I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. (Ephesians 3:7) On the first night of my Samaritan’s Purse (SP) deployment in Fort Myers, FL, I shared my evening meal with five Beyond The Storm (BTS) team members. From my initial interaction with this group, clad in their …
Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping.I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. (Psalm 39:12) On day two of our Hurricane Ian relief mission in Fort Myers, FL, our Samaritan’s Purse team was deployed to the home of Mary and Isaiah. …
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) On the afternoon of the first day of my Hurricane Ian relief deployment in Fort Myers, FL, my fellow Samaritan’s Purse team members and I were sent to another mobile home park in the Iona neighborhood. Like …
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) While the Peace Corps may say theirs is the toughest job you’ll ever love, I beg to differ. I …
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) In my last post, Sleep in the storm, I wrote about how God had spared my area from the wrath of Hurricane Ian. I felt so blessed to …
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26: 3) A week ago, I began preparing for what many in the media were calling the “Storm of the Century.” Hurricane Ian was forecast to hit Florida’s Tampa Bay area as a category 3 storm, with winds …
In the first part of this series, I discovered that both my local Lutheran church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) advocate for full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in “Pride” events and church leadership. In part two, I discussed the current trend for churches to declare abortion as a “religious freedom” – even going so …
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16) In early August, I participated in a virtual department meeting that changed my mindset in an irrevocable manner – not for what was shared but for an image that was seared …
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1) It’s no secret that I love nature. God created the world we live in to be full of light, color, and beauty. Creation didn’t have to be paradisaical – and yet it is. Whether it’s the iridescent wings …
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) I never thought I’d say this, but Joe Biden is right – we are in a battle for the …