Good morning... Since 2006, God has organically grown my spiritual gifts in the rich soil of Northside Church. I have seen many staff members come and many go, but one person I have seen stay, grow, and flourish is Dr. James Johnson, our Director of Adult Discipleship. During this period of pandemic, our church has begun sharing online [...]
Good morning... If I am a grain of wheat, I wrestle with John 12:24. Jesus says, “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over." You see, I like [...]
Good morning... My old iPhone 5-S died. I posted about that yesterday. As the day unfolded, it became clear: our morning message was not about my phone. It was about our shared sense of losing touch. Stripped by the chaos of Corona, our economic breakdown, and the unrest of injustice, collectively we have lost a lot. As manmade [...]
Good morning... I open Biblegateway.com and read the verse for today. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things (Ecclesiastes 11:5, NIV). An old favorite poem pops to mind. I google the phrase "God's [...]
Good morning... Waking very early on Mother's Day morn, in quiet anticipation I open the package bearing my mom's beautiful handwriting. "Susie," the note sent from Ohio begins with my nickname. "A homemade Mother's Day card during the Covid-19 virus shelter-in-place order this year. The wish never changes. May your Mother's Day be special surrounded by your caring [...]
Good morning... Yesterday's post focused on what children may be learning as they spend time outside of the traditional school classroom. Tip The Canoe stirred things up and dumped us out in different spots in our common sea of humanity. Some subscribers enjoyed the free swim of a slower pace and a simpler life: "Brilliant perspective! Fills my heart with joy. [...]
Good morning... Hindsight offers a rich perspective on the tapestry of our lives. Right now, as we live forward, exactly what comes next hides from our view. Yet eventually, many of us will live on, looking back, telling our children and their children about the COVID-19 story. I am grateful to those who sent me this poignant YouTube [...]
Good morning... Do you know the root word for quarantine? Quarantine is derived from the Latin quadraginta, meaning "forty." Similarly in Italian, quarantine comes from quaranta meaning "forty," which goes on to form the phrase quaranta giorni, which literally means "space of forty days." We have been at this quarantine routine for more than forty days, and as we consider gradually reopening [...]
Good morning... "It looks like your Mom and I need to get to Atlanta so we can have our hair cut," my dad texted this weekend from Ohio, joking about the controversial decision by Georgia's governor to reopen some "essential businesses." Hair and nail salons. Tattoo and massage parlors. Restaurants, movie theaters, and bowling alleys. Sequestering for several [...]
Good morning... "This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived" says 1 Peter 2:24-25 in the Message translation. "He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, not once said [...]
