Reflection – Oregon Christian Girl

Be a Rekabite

When I was a kid, there was a general rule in the house for when my brother and I were misbehaving, like putting our feet on the coffee table or leaving clothes on the ground, and that rule was: would you do that in front of your grandma?

The answer, of course, was no. This was my mom’s subtle way of telling us to stop the action or fix the behavior.

….Whether we are telling quirky stories about why our grandparents fell in love or we are acting in a certain manner to revere a beloved matriarch, humans tend to respect the rules, lives, and hearts of their forebearers. But do we put the same amount of reference into our relationship with God?

When Life Returns to Normal

In Ezra 3, the rebuilding of the Temple begins. After the foundation is laid, long before the walls and roof are finished, there is a dedication to the Lord and “with praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: He is good; His love toward Israel endures forever” (Ezra 3:11).

I imagine this is what we will experience, when the foundation of life post-Covid-19 begins. When the doors are opened, and small gatherings can take place again.

One Another

Did you know the New Testament has a number of one another commands, not just to “love one another”? In John 13, Jesus commands us to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” because “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (vs. 34-35). This is probably the most important one another because without practicing this we cannot easily practice the others for they all stem from love. But what are they?

Happy (Church) New Year

The start of the Church Year.

Many people use the Gregorian New Year to check up on their physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional lives and make resolutions to improve those areas. Why not do it with the Church New Year, too?

Cost to Build

All of David’s sins cost him the privilege of building God’s Temple. But he was still a man after God’s own heart. His sins, both before and after his desire to build the temple, hurt others, both on a small scale within his family and on a large scale within the people of God. But God still kept his promise and not only established David’s son as king but placed his descendant on the throne forever.

Reformation Month

*In many Protestant churches, the last Sunday in October is generally celebrated at “Reformation Sunday.” In my studies and longing for a connection with the church of the Reformation, I am viewing the whole month of October as Reformation Month. The following was used in a large group discussion with mixed ages (PDF version can …

Continue reading “Reformation Month”

Broken Crayons

Are you in pristine condition, fresh out of the box? Or do you feel worn down, cracked, or even broken?

Testimony

But if we really hear these stories, they seem to just glorify sin. And this is why I – and many others who have the same story as I do – often feel that our stories are inadequate.

Go Back

Probably due to my parents love for each other and for history (there favorite year is the Battle of Hastings, do you know when that is?), both my brother and I developed a strong love for all things back then. I assume this is why I a so in love with Church History.

Of Being

We all experience and struggle with not being enough. This poem was originally written my Freshman year of college as I grappled with identity and who I was becoming. I made a minor edit to reflect theological growth while retaining the fear and pain of who I thought I was as a Freshman as well as the feelings of disappointing God and others.