The kingdom of God is not what we would think—and that’s a good thing.Jumbo shrimp. Bittersweet. Exact estimate. Minor crisis. Humblebrag. Old news. Random order.  What do these words have in common? All are oxymorons, a literary term used to describe combined opposites. On the surface, we understand the ideas oxymorons communicate. However, each oxymoron represents…

Have you ever missed a deadline? I thought I did for this article.  As a recovering perfectionist, that thought gave me two invitations:  – one to embarrassment (“I did wrong”) and the other to shame (“I am wrong.”). Let’s explore two questions:   First, what do most people do when they have made a commitment and think they have blown it?  Second, how  does God’s…

Job 16:15-16 “I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death” Job 42:1-3 “Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden…