Just letting you know about a blog for Christian women: Heart”wings” began as a private Facebook group and has grown into a public blog as well. The writing team posts Monday through Friday as follows:
Monday Memories
Tuesday Testimonies
Wednesday Words
Thursday Thanks
Friday Focus
For a healthy dose of Christian fellowship, pour yourself a refreshing drink, navigate to HeartWings Blog, and get acquainted.
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, by Peter Scazzero (Zondervan, 2006; paperback version 2014)
The subtitle says, “It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” The book implies that this may be the key reason for lack of growth in our churches, and for people drifting away from church. While I think there’s more to the issue than that, there’s no denying that emotional immaturity will be the root of the problem for some or many believers.
In alerting readers to areas of our lives that haven’t grown well, the author offers the chance to allow God to “re-parent” us so we develop according to the ways of His Kingdom instead of perpetuating the behaviours and attitudes we learned in our formative years.
The first three chapters reveal “The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality,” and the rest of the book addresses “The Pathway to Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” Part of that pathway is recognizing the impact of our family history, choosing what we want to keep, and choosing to grow away from what’s unhealthy.
The author advises adopting more of a contemplative approach to faith, listening to God and to our emotions, and establishing daily rhythms of prayer and devotional times. He encourages us to “practice the presence of God and to practice the presence of people” [page 180].
We do come into Christianity with assumptions and attitudes formed by our families and by the world around us – and we don’t often apply our spiritual regeneration to these areas because we don’t even see them. It makes sense that we need to discover and grow into our true identity in Christ, and I found some helpful insights in the book.
For more about Peter and Geri Scazzero’s ministry, visit emotionallyhealthy.org.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
Worship Changes Everything, by Darlene Zschech (Bethany House, 2015)
Note the subtitle of this book: “Experiencing God’s Presence in Every Moment of Life.” Worship Changes Everything is about far more than the music we sing on a Sunday morning.
The book is divided into two sections: The Heart of Worship and The Hands of Worship. First, it focuses on God’s nature and our response to Him from our hearts, and then the bulk of the chapters explore how we can live our worship in all aspects of our lives.
Those aspects include things like service and mission, but also our words and attitudes, suffering, money, and relationships.
The author shares personal examples as illustrations, but the book’s teaching basis is clearly Scripture. She includes numerous quotes from the Bible as well as some from respected teachers.
I found much in these pages to encourage and challenge me. Practical and biblical, Worship Changes Everything is a book I’d recommend to anyone who’d like to live closer with God.
Favourite lines:
Praise is our stance of faith. Praise is a weapon. Praise announces God’s reign in our hearts. [p. 60]
Our attitudes are transformed as we decide to let go and let the Holy Spirit do His work in us. This means replacing negative thoughts and mindsets, arresting our attitudes that we know will not be of benefit. [p. 113]
Darlene Zschech is most known for her contributions to contemporary worship music, but she’s also the author of books on Christian living. For more about the author and her ministries, visit her website: darlenezschech.com.
[Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.]
About this time of year I get the warm fuzzies. Today I’d like to share six of my favourite memories and what they can teach us about the Greatest Gift of All Time, the reason for that very first Christmas so long ago.
A Much-Too-Large Christmas Tree
I remember my dad hauling in a freshly cut Scotch pine each Christmas—only to have to drag it back outside to cut off several inches of the trunk and a number of the bottom branches. Funny how it didn’t look near as big in the forest!
Philippians 5:17 says we are to “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (ESV)
To fulfill our God-appointed purposes, we must be pruned and reshaped. As in everything, Jesus set the ultimate example.
Shimmering Tinsel … Hung Strand by Strand
Each year we would carefully place the tinsel on the tree two or three strands at a time. Sure it would have been easier simply to toss it on, but the end result wouldn’t have been near so lovely.
That first Christmas was a long time coming. God’s people had been waiting for centuries, eons even. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.” (ESV) (emphasis mine)
Things aren’t always as easy or as immediate as we’d like, but we must trust the Lord to work out His plans and purposes in His perfect time.
An Overflowing Stocking
My parents were incredibly generous. My stocking always had to be taken down from the doorway in which it was hung (we didn’t have a fireplace) and placed, stuffed to overflowing, on the couch. It was usually topped with a stuffed animal that peeked over the back of the couch at me when I padded down the hall early Christmas morning.
This reminds me of the prodigal. When he returned to his father to beg for a position as one of his servants, he was in for a welcome he never expected. His father poured out abundant gifts on his undeserving son—and threw a huge celebration to boot.
My parents were generous, but it’s nothing compared to the lavish gifts the heavenly Father pours out on His children.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Christmas Lights
Well, back in the day, our Christmas lights weren’t exactly little, but “twinkle, twinkle chubby Christmas lights” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
At any rate … the multi-coloured lights that adorned our Christmas tree and the front of the house lit up the dark, cold nights of December.
In John 8:12, Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world.” (ESV)
In Matthew 5:14, He says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (ESV)
Again, He sets the perfect example for us. We must shine brightly and add beauty to this dark world.
Fun with My Father
I still remember the snow forts and non-traditional snowmen my dad made for me. He had old metal drums that he would fill with snow, invert, and carefully remove. Viola! Who says snowmen have to be made of three snowballs of various sizes? And you mean other kids didn’t have snowmen sporting the occasional fleck of rusty metal? (Ok, so it’s a wonder I didn’t get tetanus, but hey, Dad and I had a good time.)
Sure it’s serious business being the Saviour, but Jesus was approachable. After all, moms and dads brought their children to Him to be blessed. And the Lord didn’t send them away—like His disciples tried to. Instead, Jesus gathered them to Himself and blessed them. What a beautiful picture!
Romans 8:15 is a wondrous verse. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Abba is a familiar term, the equivalent of “Daddy” or, as one of my friends puts it, “Papa.” Is that not mind-boggling?
My Precarious Uphill Climb
My dad had a friend who owned several acres of woodland, but my favourite portion of the property was a long sledding hill free of trees. I could ride my Crazy Carpet down, down, down. But when my dad wasn’t around to shuttle me to the top on his massive Snow Prince snowmobile, I had to make the trek to the top of the hill on foot.
One winter we experienced some freezing and thawing and there was a layer of ice over several centimetres of snow. The only thing … the ice wasn’t of a consistent thickness. I never knew with each step if it would support my weight. Sometimes it did. And other times, I broke through and sank up to my thigh. It was slow going but fun nonetheless.
Life’s like that sometimes—minus the fun. We take a step forward and we’re not sure if life will support our weight. Will we stand tall or break through? But, as Christians, we have one of the most amazing promises ever uttered.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (ESV)
All things … let’s hold onto that promise as we go forward.
What are some of your favourite Christmas memories? Have they taught you anything about the Greatest Gift? If so, we’d love to hear about it. [Scroll down to join the conversation.]
[English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.]
Steph Beth Nickel
(Photo by Stephen G. Woo Photography)
Stephanie (Steph Beth) Nickel is an award-winning co-author, a freelance editor and writer, a labour doula, and a former personal trainer. She also loves to speak, teach, and take slice-of-life photos. She would love to connect with you on Facebook or Twitter, on her website or blog.
There’s a scene in one of the first Harry Potter books that speaks to our daily thought life. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I can paraphrase.
Young Harry is at wizard school [please, let’s not get into an argument about the pros and cons of magic in fiction] and the lesson is on controlling another person’s thoughts. The aim of the class is to learn self-defense against such a thing, because there are villains on the loose.
When it’s Harry’s turn, he experiences a sudden desire to do something. I don’t remember what, so we’ll say it’s to stand on a chair. It makes perfect sense for him to stand on this chair, and he really wants to do it, even though, as in any other school, chairs are for sitting.
He’s really thinking about it, how important it is to stand on this chair.
He’s about to move when a puzzling thought strikes: why? Why should he stand on the chair? He doesn’t have to do that, and the professor, who hates him, would probably give him a detention. He doesn’t want to get up on the chair anyway.
So he doesn’t. The attack is broken.
As Christians, we’re to “take every thought captive to Christ.” Part of that is choosing not to contemplate what’s unwholesome or sinful. I think part of it is also realizing that we don’t have to accept those negative or hurtful thoughts that the devil – or our past – tries to make us believe.
Some of them are outright lies (“God’s holding out on you”) that we can refute with Scripture, out loud if necessary. “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19, NLT)”
Some of them are vague feelings or fears. It’s easy to believe them because feelings seem real, but “we live by faith, not by sight” – or by feel.
I’m finding the more I work at submitting my mind to Christ’s, and at speaking truth against the negatives that have ruled me in the past, the easier it is to recognize an attack in progress. And sometimes, before it takes hold, I notice the initial malaise and find that incisive why? rising in my thoughts. Not in defiance, but in curiosity. Why should I accept the idea to feel bad about myself because someone else is x, y, or z? Why compare? Let them be who they are. And let me look to God and find my sufficiency in Him.
Maybe if I live and practise long enough, this won’t be such a rare experience that it inspires a blog post!
In each of my Redemption’s Edge novels, at least one character ends up confronting negative thoughts or fears with truth. Maybe it’s because it’s something I need to learn personally, but I think it’s because a whole lot of people, Christians and non, are walking around believing lies they don’t have to accept.
What about you? Is this something you ever struggle with? Or do you know people who do?
Click image to tweet what it says.
Simply Tuesday, by Emily P. Freeman (Revell, 2015)
Subtitled “Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World,” Simply Tuesday calls readers to live in the everyday moments without the pressure to perform or to push on to the next big thing. Even the cover art, a quiet bench with birds and dragonflies, calls us to slow down.
Sections consider our home, work, relationships and souls, as well as a vision for what’s ahead. Readers are invited to find ourselves and our loved ones in the present, and to be present to Jesus with us. The book is part memoir and part an exploration of Christian living, shared by one who’s still learning through life (as opposed to one who’s nailed the answers).
It’s approachable and easy to relate to, an invitation to embrace and celebrate our smallness instead of condemning ourselves for our humanity. My favourite lines:
What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them. (p. 47)
True belief is movement toward God even in the midst of confusion or frustration or fear. (p. 78)
I can’t prevent storms from coming, but I can decide not to invent my own. (p. 209)
Emily P. Freeman writes with a transparency and a conversational style that will be familiar to anyone who follows her blog. Something I hadn’t noticed in her blog posts that made the book a little harder for me is the fluidity with which she shifts from past to present and back again. We do this in conversations, to add immediacy: “Fifteen years ago, I’m working at a local high school… It’s morning and the bell rings…” (p. 206) In printed form, I find this jarring. Maybe it’s the editor in me.
Simply Tuesday offers refreshment for anyone struggling in the try-hard life while her soul aches for a simpler pace and a bit of fresh air. It’s not anti-performance or opposing busyness. Instead, it’s a glimpse of what life might look like if we began to nurture the small things in our lives and if we accepted ourselves as who we are instead of always pushing to be more than we are. Highly recommended for weary souls.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene H. Peterson (IVP Books, second edition 2000)
Subtitled “Discipleship in an instant society,” this book is as relevant today as it was when first published in 1980. If anything, we need it more now, since the pace of life is increasing.
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction is a call to Christians to leave the “tourist” mindset and take on the “pilgrim” perspective. Each chapter looks at one of the Psalms of Ascent (sung by the ancient Israelites on their route to Jerusalem) and applies it to an aspect of “long obedience” discipleship.
This is one of those classic books that can benefit any Christian reader. It’s approachable and down-to-earth, designed for everyday folk who want to learn to live, enjoy and thrive in their faith.
It’s a book to keep, re-read, and share with friends. I’ve marked too many lines to share in a review. Here are a few samples:
My security comes from who God is, not from how I feel. Discipleship is a decision to live by what I know about God, not by what I feel about him or myself or my neighbours. [Page 87]
We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs. [Page 97]
In this second edition, the psalms and other Scripture verses are from The Message. This edition also includes a new preface and an epilogue.
Eugene H. Peterson is the translator of The Message version of the Bible, and the author of numerous books on Christian living. His Goodreads author profile gives more information about him and his books.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
Feed Your Spirit, by Kimberley J. Payne (Kimberley Payne, 2014)
Feed Your Spirit is a short collection of devotionals on prayer. Each opens with a Scripture passage, and closes with a quote on prayer. Each devotional is longer than your standard brief daily reading, and explores an aspect of prayer.
One that I most appreciated was the PATH method of prayer (Praise, Admit, Thanksgiving and Help). Topics also cover prayer walking, gratitude, hearing from God, and the question of “what if God’s answer is no?”
My favourite line reminds me that “Just as His mercies are new each day, His plan for me is new each day.” (Kindle location 296)
This collection of devotionals can be read one-a-day, or in one sitting. It’s free on all ebook platforms. Author Kimberley J. Payne writes about faith, family and fitness. For more about the author or to read her weekly blog posts, visit her website: kimberleypayne.com.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
The following devotional is from a series I am writing for HopeStreamRadio. I also plan to publish an e-book featuring these pieces later this year.
Jesus’ teachings weren’t—and aren’t—always easy to understand. In John 6, He speaks of the bread that came down from heaven. As a result, many of His followers left Him. His teaching was just too hard for them to grasp.
When He was alone with His disciples, He asked them a pointed question.
John 6:66-67 reads as follows: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?'” (ESV)
Simon Peter, in keeping with his nature, was quick to respond. He said in John 6:68-69, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Jesus’ disciples didn’t fully understand all He had come to accomplish—or how He would fulfill His mission, but there were times like this that one or more of them expressed great faith.
These verses became very important to me a few years back, when my dad died. I have been a Christian since I was a child—many years ago, but this event was difficult to handle. If you think of my belief system like a house, it was as if my dad’s death knocked the entire structure down and left me huddled on the foundation.
But that’s okay because I had arrived at the same conclusion as Peter: There was nowhere else to go.
When the disciple made this proclamation, I don’t think he understood what Jesus was saying about the bread and the cup any more than the others did, but I do think he knew enough to realize there was no other place to turn for truth, solace, and meaning.
In Luke 7:47-49, Jesus says, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
The storm that was my dad’s death and the emotional and spiritual turmoil that went with it battered my dwelling place, my faith, but no matter how the storm raged, I was secure on the Rock, the Foundation, the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Did this have anything to do with my efforts? No, and here’s why. While I had put my faith in Christ, I wouldn’t have done so if God hadn’t drawn me to Himself—which He did because of His grace, not because I somehow deserved it. There were times I dug deep (through prayer and Bible study, both alone and with others). However, there were others when I let these spiritual disciplines slip. But every time I asked for forgiveness, I found that He was right there waiting for me, arms open wide.
As it says in Luke 7:47, we are to come to Jesus, take note of His words, and do what He commands. But we often fail to do so. Still, at times, life happens, and there’s no-one to blame. We take a beating and are left with nothing except the foundation of our faith. But Jesus is a sure foundation, and we can rest assured that we can again build on the foundation that will never crumble.
Uncertainty marked my life for a while—and I still have many questions that won’t be answered this side of eternity—but my foundation was secure, unshakable. My foundation was—and is—Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God.
[Questions or comments for Stephanie? Leave them below!]
Steph Beth Nickel
(Picture by Sarah Grace Photography)
Stephanie is a freelance writer and editor. She writes under the pen name Steph Beth Nickel. She co-authored Paralympian Deborah L. Willows’ memoir, Living Beyond My Circumstances. Among other places, it is available from Castle Quay Books and Amazon. Steph has been blogging since 2010 and is a regular guest on Kimberley Payne’s site (fitness tips) and Christian Editing Services (writing tips). She will also be writing and recording regularly for the newly-formed Hope Stream Radio. Stephanie is an active member of The Word Guild and InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship
Steph invites you to pop by for a visit on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephbethnickel or https://www.facebook.com/stephbnickel?ref=hl
You can also look her up on Twitter @StephBethNickel; her blog: http://stephseclecticinterests.wordpress.com; or her website (still a work in progress): http://stephbethnickel.com
When God Interrupts, by M. Craig Barnes (InterVarsity Press, 1996)
“Finding new life through unwanted change.” The book’s subtitle promises hope, and the notion of God interrupting isn’t meant as blaming Him for the pain we experience. I think the idea is that God interrupts the pain and disappointment.
The introduction begins this way: “We just keep losing things: wives, husbands, friends, health, the dreams and security of the past.” (p. 9) When God Interrupts calls these losses abandonment, and challenges readers to accept them as “the opportunity to discover a new life.” (p. 10)
The premise is that if we’ll allow it, Jesus will fill the empty places and our end, while not what we had hoped or planned, will be richer. The author calls these choices conversion – the same word we use for our initial turning to Christ.
When God Interrupts draws examples from the Bible and from the author’s experiences as a pastor counselling his people. It looks at different forms of abandonment: death, disappointment, infertility, discovering our head-based religion isn’t enough, business failure, illness, divorce/family rejection, and even the sense of being abandoned by God.
In each case the message is to let go of our expectations, hopes, dreams… our perceived rights. And to ask God what He wants to do with the pieces.
This is one of those books filled with quotable lines. Here are a few of my favourites:
Nothing makes it harder to see God than our expectations of him. (p. 30)
The challenge to people of faith is to learn how to follow. Central to that task is giving up the expectation of knowing where we are going. (p. 53)
Walk as one who walks with a Saviour. (p. 90)
I’m not reviewing a lot of non-fiction books anymore, but this one bears sharing. It’s an encouraging book filled with examples of ordinary people who have chosen to grow closer to God when life falls apart. It’s one of those “keeper” books to read again throughout one’s life. A book to buy for a friend.
M. Craig Barnes is a pastor and author and was appointed President of Princeton Theological Seminary in 2013. You can find his “Faith Matters” columns at The Christian Century.
[Review copy from my personal library.]