Intimacy (In-to-me-see) There were no masks, posing, or facades between Adam and Eve before the brokenness of sin entered the world. This is hard for us to imagine. Adam and Eve’s exterior and interior were naked and unashamed. They could intuit each other’s humanity. They could see the real in each other. They saw into each other’s depths. How wonderful to have nothing to hide, no diseased...
Embracing True Identity
Embracing A True Identity When we have a faulty view of our identity, it breeds anxiety, depression, sin, and hiding. These disguise themselves as our friends while we struggle to stay afloat. And the cycle of sin, remorse, shame, depression, more sin, more darkness is wearying. Take heart. God’s desire for us isn’t that we’d stay stuck and without hope. Freedom doesn’t have to be a dream. The...
Sacred Sex
“I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Sir Isaac Newton I love seashells. My affection for them began as a boy growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. Unfortunately, Lake Erie is not known for its beautiful shells, so I saved my pennies and...
Knowing Him
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 If you are anything like me, you may have read a particular passage of Scripture several times in the course of your life; then one day you read it again, and it’s as if you see it...
Purity: Resting or Struggling
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. -Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne This little nugget of Pooh-inspired wisdom seems out of sync with the frenetic world that we live in today. Our lives are often overwhelmed by appointments, busy schedules, and to-do lists as we are distracted and pulled to meet the demands of a 24/7 culture. This constant...
Maturing Dependency
Childhood is usually a wonderful time in life. It is a time to discover, explore, and become without the conscious reality that we could not exist without the care of another. Children generally exist in carefree unawareness of their total dependency on their parents. As a child becomes more cognitively aware and develops as an individual, however, a desire to escape from this dependency begins...