Christine's Blog (2,610)

I am not fixated on discouragement, but sooner or later, everyone of us will face it. In fact, I am convinced that it is one primary way that the devil seeks to

get us off balance, and tear us down. Paul

gives us insight into his discouragement—both explanation and hope. Take

a look:…

When I was a little girl, I loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland; for me, it had it all. A little bit of thrill, a lot of action, boat ride, and hey, it ended

with beautiful jewelry and treasure spread out on the sand—everything

that would bring a sparkle to a little girl’s…

This last Tuesday, I made the move to the Sanctuary. It is only about a block away from the Friends’ Church, the site of the prayer

meeting with the Long Beach street people that I have led the

last six months, but . . . it was a big change. Moments

were inspiring and God-filled, others…

Do you wear a veil? More on 2 Corinthians 3—the end.

I’ve been thinking more about the veil . . . in my last briefing, I referenced Exodus 34, and I should like to take you there again.

Stand with me and follow Aaron’s gaze, as he looks to see the familiar…

The Law didn’t fail—we did.

The Law relied on us to be faithful, and we couldn’t be. ‘Truth is, we needed a whole new system . . . one based on the righteousness of

another, not our own; we needed what only God could have conceived of—…

Company sales numbers had just come across her Blackberry; sure enough, Amy had moved to number 37 in the country. Thirty-seven? Is that good or

bad? It meant 37^th place out of 500

pharmaceutical sales representatives in a large company. The

results were quite measurable and they were good.…

Company sales numbers had just come across her Blackberry; sure enough, Amy had moved to number 37 in the country. Thirty-seven? Is that good or

bad? It meant 37^th place out of 500

pharmaceutical sales representatives in a large company. The

results were quite measurable and they were good.…

Has it occurred to you that you represent God to others? Whether or not you like it or you applied for the job, your words and actions reflect God to others. Hmm .

. . how do you feel about that?

Take a look at the end of…

Forgiveness is costly. . . .Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3.13 The Lord forgave us

of the very thing that cost him his life.…

Good Day!

Yesterday we spoke of Paul’s desire to forgive a man who had hurt him deeply . . . forgiveness is immense. It breaks down walls, frees hearts, mends

countries, restores families, and draws out the best in us. It can turn

hatred into tenderness and the desire to destroy into a passion to

protect. It is more powerful than any weapon,…

I always think of Paul as bold—assertive, even to the point of being aggressive, with keen intellect and a ‘take no prisoners’ kind of

mentality. Somebody wronged him terribly, and the whole

assembly knew about it. Consequences were meted out, to

correct the behavior not to cause him to feel alienated or unloved. Now….Paul

tells them, ‘Enough! It is time to forgive him and move

forward.’ We see Paul’s…

This last week I got to be with my Long Beach people two times, Thursday and Friday. Love that. On Thursday, I took the

message of “In Jesus Christ…yes!” to a large, restless crowd. Crazy

Bonnie came waltzing up, wanting to interject things, but the folks

shut her right down. A young Hispanic woman in the back

yelled, ‘sit down, I want to hear,’ which only…

JOY . . . People want it.

People want to be around others who have it.

People want to know how to get it.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “we work with you for your joy . . .” 2 Cor. 1.24…

When I was a kid, we made an annual trip to Clear Lake (California)—honestly, all my best memories from childhood go back to

that lake. It wasn’t just the waterskiing with my family,

though I LOVED that, it was all the other stuff like fishing, clamming,

jumping off the pier, and trying to get so many people on the dock that

we would sink it. I also remember the lizards. My cousins…

Can you give me meaning in my life, God? Yes, Child.

Can you show me the way to find peace? Most certainly, Daughter.…

Can you imagine questioning Paul’s character? Now I don’t mean even from our perspective and all we know about this man…but as a contemporary of his—Paul, who had been personally

confronted by Jesus…

[Weekly installment on my ministry to the street people of Long Beach. It has been quite a journey and I have introduced some winsome folk over the

months of writing about LB. It is

great reading if you would like to read past briefings—…

Do you ever think about your behavior? You know,

~why you do the things you do

~why you look at things like you do

~why you view the world around you as you do…

Today is the day that I will conduct my friend’s funeral—my beautiful friend, who life got the better of. I have conducted quite a few

memorial-type services, including my own dear mother’s, but this is the

first one of my friends to depart. So near my age, living

only four houses away, this feels so very wrong. Nonetheless,

it is mine to honor, and mine to give hope—especially to her three

teen-aged…