Harmony of Grace

Image Source:  Jordan Whitt In the book of Exodus, we read a story of Moses tending his sheep. Moses suddenly notices a burning bush and God's voice speaks to him through the bush. God instructs Moses to take off his shoes because he is now standing on holy ground. Holy ground is considered to be anywhere that God is. In Old Testament times, this was thought to be specific places. As Christians, our understanding of where God is has changed. God is living in our hearts. Furthermore, God is all around us. Early Rabbis tell this story of the burning bush and pose the question: "Did the tree suddenly burst into flame when Moses walked past or was the tree burning the entire time? Perhaps this was merely the first time that Moses had become aware of it? God's presence was always there. Moses had probably walked past that spot many times. But it was only when Moses became aware of God's presence there and was ready to respond to it that it became "holy ground

Image Source:  Mandy von Stahl The ancient Greeks had a number of different words to describe love. Eros is erotic love. It is the type of love that many people will be experiencing today on Valentines Day... Storge is a deep sense of affection between human beings that develops naturally, like the love that a parent has for their children. Phylia describes the powerful emotional bond found in deep friendships. I would argue that all three of these types of love are dependant on how worthy the person is to be loved. If we love someone with the Eros , Storge and Phylia type of love, our love for them could always change when we believe that they are not worthy of that love anymore. But there is a fourth word used to describe love in the ancient Greek language: Agape . Agape  is the love that God has for all humankind. It is the love that Jesus commands from us when he tells us to "love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength" and "love your n

Image Source:  Bryan Minear Today I listened to an episode of the Writing Excuses  podcast. The topic of discussion was how to generate new ideas for stories. The authors encouraged listeners to start with ideas that already exist. Listen to stories. Watch TV. Read widely. Look at things that are already in existence and then use your imagination to invent new ideas or expand on previous ideas in new exciting ways. Many new aspiring authors believe that new stories need to be fresh ideas that have never been thought of before. But some of the best stories are just imaginative takes on already-existing stories. For example, the reason that stories like Shrek have done so well is that it has taken well-known fairytales and created exciting, new stories using the original stories as their inspiration. I believe that we have a similar ability to see God's grace in the ordinary and comfortable. What we seek, we shall find. If we go about our lives not expecting to encou