needs more reminders, especially as we move into generations beyond the sufferers.

To view this album visit The Auschwitz Album.

No Religion for Old Men

In most paintings Christ and the disciples are depicted as bearded middle-aged men, pious, boring. Perhaps painters were trying to make them holy.  The images, though beautiful to look at, don’t bring out the subjects’ personalities.

The truth about the disciples? The twelve men in Jesus’ inner circle ranged in age from fourteen to thirty-something, John being the youngest and Peter the oldest. Most were fishermen but Luke was a physician, Matthew a tax collector and Simon, a political zealot.  Not one was rich or famous.

Jesus’ interest in people never hinged on their popularity, the balance in their bank accounts, physical beauty or education. He looks into hearts and sees the real person, as He did with Nathaniel. After Philip met Jesus he found his friend Nathaniel taking shade under a tree and invited him to meet Jesus. When Jesus saw them coming, he said of Nathaniel, “An Israelite who has no guile.”

Do you know me?” asked Nathaniel.

“Before Philip called you I saw you under the fig tree,” Jesus answered.

This impressed young Nathaniel so much he said, “You must be the Son of God!”

Were the disciples all as perfect in heart as Nathaniel? We know that Judas wasn’t. But the others had flaws too. James & John were nicknamed  the sons of thunder by Jesus for their stormy personalities. Peter was often driven by emotion to speak before he thought and Thomas doubted Christ’s resurrection.

Jesus spent much of his three years of public ministry teaching these imperfect young men because He looked beyond their flaws and saw what they would become after they received the Holy Spirit, passionate followers of Christ and devoted messengers of the gospel.

Catherine Marshall tells how she worried about her son Peter’s lack of interest in Christian matters. “No more of that Sunday school stuff for me,” he told her and went off to university. After graduation he attended a conference of Christian athletes mainly to rub shoulders with some of his favorite players. These young athletes spoke with passion about their faith. By the fourth day of the conference, Peter Marshall made a personal commitment of his life to Jesus Christ.

“It’s an awesome thing when you meet Jesus for the first time,” he told Catherine after the conference. He had met the real Jesus, a living person, the Son of God, not a religion-clad bore. He felt the vibrancy of true Christianity, the joy, the action.

Jesus left His message in the care of an unpredictable group of young men. All but one, John, died as a martyr. Not one would’ve died for a moldy religion. They sacrificed themselves because the Savior of the world meant more to them than anything else.

Are you looking for spiritual passion? You’ll find it in Jesus.

Yes, God Really Loves You

God’s love for you is higher than the sky

At a point in my life when it seemed that my challenges stacked themselves one on top of the other, I struggled to find answers. Had God tired of me? If he had, why? What had I done to offend Him? hundreds of small and great sins came to mind. I confessed them all. Not a bad thing, but it didn’t make any difference, trouble kept coming.