faith

A Family Resemblance

BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. (Colossians 1:3–5a) I’ve been going through a box of old photos found in my dad’s attic, and I’m seeing the faces of my great and great-great-grandparents for the first time. I’ve seen their names written in the branches of our family tree, but for the first time I’m able to look for family resemblances in their eyes and smiles. I marvel at seeing my infant grandmother tenderly held in the arms of her parents under the shade of their garden, held with the same affection with which I held my own precious children. I’m connected to my great-grandmother in more ways than DNA can explain. I never met her, but her blood flows through my veins, and her love for gardening and family, along with her physical characteristics, have been shared down through the generations. When Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, he was writing to saints he’d never met. The gospel had been carried to them by his co-laborer Epaphras, had taken root, and was “bearing fruit and increasing” (1:6–7). Paul’s joy overflowed in thankfulness to God as he recognized the family resemblance in these unseen saints when he heard of “[their] faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that [they] have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for [them] in heaven” (1:4–5a). How did these saints and fellow brothers and sisters at Colossae resemble the family of Christ? They bore the traits of faith in Christ Jesus, love for all the saints, and a hope laid up in heaven. Faith, love, and hope are spiritual characteristics which set the family of God apart from the rest of the world. Faith The word “faith” is repeated five times in the letter to the Colossians, and each time it refers to a specifically objective faith in God the Father and/or the Lord Jesus Christ. This isn’t the baseless faith of the world that calls us to “just believe,” or worse, to “believe in yourself.” The faith that characterizes all Christians is “faith in Christ Jesus (1:4; 2:5), “the faith” in which they need to continue (1:23), “the faith” which is key to walking in Christ (2:6–7), and it is faith in the powerful working of God through which they were raised in baptism with Christ (2:12). Paul sees the family resemblance in the Colossians’ faith because he knows it’s nothing they’ve done in themselves; it is God’s gracious gift (Eph. 2:8)....

A Family ResemblanceChristina Fox2025-05-26T16:20:52+00:00

I Will Sing

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR When I hit a recent milestone birthday, my children made sure that I was celebrating for a full week. There were new surprises each day. My favorite was a poster board they created with their special memories about me, one for each year. My daughter wrote this as one of hers, “I loved that you sang hymns to me while you were fixing my hair for Sunday School.” I had almost forgotten about that! And it is funny that she would remember those times since I cannot carry a tune. But the words of those hymns and their truths are embedded in her memory, and now she sings those same hymns to her children! Ministry Through Song In Exodus, Moses led the people in song, a hymn of praise, to celebrate God parting the Red Sea and protecting the Israelites from Pharaoh’s army. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-2)...

I Will SingChristina Fox2025-05-05T18:49:30+00:00

How A Prayer Calendar Changed My Prayer Life

JANE STORY |GUEST I have never met a Christian who didn’t struggle with prayer at some point in their life. Most want to pray more or gain more from their prayer life. They may feel dissatisfied with this part of their faith or feel guilty that they don’t pray enough. Many find their minds distracted while praying and wonder if there’s any way to stay focused. Still others may want more practical guidance. In my own prayer life, I’ve struggled with forgetfulness. I often think of things when I’m busy and send up a quick supplication in the moment. Later, I forget about it and don’t continue to pray for that situation. Maybe you too know that sinking feeling when you realize you promised to pray for a friend but later forgot. Beneath these struggles is the understanding that prayer is important to our faith and our walk with Christ. Even more, it is one of God’s commands to us. Prayer is God’s Will We often wonder about God’s will for us, but He spells out part of that plan clearly in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19...

How A Prayer Calendar Changed My Prayer LifeChristina Fox2025-03-26T14:22:36+00:00

Our Daily Bread

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR I once had a Bible study leader whose husband waited desperately for a kidney transplant. This woman was raising three middle-school children. A neighbor recognized the family’s need for food and early each morning delivered a loaf of freshly baked bread. One day she came to the door and my study leader asked her son to answer it. The neighbor presented the bread, the son thanked her for it, and then yelled upstairs to his mother saying, “Mom, our daily bread is here!” Our leader told us all this was an “ah-ha” moment for her. She had realized that this was more than a neighbor’s kindness. The Lord had provided. She never ran out of bread to make toast in the morning, or lunches to take to school. She understood that this was her manna, and evidence that she could trust the Lord daily for provisions. She vowed that she would face the long road to her husband’s transplant and recovery, by trusting in the Lord for daily provisions. There would also be no more complaining, as had been her habit. A Grumbling Problem The book of Exodus records the Israelites’ long journey through the desert wilderness to the promised land. They too had a habit of complaining. Even after a series of miracles rescued them from the Egyptians; supernatural plagues, protection of their firstborn from the angel of death, and the parting of the Red Sea which engulfed Pharoah and his army, three days into their journey they complained there was no water to drink. They had a grumbling problem. But God provided yet another miracle. He told Moses to throw a branch into the water, which miraculously makes it clean. It was a test from God where He revealed himself as their merciful healer. “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer” (Ex. 15:26). About a month later came another complaint, this time for food. God responded by sending manna every morning, along with rules about how the manna was to be gathered, how long it could be kept, and how it could be stored for the Sabbath....

Our Daily BreadChristina Fox2025-03-04T18:05:28+00:00

Light and Life for Caregivers

GINNY VROBLESKY|GUEST When I was in graduate school, I remember listening in wonder as the professor described plants as photoautotrophs—eaters of light. They take the energy from the sun, combining it with water and minerals to make the oxygen and food that enables the rest of us to live. Through them, light becomes life to us. This image of trees absorbing light and giving off life came to me recently as I thought of caregiving for my dad. Usually, I dwell on the challenges I face, my inadequacy and fears, not on the privilege of sharing light and life with him. But he depends on me, in the same way young children depend on their parents. We become life sustainers or life givers, and who of us is adequate for this? As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” What do we feed on to sustain us so that we may give to the ones under our care? Feast on His Faithfulness Psalm 37:3b says that we are to dwell in the land (where God has placed us) and to feed on His faithfulness. We are to nourish our spirits on His care for us right, even in the midst of the trials of the day. The verse also refers to Isaiah 40:11, a passage where God reminds His people that He cares for them as a shepherd cares for His sheep. Making a list, even if only in our minds, of ways God has cared for us during the day reassures our hearts that He is present with us. The verse also refers to Isaiah 40:11, a passage where God reminds His people that He is caring for them as a shepherd. In our culture, shepherds walk behind the sheep, often pushing them forward with sheepdogs. But in the Middle East, a shepherd walks before the sheep, calling them by name, leading them forward. They follow him because they know his voice and trust him. Jesus uses this picture to describe Himself in John 10. As we think of how He has shepherded us in the past we can have more courage to follow Him into the often-difficult future of caregiving. He understands how the threats and challenges of life shake us. But He assures us that He is with us, goes before us, and calls us to come with Him into that future. David also encourages us to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). He ponders this goodness in Psalm 31 as he remembers that his times are in God’s hands, and that God had wondrously shown His steadfast love (or faithfulness) to David when David was in a besieged city. As caregivers, we often feel we are in a confined, tough place, but that is where God can show us His steadfast love. The reality of His faithfulness is definitely food for our souls...

Light and Life for CaregiversChristina Fox2025-02-24T15:48:37+00:00

What I Learned From Sharing the Gospel with a Mormon

JANE STORY |GUEST I was two years post-college and alarmed to learn how hard it was to make nonbelieving friends. I struggled to find people to share the gospel with because my primary social outlet was church. I began asking God to bring non-Christians into my life. I could not have predicted the mission field that was about to open to me. Plopping into the gray cushioned chair at my new doctor’s office, my eyes fell on a Bible and a Book of Mormon. My heart began to race as I struggled to interpret what I was seeing. Either he was a Mormon, or he was religiously open, allowing people leave literature in his waiting room. Could this be an answer to my prayers? I tried casually bringing up faith at the end of the appointment: “Hey I noticed a Bible and a Book of Mormon in your waiting room. Can you tell me more about that?” His flustered response surprised me: “I… uh… well… I’m a Mormon!” he blurted, like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. He then revealed that he was the local bishop, which is the top Latter Day Saints (LDS) authority in a given area. I was intimidated, yet undeterred. That simple question spawned a friendship that lasted for years. Here are a few key lessons I learned about reaching Mormons:...

What I Learned From Sharing the Gospel with a MormonChristina Fox2025-02-17T19:56:57+00:00

Wrestling With God in Our Suffering

JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST As soon as I saw the area code of the phone call my husband was receiving, I knew something was off. I was pregnant with our first child and set to move for his job to Nashville, TN at the beginning of my third trimester. This was a city I had friends in, I knew there were good churches there, and it was a city we both liked. After a short conversation, my husband conveyed the news that there was a post they hadn’t accounted for in rural, northern New York state and he was now at the top of the list to take it. I was disappointed, but it wasn’t my first move and I hoped that God would have a good church and community there waiting when we arrived. Instead, I found a desolate place I never grew to love. I had left a large church in San Antonio where I was on staff and knew and loved each family and their kids by name. In New York, there were a handful of families hoping for a PCA pastor to come and pastor them. Church members brought meals when I had my son, but it felt more like they were checking off a box than done so out of friendship. I gathered the women of the church and started a Bible study in hopes of fostering fellowship as we studied God’s Word together. I ended up spending the study time preventing my son from climbing sky high, getting into people’s desks, and drinking bathroom chemicals. My husband worked long hours, weekends, and sometimes over an hour away. I was more lonely than I was during the Covid lockdown. It seemed like every hope I had for our move was dashed. The depths of disappointment I felt contrasted with the hope of change and led me to wrestle with God through it. Here my head-knowledge intersected with my very real and difficult circumstances. Were my toes digging into a sandy beach as the storm swirled around me or were they resting on the solid rock of the foundation of God’s promises? If everything around me fell down, I knew He would not. As believers, sometimes we suffer pain and loss so deep that we come to a crossroads in our relationship with God and who he is. Some might respond to that pain as though with a finger in his face saying, “How could GOD do this to ME?” Our hearts are hardened. We feel bitter. We struggle to forgive God. And we turn and run FROM him. Others might ask the same question, but with trust in God’s faithfulness to his promises—that he really is who he says he is. “How COULD God do this to me?” In that moment, we run TO Him and His Word. As we wrestle with his Word, we will find rest in the midst of our pain and rock under our feet...

Wrestling With God in Our SufferingChristina Fox2025-01-08T18:35:45+00:00

From Ambivalent to Aligned: Considering Life in the Womb

JANE STORY |GUEST The request was gentle. I was surprised that a couple who cared so deeply about this issue wasn’t more inflammatory. I had been conditioned to expect pro-life ‘radicals’ to be pushy, condescending, and unsympathetic. My boss sent an email (from his personal address) inviting all his coworkers to join him and his wife at the March for Life. They didn’t demand our attendance or stump the position that all Christians should be on their side. They simply stated that they cared about the issue, they thought it was worth their time to go, and that they could give us a ride. If we had questions, they’d be happy to talk more. I was a young twenty-something and felt affronted by what I considered to be a bold political move. Although I was a strong Christian, I hadn’t decided what I believed about abortion. I had never been confronted with how the Bible spoke to that issue, nor had I had any role models make their own views known. Instead, I had subsisted on our culture’s words about protecting mothers and respecting choice. I was led into confusion about when life begins. All I could say was, it was wrong to kill people, but I wasn’t sure if abortion was killing people. I would have never personally advocated for it, but I wanted to be kind to those who chose it. Finally, I knew I was ill-equipped for complex scenarios where people must choose between the baby’s life and the mother’s life. I’d never heard a Christian give adequate answers to those questions. While politics brought the issue to the forefront for me, the origins of my questions were theological. My theological ambivalence needed to be set aside, and my heart needed to align with Scripture...

From Ambivalent to Aligned: Considering Life in the WombChristina Fox2025-01-02T20:35:46+00:00

Come All the Not So Faithful

MARYBETH MCGEE | GUEST I wept quietly, hoping no one would notice, as I sat among our church family at the annual Christmas concert. I had never heard the song before, but the first line was like a sucker punch after many years of trials. This is the time of year when the old familiar songs begin to echo through the air and you hear the call “O come, all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant.” But what if you are entering this Advent season feeling more like the lyrics of a not as well-known Christmas song by Sovereign Grace Music, O Come, All You Unfaithful? “O come, all you unfaithful Come, weak and unstable Come, know you are not alone O come, barren and waiting ones Weary of praying, come” [1] I had experienced much of what those lyrics described. I felt unfaithful, weak, and unstable. Especially after nearly a decade of infertility genetic testing confirmed that God had knit a forever barren womb into my DNA. I was also weary of praying for a foster care placement that would result in adoption. This was followed by more waiting, only to then become even more weary of praying for an answer that would solve the many challenges that come with raising children with ever increasing special needs. Trials of so many kinds had washed over the bow of our family’s little boat of life, like waves on an unpredictable sea. And yet, James had the audacity to tell us that our trials should be counted as joy? “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4)...

Come All the Not So FaithfulChristina Fox2024-11-22T17:00:56+00:00

The Good Portion of Christmas

MEAGHAN MAY | CONTRIBUTOR As a child, I was fascinated by the tiny nativity set at my grandmother’s home. These little figures told me a big story. But as an adult, I ponder if these sets are realistic. Mary is fresh-faced, neatly pressed, and beautifully dressed. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable with her flapping stomach after her recent labor. The baby Jesus is giggling while placed in the animals’ snack bowl and dear Joseph doesn’t seem overwhelmed by the task of caring for his betrothed and new child. Does the pristine nativity scene set unrealistic expectations for our own celebrations? I have found that some of my own Christmases have been more of a mess than they have been merry. Each Christmas I have a list of key elements that I think, if I can just pull all this together, we will have a Merry Christmas. But I can tell a lot about what I long for at Christmas when I start to name what I am worried about. I am tempted to think that because things have gone awry, God is holding out on me. I fail to consider that God is offering me something more than what I am requesting....

The Good Portion of ChristmasChristina Fox2024-11-22T16:44:40+00:00