God Will Never Forsake You
We are currently going through the letter of 2 Peter and in it Peter teaches us how to discern between false preachers and teaching. Additionally, he wants to remind us constantly of the Good News and for us to remember that God is true, reliable, and forever. Why do we need reminders? We need to be reminded of the Gospel daily, weekly, and monthly—every chance we get for our entire lives. And an important way to do that is to be in
Disappointed in God?
“Why Lord?” “What have I done to deserve this?” Have you ever found yourself asking these questions? Maybe you’re asking them right now. You felt that you had trusted God with your life’s plans and purposes, but he just didn’t do what you thought he would. And you are disappointed. So while you’re looking over your life and the baggage that you are carrying today, I’ll share some of mine. I wouldn’t want you to think that my life has been
Resurrection: The Key to Understanding Life
Imagine the disciples witnessing Jesus’ trial—his brutal beating and excruciating death, and finally, his burial in a sealed tomb. After all the jubilation and endless miracles, silence. Painful silence. It was the sudden end of all their hopes and dreams. The Messiah and their whole future was dead, buried, and gone. By the evening of Good Friday, that glorious promise and hope had become just one more illusion and disappointment, another mirage in the desert. But the astonishing, extreme event of
The Significance of Holy Week
Palm Sunday begins what we call “Holy Week.” To understand the significance of this week, let's summarize the bare facts of the three major events in the ministry of Jesus just prior to his resurrection. Each of the three is heavily loaded with irony. 1) Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. He comes to people who think he is the deliverer with great worldly power to set the Romans back on their heels (a Clint Eastwood type Messiah). “He’s the
Christ’s Authority to Heal
As Christians, we are personally aware of, and have heard accounts of, healing by supernatural means. This has always been a part of the Good News we experience and share with others. We celebrate the reality of this event in our churches in various ways—prayer meetings, healing services, and special worship times. Jesus tells us, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…,” and when facing an addiction, chronic disability, or life-threatening illness, we often
Where’s the Power?
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In this famous passage from Philippians 2:9-11 we read what could have been either an early Christian hymn or creedal confession, and also one of the earliest and highest
Happy New Year!
Many thanks for your loving cards, notes, emails, and messages. Our family is very blessed to be a part of Starnberg Fellowship. I wanted to share with you an inspiring story that I just read. A family in Colorado received one of their greatest gifts this Christmas season—their cat who had gone missing for 10 years. But the story gets even more miraculous. Pilot, the cat, was adopted by the Thompson family as a kitten in 2004. Three years later, he
James Bond and the Impossible Christmas
I love watching James Bond movies because he always gets into the type of situations that make you think, “How could he possibly escape this one?” When the bad guys throw James Bond out of the aircraft without a parachute, I’m thinking what most others in the theater are thinking as well: What now? Yet even though we can’t imagine a single way out of his jam, we’re confident that Bond will somehow be okay. For one thing, it would make
Christmas Spirit and Holiday Cheer: The Season of Undefined Goodness
What a wonderful Harvest and Thanksgiving Sunday! Many thanks to all for making our 10 Year Anniversary Celebration a day to remember. It was a great way to begin the holiday season and to focus on the true gifts of the season—God’s grace, joy, and the gift of his son Jesus. In contrast to the real message of Christmas, every November and December, we hear of the “Christmas Spirit” or “Holiday Cheer” usually implying some sort of seasonal generosity or undefined
When You Feel Lonely
Living away from your home country is exciting—new places and experiences! However, as we get closer to the holidays, sometimes things around us seem more foreign than ever, even the language appears more difficult to comprehend. As we go through new trials and challenges, we long for the comfort of “home,” and we miss our friends and familiar places. The next door neighbor to whom we went when we needed someone to comfort or pray with us is not there,