I avoid suffering because it’s uncomfortable. I don’t like pain. It can make me wonder if God loves me. But beauty and growth come through fire, pressure, pruning, molding, and darkness.
Author: Eva Burkholder
The ‘One Anothers’ in Scripture Characterize Community
There are over fifty "one another" verses in Scripture (the exact number depends on your translation). One anothering describes how those in the kingdom of God function. It characterizes community, friendship, fellowship, koinonia. I decided to do a fresh study of these exhortations in scripture. Here are my observations.
Be True to Your True Self
“Be true to yourself” they say. “But which self?” I say. "My introverted, organized, third-culture-kid, creative self? Or my true self in Christ?" I’d like to rewrite this phrase: Be true to your true self—your in-Christ self.
Holy Thinking: My New Spiritual Practice
Holy thinking is the intersection of soul care, discernment, and pondering. How awesome is that? I was especially pleased to discover that Mary of Nazareth exemplified this spiritual practice. How perfect for a way to describe all the things I’m passionate about.
Happy Mother’s Day to My Expectant Daughter-in-Law
I sent my first Mother’s Day card to my daughter-in-law who is pregnant with her first child and our first grand. This is what I told her.
A Light to the Ends of the Earth
Around sixty years ago, my parents sailed (literally) from the US to the ends of the earth—the island nation of Papua New Guinea. They did this because they understood that God offers salvation to everyone and they wanted to give God’s Word to some who might otherwise never hear. Likewise, my husband and I answered the same call thirty years after my parents did, moving to Indonesia to share this good news. We understood that God planned from the very beginning to save all peoples, not just the Israelites.
Balance and the Center of Biblical Tension
My seminary president, Robertson McQuilkin, drilled into me a profound maxim: “It seems easier to go to a consistent extreme than to stay at the center of biblical tension.” More recently, this same concept was reiterated by my Bible study teacher, JoAnn Hummel: “You and others will benefit as you “hold the rope” of tension in the Scriptures.” The prophet Isaiah offers us many opportunities to put this guiding principle into practice since his writing contains much tension.
Not Forsaken
Was Jesus forsaken on the cross? Educated and religious Jews used a unique technique to recite memorized psalms. And so did Jesus when passers-by yelled insults at him as he hung dying on a cross. He wanted his people to know he was fulfilling a prophecy that predicted his specific suffering.
