Taking Jesus Seriously (& Not Much Else)
WriterCaroline.com - Taking Jesus seriously and not much else
The thing I say in my head all the time and sometimes out loud to my phone screen is, “JUST LET ME TURN INTO AN OLD LADY!” It is annoying that culture is so desperate for me to be a spry young thing forever. It’s not like age will turn me into a sea dragon or a purple-headed people eater. Just an old lady. Why can’t I turn into an old lady? I thought we liked those?
Read MoreIn my mind, one of the best things about being a parent is noticing how OTHER adults are pointing my kids to Jesus. When my kids start talking to me about Bible passages they learned at school or church, I turn into the peppiest version of myself (cheerleader energy), and I try to get them to tell me everything. My daughter had been studying 1 Kings at school, and she had lots to tell me about Solomon and wisdom, and I had lots to say about Solomon and wisdom, and before you know it, my daughter’s annoying mom had outlined a whole Bible study based on our conversation.
Read MoreDoes anyone else get whiplash from the sudden “Christmas cookies!” to “Let's cut out sugar!" thing that happens as we transition from December to January? I always feel like we were having so much fun until January had to come by and ruin everything.
Anyway, I rant about this every year (see several blog posts here and my Instagram highlights here), and then every year I remember that the gospel is really good news for the girl who is allergic to goals. It's also good news for the girl who loves goals. So, if you want:
some good-natured ranting
gospel perspective on goal setting
a peek into some worship-related goals I have this year
help to set your own worship-related goals
…I've created a 13-minute video that I hope you'll enjoy!
Read MoreHe was flipping through the tiny blue New Testament he was given as a baby, wondering about the words in red. “The words are red when Jesus talks,” I explained, smiling as I remembered that was even a thing. What a wonderful thing!
What came next was an accidental New Testament survey, six-year-old style. (I thought I’d retell it to you because sometimes talking to a kid about the Bible makes you love the Bible more.)
Read MoreModesty is about as tricky of a topic as it gets. There are many of us who grew up in the church and can easily recall the deep shame we felt when someone told us that we crossed a line. Maybe we didn’t mean to cross the line. Maybe we had no idea where the line was. Maybe we disagreed about the line. Maybe we meant to cross it, but we were still horrified to be brought so low so quickly. Whatever the heart condition, the shame was the same, and we walked away confused that our bodies could be a weapon in so many ways. It attacked us when we looked at it in the mirror, and it attacked others when we did not clothe it properly. We were confused because the world implied our body was how we earned favor, but the church implied favor was earned by how we covered it. We were frustrated because we got two opposing messages: it doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, but also it really, really does.
Read More
For more information about how information collected on this site is used, read my privacy policy. Affiliate links are used where appropriate, and every effort has been made to disclose this. Copyright © 2021 Caroline Saunders. All Rights Reserved.
