relationship (202)

Ian

In God We Trust?

Psalm 19; Exodus 19:1–9a; 1 Peter 2:4–10 Trust is a scarce commodity. True trust. You and I trust that the person approaching the intersection will stop, but we’ve all had enough experience to undermine that trust (we even might be the reason we are this…

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Ian

Becoming Light

Jeremiah 30:12–22; John 12:36–43 Perhaps this has been said before, but an important lesson learned through Celebrate Recovery was, “hurt people hurt people.” When people are hurting, they lash out. Sometimes the pain is stress. Often it is thousands of little things (and sometimes only…

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Ian

To Live As Sacrifice

Psalm 105:1–11, 37–45 Genesis 22:1–19; Hebrews 11:1–3, 13–19 Post-traumatic stress is a real thing. There are many sources of trauma. We generally think of violence as the only source of trauma, but damaged relationships are equally the source of trauma for many individuals. Just like…

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Ian

Just the Right Size

Psalm 77; Proverbs 30:1–9; Matthew 4:1–11 In Through the Looking Glass, Alice comes to a mushroom. Eating from one part of the mushroom causes her to turn into a giant. Eating from a different part she turns smaller than normal. She finally ate from the…

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Ian

Storms in Store

Psalm 77; Job 4:1–21; Ephesians 2:1–10 I recently l read a pointed quip (one could call it an insult) at a man who had chosen to remain celibate rather than have a relationship with another man. The person wrote, “…This guy needs [religion] as an…

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