InFaith

Topic: relationship with God

Confession of Sin

March 16, 2012 by Ridge Burns
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When RobAnne and I are in Chicago, we often attend Church of the Resurrection with our son and daughter-in-law. Church of the Resurrection is a strong, evangelical, alive Anglican church in Wheaton, Illinois. It’s a large church, populated by many Wheaton College students, and it follows a liturgy in its services.

Part of the liturgy is called “Confession of Sin,” and every time I go to that church, I find myself lost in that section. I grew up in a church where we never talked about confessing our sins to one another. We never really actively gave time for people to discuss and reveal the sinful ways of their hearts to God. But this church does. Continue →

“Have You Seen My David?”

March 7, 2012 by InFaith
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Hoover

By John Hoover, serving in New Hampshire

Moving through the nursing home today, I ran into Herb. He’s a tall eighty-something former engineer with no hair, a ball cap, and a booming voice. All throughout my visiting time today, he kept wheeling up and down the hallways saying, “Have you seen my David? Have you seen my David?” I know from speaking with him already that David is his son. Herb was lost, sad, and needy. Continue →

A Hard Reboot

February 7, 2012 by Ridge Burns
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Every once in a while with a computer or smartphone, things just get gummed up. Programs begin to compete with each other, the speed of the device slows to a crawl, and sometimes you just have to do what is called a hard reboot. I don’t fully understand it, but apparently it erases things, rearranges files, and creates a quicker and more efficient way for the device to do its work. Continue →

“Don’t You Want To Be Healed?”

January 7, 2012 by InFaith
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Missy200x200Rabehl

“Don’t you want to be healed?” Ginny asked.

I thought it a strange question. I could not think of anyone saying, “No!” Yet, for me, it is a very pointed question because with a form of non-curable leukemia I have come to realize that the opposite of suffering is not the absence of pain but the presence of God’s grace. Since then, I am more alive, more aware, more God-conscious than at any other time of my life. To lose the passion for and intimacy with Christ in my everyday life would be a greater loss than life itself.

“Don’t you want to be healed?” Ginny asked.

“No”, I replied, “Not if I have to return to the way I was before.” Continue →

No Quick Fix

October 8, 2011 by InFaith
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Missy200x200Smith

By Rick Smith, InFaith field director

As I talk with field staff under my care, I occasionally find that some are experiencing significant joylessness, a strong sense of powerlessness, a feeling of being overwhelmed with life’s responsibilities, and a loss of passion and purpose for what they are doing. In short, they are depressed – not necessarily in a clinical sense, but certainly in line with the psalmist’s declaration: “Why are you downcast, O my soul?”

I often find myself looking for a way to encourage them with a quick fix, some immediate change that they can implement. It might be looking for an opportunity to start a new ministry, recruiting more volunteers to help share the work load, getting adequate times of rest, or organizing their time more effectively. The list goes on and on. Though these very practical matters may be of help in some cases, I think I’ve been missing the mark. Continue →