God can work miracles with the lights completely out, when it seems like a complete disaster. God doesn’t need the lights to work! God uses whatever He desires to work good in the world and in us. Also, God can change hearts.

The Super Bowl has come and gone but the conversation about the halftime show might have taken center stage. The show headliners were two Latina women, Jennifer Lopez, or J.Lo as she’s known by fans, and Shakira. Both are strong performers with unique styles. Both are dancers with two decades, three or more for J.Lo, under their belts. And both tend to wear little clothing and twist and shake in ways many Christians might find inappropriate. The question many asked after the show was how could J.Lo and Shakira do this in the midst of the #MeToo Movement? Don’t they realize that they aren’t empowering women?

I’ve had the joy of leading a book club through my newest book Sacred Endurance. Today, we did a short discussion on Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 is likely one of the most important chapters in the book. In it, I consider the ways we struggle to endure because of our minds. It’s easy to act a certain way because our actions are seen by others. We can pretend to be okay. We can pretend to love. We can pretend to be pure. But our thoughts reveal what’s truly in our hearts. What we think reveals what we truly believe about God. That’s why I dedicated a chapter to our enduring and the mind.

Lately, I’ve found myself gravitating towards hymns. This isn’t anything new for me. I tend to listen to contemporary worship for a time but then always find my way back to older songs. There’s something so rich about them—theologically and worshipfully. This is not a critique of contemporary worship songs, although perhaps it could be, but rather it’s simply that my heart needs deep truth. I love the catchy, rhythmic tune from time to time and I’m grateful for the simplicity of many of the songs today. And yet I’m still drawn to hymns.

Today, Trevin Wax has a post highlighting the potential problem of one of those catchy songs. Here is an excerpt:

There’s a popular worship song I’ve heard in recent years that I just can’t sing. The heart behind the lyrics is right, and the overall focus of the song is the goodness of the Lord, but at one point, it repeats a line over and over again—that God is never going to let us down. Every time I hear it, I just can’t bring myself to sing those words…

I enjoy social media and at times I try to share something that could be useful for building up those who engage with my sites. Yesterday, I shared a thought that I hope to expound on soon. But until then, I thought I’d share it with you, too…

I think there is a problem with our responses to controversy. It isn’t that we respond, though many could argue reasons why our responses aren’t helpful. Rather, it’s that we move on so quickly. Trillia Newbell: Mourn with those who mourn…

My husband and I were chatting about our kids and he said, “We need to start thinking about saving for college.” College? What in the world would we need to be thinking about college for? I thought to myself. Then he said, “You know our oldest will be out of the house in about five years.”

Over the past several weeks I’ve had plenty of time to rest. It’s been a forced and required time for an empty schedule, one that I had planned to do in July but not because I had to! And it has been welcomed and needed. These past few weeks, I’ve slept and walked and reclined for more hours than I can number. And it got me thinking about some time I’ve spent abroad.