salvation – Growing Up in the Lord

Love Wins (more than a hashtag)

Angela — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 04:56:04 +0000

Throughout history, good people, even faithful Christians, have found themselves on every side of every conflict or debate. Sometimes tensions run deep, even between family members, friends, and within the church. In addition to escalating political and global events, society grapples with issues of identity and belonging. Often, the loudest voices get the most attention, even when they do not represent the majority. Even more concerning, truth is often ignored, threatened, and silenced. Yet God’s Word remains sure. No one is perfect. We all fall short. Sometimes in our actions, sometimes in our thoughts, sometimes in our attitudes. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). On our own, no one stands innocent before the Divine Creator: not the addict, not the gossip, not the greedy, not the proud. Every sin leaves us in need of grace, though some sins carry deeper scars or more visible consequences. Yet the hope of the Gospel is this: God meets us where we are, and He loves us too much to let us stay there. Each June, Pride Month is celebrated across the United States and around the world. While the origins of such celebrations trace back to June 1969, President Barack Obama issued the first official presidential proclamation recognizing LGBT Pride Month in 2009. In cities all over the world, June has become a time of parades, rainbow flags, and corporate initiatives, with messages like “Love is love” and “Love wins.” As followers of Christ, we must ask: Are we using God’s definition of love, or have we begun calling evil good, and good evil? (Isaiah 5:20; Romans 1:32). What was once a sacred symbol of God’s promise is now held captive as a banner of pride. The rainbow had nothing to do with how people define themselves; it had everything to do with God’s covenant with Noah and every living creature (Genesis 9:13). It serves as a reminder of His promise never again to destroy all life with a flood, a sign of His patience and love. The world now flaunts sin beneath a rainbow banner. The rainbow that once pointed upward to God’s faithfulness is now used to point inward to humans’ self-expression. These are not two versions of the same love. They are entirely different messages, moving in opposite directions. Even in a world that distorts His symbols and redefines His truth, God continues to offer mercy. He meets us in the middle of our need, not in the celebration of sin. That’s the heartbeat of grace. This grace is captured powerfully in the account of the thief on the cross and echoed in Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, “Love Wins (The Thief).” The thief was broken. Deserving of judgment. Out of time. While others mocked Jesus, the thief recognized his guilt in the presence of holiness. Jesus responded without scorn or harsh judgment, but with a promise. “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:42–43). The thief didn’t earn salvation. He simply believed Jesus was who He said He was, acknowledged his guilt, and asked for what only Jesus could give him. Jesus said yes. Imagine that moment when the thief entered paradise. Maybe others asked, “What are you doing here?” He simply replied, “Jesus said I could come.” True love does not affirm every desire or applaud rebellion. Love doesn’t lie to make us feel better. True love sacrifices everything before offering us the greatest gift of all. This is how love wins, every single time. Not because the world redefined it, but because Jesus poured it out. Love wins, not as a hashtag, but as surrender.

The Most Important Gift

Angela — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 15:35:12 +0000

Christmas 1949 was likely an ordinary holiday, but for one particular couple, it was the beginning of a lifetime of tradition. This was their first Christmas as a married couple, one month before their first anniversary. A couple of eighteen-year-olds exchanged gifts. I don’t know what those first gifts were. His gift to her was wrapped in plain brown paper. She was so mad! How could he wrap it in plain paper? Was it just not worth the effort to find proper wrapping?

He got a kick out of her reaction, thus beginning a 70+ year tradition. He not only wrapped her gifts in brown paper, but he hid them, pulling them out as the last gift of the day. Her anger transformed into expectation. The contents of the humble packaging were often very valuable, usually jewelry or something special he knew she wanted but didn’t get for herself. In the later years, when the gathering family grew to 25–30 people, he discreetly added the brown box to her matriarchal pile of gifts. She still opened it last.

If you haven’t figured it out, this is another story about my grandparents. I learned so much from them. This brown paper packaging is no exception. It may even be one of the most important lessons. The best gifts are often hidden or disguised. After all, the Savior of the world entered the world in humble circumstances, born to a young woman and raised in a carpenter’s home. He lived without earthly wealth or status, even while teaching the crowds about the coming Kingdom. Isaiah 53 tells us He had no outward beauty to attract people, and He would be despised by many.

As the world remembers His birth, let us also remember the greatest gift of all: His sacrifice for our sins. Through Him, we can die to sin and be raised to walk in newness of life through baptism (Romans 6:3–4). Do you need to open His gift?

Grace is a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Angela — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:29:46 +0000

Let me start this by saying we have really excellent kids. We are blessed beyond measure, and they surprise us daily with their wit, insight, and empathy. Even the best of us can have a “bad day.”

Sometimes a bad mood is situational. Sometimes we “wake up on the wrong side of the bed” and nothing seems to go right. Sometimes, we are just “hangry.” Whatever the case may be, we still have a choice.

In March 2023, I took the kids with me to see Acappella. I loved getting to share this experience with them. On the way there (a 45-minute drive), my son was a grouch. We went early enough to eat Chick-fil-A for supper, and I splurged for cookies. His attitude improved as he ate (hangry is a real struggle, especially for growing teenage boys who burn calories faster than they can consume them). I slid his cookie over to him, and he said, “I don’t deserve this treat.” I said, “That’s why it’s called grace.”

In Genesis 6:5 (ESV), “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” He destroyed all of creation, except for Noah, his family, and a remnant of animals, with a flood. Even before this, God had a plan to redeem His creation, despite our continuous rejection. Ephesians 1:4–5 (NLT) says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

From the beginning of creation through the foundation of the church, we read that no one is good, not even one (Psalm 14:1–3; Psalm 53:1–3; Romans 3:10–12). We also read instructions throughout the Bible for the way to turn to God (Deuteronomy 10:12–13; James 4:7–8).

At this time, my son was studying the book of Romans with the high school Bible class at our congregation. I didn’t study this book until college. He was discovering the beauty of this book a few years earlier than I did. Romans gets to the heart of the Gospel.

In chapter five, Paul records these words, “But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him? For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (vs. 8–11, BSB).

The next time you find yourself in a bad mood, remember God’s great love for you. Give yourself grace, and maybe eat a chocolate chip cookie.