Category: BLOG
-
i need a church
It is early morning. Too early. The February freeze won’t loosen its grip and it creeps into this dark, before-the-sunrise home. Its cold, sharp fingers burn as I kiss Jay goodbye. He’s got a plane to catch. Bulgaria. More than half of my heart explodes as he closes the door. Into the emptiness of the…
-
something we all need
The unheard melody of honesty dies like the last breath between now and eternity. I open my mouth, but the words will not dance, they will not perform their pretty pirouettes. They are ill-behaved, ill-timed, irreverent. Because nobody likes to admit their need. I am sitting in a neutral coffee zone and meeting with a…
-
when we doubt that God is powerful enough
It is a difficult thing to see a place laid to waste. Where there was once life and laughter and activity, now there is nothing but a hollow chasm and the whistle of the wind chills the bones and the soul. It is a desolate thing, this place that once held such promise, but now…
-
silent words of worship
I have been singing worship songs to Jesus in languages that I don’t speak for close to half of my life. Today, I am cozied into the back of a packed-out women’s conference in Hungary. We are singing a tune that I know, but I cannot voice the words to this particular ditty in today’s language…
-
5 practical ways to grow your church
In the Synagogue’s museum, there is a photo of a Jewish man and boy behind a fence in the Ghetto. A sign reads, ‘No Christians beyond this point.’ The irony of that sign punched me in the stomach yesterday, because, if there is anywhere the Body of Christ should be, it is beyond that point,…
-
Jewish Quarter Budapest
As we weave through the streets of Budapest, the menorah catches my eye – a beautiful green that has been re-figured into a door. The breath fights to escape the prison of my throat for the symbolism there. Ancient reminders of a 20th century truth – we are the doorway for the next generation, we…
-
Balkan beautiful
We are exploring Macedonia today. The seaside village of Lake Ohrid is in Macedonia and near to Albania. It has a beautiful, untouched, Balkan flavor that invites you to relish the Creator’s touch. Some facts about Macedonia:
-
the stupid daniel fast
The Daniel Fast is stupid. I know – we don’t criticize a fast being observed by thousands of Christians, but I am really annoyed. In fact, the Daniel Fast has grown into such a sudden global phenomenon, it might be dangerous to voice my criticism. That Daniel story has been happily hanging around Sunday School…
-
give it away
My little slips of paper were huddled together, folded and shivering for a turn to reveal their message. Outside that warm cabin up on Bulgaria’s Vitosha mountain, there was a sunny crispness to the air and the satisfying crunch of iced snow. It was the sort of winter new that leads you to believe that there is hope for…
teanna sunberg 