Lot’s wife belonged to a family with a great name and trust in God’s promises. She even had angels visit her home! God sent them to personally escort her from His coming wrath to His safety (Gen.19:1-22). Yet, she fell into eternal judgment because she looked back to her life in Sodom. She longed to preserve what she had and became a pillar of salt–a crystalline substance used for preservation (Gen. 19:26). Friends, Jesus is kind to warns us in Luke 17:32-33: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”
Cornelius’ conversion account can teach us many things about the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles in the first century church. We see in this story that God’s salvation through Christ is for all the families of the earth. God shows no partiality but comes to redeem people from all nations. All this is true. But my focus today is on that small line in verse four. It makes me wonder: what if my service and prayers to God were like a memorial offering rising up as a pleasing aroma before His throne?
What does a complementarian household looks like? How does a husband’s godly leadership in the home lead to the flourishing of his wife and children? How is complementarity in the home is a gift to a wife? It’s an honor to chat about these questions with the hosts of Priscilla Talk, a 9Marks podcast. Click to LISTEN!
Loving your neighbor as yourself is a hard practice. We talk of the polarization of the broader American church—congregations across the country that are divided by faith, creed, color, and politics. Yet many of us are disconnected from people who are not across the country but across the pew. The command to love and serve—not merely tolerate—each other requires more commitment and sacrifice than we care to give, and so we do the polite minimum from afar.
Continue at Christianity Today.
I’m thankful to contribute to The Cross, a Christianity Today’s Easter 2020 devotional guide that’s designed to help individuals, families, and small groups see how the work of Christ, accomplished at the cross, is still carried forward by Christians in their daily lives. This series of 10 articles not only focuses on how Jesus' death and resurrection impact our faith theologically, but also our thoughts, actions, and relationships on a daily basis. Learn more.
What if avoiding specific sections of Scripture is itself a lesson to our kids? Do we give the impression that only certain corners of the Bible are suited for families when we limit our studies to known, or easier-to-apply passages? And what fruit—if carefully gleaned—from these biblical family trees could nourish our growing disciples?
Continue at The Gospel Coalition.
"A truly pro-life church understands that brokenness is not just someone else’s undesired pregnancy. It understands that brokenness pervades every facet of our lives and world; that everyone is equally broken but in different ways. It obliges broken image bearers move toward other broken image bearers for the sake of mutual flourishing through all of life, to walk humbly and lovingly alongside brokenness from conception to death." - Bora Jin
Dolce Devotions is our family devotional time—it is our effort to teach our children “when we lie down.” We share it with you as an encouragement and picture for one way the bedtime routine might be used for teaching Christ and the gospel to children. May it stir up your own affections for Christ as you seek to love and commend Him within the everyday routines of your life!
Happy New Year!
I’m excited to debut a new website template at Motherhood & Sanctity. The website layout has been simplified to allow for clearer navigation. In addition, updates have been made to every page of the site. Please see below for specific changes or simply explore! In either case, thank you so much for subscribing to and reading Motherhood & Sanctity. I’m excited about the new focus, new features, new series, and new videos coming in 2019. I hope that you will visit often and as always, thanks for sharing!
