I would never buy a book with this title. It’s ridiculous. O well. I’m musing about the systems God invented and put in place when He made the universe. He designed earth to essentially look after itself. Geology, astronomy, chemistry, these are all systems. Our physiological body is a system. God made them all. Humans like to make systems too. We crave predictability and control, doing what we can to project into the future, creating structure (the system’s 1st cousin), to minimize discomfort and maximize our life experience. We do it on a global scale toying with climate control and we bring it to the household in the form of…

Somewhere in my late teens, I naively began asking God to make me a person of character. What on earth was I thinking?! My reasoning went like this: When trouble shows up in my life (which I knew it would), I want to be capable of choosing a high-road, a road I see people avoiding at great cost to themselves and others. 12 years ago, sitting quietly with the Lord, I felt the Spirit gently deposit a clear message to me, “Anne, you have no idea the depth of the deceitfulness of your own heart.”  As I pondered that message, which I very often did, I assumed God was speaking about outside…

You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. ~ Psalm 86:15 ~ 1,056 years separate God’s creation of Adam and the birth of Noah. Genesis 1 through 6 gives enough of a lens into the general character of humans, that if nothing else were written, you would know all you need to about our base nature apart from God. It does so more through what isn’t said than what is. We humans like to live autonomously. We like to make our own decisions and we chaff against anything that would usurp that power. Whether we live in Eden or Sodom, our general disposition derives from the thirst within us…

“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” – John Naisbitt (Megatrends) ~ …always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ~2 Timothy 3:7~ The quote and scripture verse above tell the plain tale about why modalities like Facebook don’t suit me. My temperamental psyche cannot manage bits and pieces about people that I am not in active relationship with. For the most part, I have no internal modem that knows how to file or retrieve daily details with anyone other than my primary people. I realize I’m the exception and have no qualms with those that find Facebook and other similar information exchanges helpful…

…that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. ~Romans 3:26~ I remember being a young girl, sitting on the sidewalk of my elementary school, doubled up with stomach pain,  terribly anxious. I remember this scene happening time and again. Somewhere in my young mind was an unconscious acceptance that I was unsafe; that I did not belong where I was; that I was consistently on the verge of being exposed, and somehow that would be a very terrible thing. In my little-girl heart I came to feel condemned. That word defined a corrupt perception of myself well into my adult life. The word condemned…

“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more.” ~Genesis 18:32~ I can look back over a few decades now and remember vividly times when God placed upon me a burden for someone or something. Best I can describe it, it would sit within me dense and very heavy, seeping into my emotional being, hitting a core place in my spirit, like someone sat a 100 lb. rock in my lap. This is a terribly uncomfortable phenomenon, debilitating in the flesh. I muse that God makes the rock feel 100 lbs. so I’m instantly aware I can’t maneuver it apart from Him. When this happens, I…

In the beginning God created….. ~ Genesis 1:1 ~ I’ve been reading the creation story again. I believe God is very purposeful in the telling of His story. I believe He cares about the order of events, and the how’s and why’s that are revealed to us. I believe He gives us the macro version most of the time not minding that we muse and ponder over the details….as long as we don’t ink in our thoughts, claiming co-author rights. So, I am curious that the first way He reveals Himself to us is as Creator. He could have said anything at all. He could have started the story by…

“Everything under heaven is Mine.” ~Job 41:11~ The position you hold about stewardship verses ownership will have just about everything to do with how you process and respond to what’s in front of you…or who’s in front of you. Think about the people, possessions and positions that comprise your life. Do you have a sense that they belong to you or do you view them as something you practice stewardship over? I remember the moment I found out I was pregnant with our son. I was completely awestruck. And I was equally conscious that this was God’s entrustment to me. I was responsible to care for and love this child in response…

 Steward – ‘one who carries out managerial duties for another’s affairs or property’ Stewardship has been on the docket right from the beginning. God created earth, created humans, and entrusted the earth to their care. There was never a question of ownership. Everything belonged to God. We were invited in as caretakers of a perfectly synced, flawlessly designed world. It displayed the greatness of its Maker, and provided context for us to fellowship with Him. We were doing what we were made to do, and we were experiencing intimacy with Creator God. Perfection. Sin’s entrance altered the ‘context’ but the principle of stewardship for followers of Jesus remains. The approach…

The Word is God John 1:1 The Word is Eternal John 1:2 The Word is Truth Psalm 119:160, John 8:31-32, John 17:7 To pursue The Word is to pursue an eternity of jaw dropping discovery. There is nothing utilitarian about the discovery of truth in The Word of God. The pursuit is an expression of desire, which launches from the heart. It’s an admission of passion for your Maker. It’s the expression of hope from one eager to know and fulfill their purpose for living. It’s VERY different than pursuing knowledge. Knowledge, while valuable, is a gateway to something beyond, and far more important. By itself, it yields nothing of eternal…

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” I am nearly always conscious that the day I’m currently living is the only day I know for certain I have. Strictly speaking, the promise of tomorrow doesn’t exist.  Scripture tells me that if tomorrow comes, it will take care of itself. I‘m also keenly aware that I’m to be in a perpetual state of readiness because my Bridegroom could come for me… well… now. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” For some years now, I try to call these truths to the fore of my mind at the beginning of each day. They change the way I prepare…

~ Neutrality ~ “the state of NOT helping or NOT supporting either of two opposing sides.” Generally speaking, I don’t believe in the premise of neutrality. I understand that in wartime, a nation may remain neutral, taking neither side. Neutral parties are essential in mediating conflict too. But I’m speaking of an inner-neutrality; a place that might exist where I can coast through my life. Within my inner person, there was a plain I used to pitch my life’s tent, believing I could exist moving neither forward nor backward. I lived with that perception for many, many years. I believed I could choose to stop growing if I liked, and simply stay put. As far…

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must strengthen our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” ~ Martin Luther King ~ In the last 24 hours I’ve seen this quote posted in 2 different publications. Makes me think that many people, myself included, recognize that change (personal, cultural, political, global, etc.) is desired. We recognize it because we are sufficiently uncomfortable with the reality of our current existence. So, maybe you, like me, have jumped on the wave of that awareness, hoping for change. To choose Christ… to be…