I love this picture. It is a little volunteer snap dragon that showed up in my retaining wall, and it is happily doing what God has called it to do in the toughest of places. And it keeps blooming! This is what good works are all about.

The short book of Titus has quite a bit to say to us about good works, and I think we women need to be encouraged that so much of what we do in our homes for our families, as well as what we do for the broader Christian community, falls under this category of “good works.” We are all capable and qualified for everyday good works, works that flow out of our calling, whatever that might be. We don’t have to look for “designer” good works, but rather we should be content to offer our talents and time and energy to God to give ourselves away to the people who need us. The people here, right now. Not the imaginary people who live far away, but the ones in our lives now. That means the little people, the old people, the hungry people, even the grouchy people who don’t say thanks.
God has set us apart as “His own special people, zealous for good works” (2:14). He gave Himself for us, redeemed us, purified us for Himself, and now He has given us good things to do. We are to be eager, enthusiastic, and passionate about this business of good works. Not half-hearted, not willy-nilly, but seriously devoted.
In chapter three he tells us to “be ready for every good work” (verse 1). We are to be on our toes, looking out for Read More

I am sure that most of you are well acquainted with the Planned Parenthood sting videos by now.  And while there are so many things that I keep meaning to write about, this subject is just so heavy right now that it seems silly to write about anything else.

So here I am again, wanting to express how deeply grateful I am for this opportunity. So thankful for the heaviness. For the angry responses we see from friends who don’t agree with us. So thankful for the mercy of this opportunity. Thankful to see other Christians emboldened to speak out. To name this wickedness for what it is , an offense against a Holy God. Read More

With each new video of the Planned Parenthood atrocities, though I find myself stricken speechless, I thank God that I have a greater sense of the tremendous guilt that rests on this country. The blood guilt stretches from sea to shining sea. And I wonder about all those millions of individuals who are living under this load of personal guilt. You know, they are everywhere. “Another boy” (you know, the one on the petri dish) has a mother somewhere, and God knows her name. And she is guilty. And that little dismembered child has a father as well. And God knows his name and will hold him accountable.

You can’t have millions upon millions of abortions without there being millions upon millions of the guilty. And I wonder if that might be one of the reasons (maybe) that so many Christians haven’t yet spoken up. Is it because they have had some share in this sometime, some way? Maybe you are one of those. Maybe you have had an abortion. Or two. Maybe you encouraged a friend or a sister or a daughter to abort their child. Maybe you even paid the bill, made the appointment, promised not to tell.

Each time we see more of the carnage on the videos, the more real the Read More

So. These horrific Planned Parenthood videos. As I’ve been watching this all unfold, there are a couple things I keep noticing – just a jumble of thoughts, really.

The first thing that jumps out at me is that this entire horror show is run by women. It’s startling actually. The abortion doctors, the nurses, the baby-part-wholesalers, the corporate bureaucracy, and obviously every mother who turns up at a Planned Parenthood chop shop to have her own baby executed and sold for parts. Clearly, the entire situation is built on the premise of men’s sin . . . but the fact remains that this grisly, depraved, monstrous assault on human dignity is being conducted by women. I’ve seen a lot of “this is a war on women” and “women betrayed” kind of language lately . . . and it’s completely true. But the thing I continue to find odd is that it’s a war on women which is being conducted by women. Everyone (rightly) keeps noticing parallels between America’s abortion mills and Nazi Germany, but I think there’s another similarity besides the gruesome nature of the problem and the massive body count. Read More

In the wake of the grotesque video that just came out (you know – salad, wine, and baby parts for sale), one of the very natural and appropriate responses is to feel totally overwhelmed at the vastness of the problem. It is easy to turn from this to a lot of frantic anger at everyone – the pro-choice people for thinking this was a good idea, your Christian friend who is not wound up enough about it, politicians who maybe could do something but aren’t even trying. I wanted to take a moment though to reflect on another emotion that we need to give voice to. Gratitude. Read More