GraceNotes

Has anything in your life ever gone differently than what you expected? What did you think? And how did you respond? I recently attended the Bridgepoint Breakaway retreat for solitude, reflection and prayer.  The setting was a retreat center in rural Maryland, withlots of nature to bask in, and the weather was near perfect.   My goals for the retreat were to enjoy the beauty…

A hopeful prayer is a submitted prayer. A hopeful prayer often feels naïve and audacious—even a bit greedy. After all, how long should you keep praying for something, even a good thing, if your prayers remain unanswered? Should you take the non-answer as a sign? When does prayer stray from confidence in God’s miraculous, redeeming power to self-serving…

Peter was one of Christ’s closest disciples, was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and was in the garden of Gethsemane. Yet, he failed Christ. Most notably, he denied Christ three timeswhile Jesus was on trial. Yet, Jesus forgave him, and Peter wenton to lead countless people to Christ. Therefore, it is important to realize that our failures do not define us in Christ. There is a flawed…

“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” These words, spoken by Ralph Waldo Emerson, reveal the importance of the topic today. If you haven’t guessed yet, the topic is speech or language. When most pastors, Sunday school teachers, or devotionals talk about what we as Christians say, their focus is typically on…

Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Psalm 31:15 “My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.” Matthew 16:17-18 “And Jesus answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son…

In middle school, our Vice Principal always closed the morning announcements with this quote: “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.” I thought of this as a check on my attitude—that regardless of what happened in my day, I had a choice in how I viewed my circumstances, how I reacted, and whether…

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Note that this verse does not…

Let the Light infuse your life. Like most modern technology, my phone contains features to make my life more convenient. One of those handy features is adaptive brightness. My phone automatically senses the ambient light around it and adjusts the screen’s brightness to match. This unsung feature spares my eyes from encountering blinding light in…

This week marks the inauguration of President Donald Trump.  Regardless of how one views him politically, it is impossible not to recognize that everything his political opponents did to try to derail his run for office only seemed to make him stronger.  From the former president being tried by Congress as a private citizen, to…

This past weekend, we celebrated GraceWay’s 10-year anniversary, reminiscing over God’s abundant provision over the last decade. One of my best friends first invited me to GraceWay in June 2015 after meeting Pastor Brad on Capitol Hill. We had both just graduated college and were interning in DC for the summer. I’ll never forget that…

Each year I go through the same exercise. I look back over the course of the previous year and think about the highlights and lowlights: the fun times with family and friends; the stressful and overwhelming times; the goals I accomplished; the goals I failed to meet; the answered prayers; the unanswered prayers, and so…

Isaiah 53:5-6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity…