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Stop Saying Satan is Attacking Someone’s Ministry

I don’t remember where I first heard it. Whether it was a cancer diagnosis, or a child’s rebellion, or a horrible accident, or a family falling apart. But hear it I did. If something was going wrong in a ministry family, it was because Satan was attacking their ministry. Um, no. Stop. Just stop. It’s […]

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This little girl has her theology straight!

#DearHadleyFromMercy from Debbie on Vimeo.

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Protecting the Powerful at the Expense of the Weak

Most of us remember the story. David, serving his carnal desires, had Uriah’s wife Bathsheba brought into his bed. When David found out Bathsheba was pregnant and his sin was about to come to light, he launched a cover up, first telling Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife, and when that failed, […]

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The Dichotomy of Discipleship

I’m sharing My Hazardous Faith Story as part of a synchroblog connected with the release of Ed Cyzewski and Derek Cooper’s new book Hazardous: Committing to the Cost of Following Jesus. I’m a big fan of books about radical discipleship. “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne had me sobbing, and “Radical” by David Platt had […]

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When Children Are Treated Like Obstacles to “Real” Ministry

Well, my family survived Disneyland! I’m still vacationing in California, and still featuring some great guest posts. Today’s post is by my friend and fellow Redbud Michelle Van Loon, originally published on her blog in 2009. What does it say about our ministries when children are treated as an obstacle to be “dealt with,” when […]

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Fearless Femininity: Missionaries, Mommies, and Old Ladies on Motorcycles

It’s funny how these things come full circle in our lives. While working on the message about the need for women to find their identity in Christ, instead of in their relationships with others, I’ve been thinking a lot about the women I know who have embodied this, particularly the single missionary women I knew […]

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Adoption, Women, and BFFs: More Jumbled Thoughts

Writing isn’t supposed to be therapy–at least not the kind that happens outside your journal. But sometimes it is. This was certainly the case with my recent post about adoption. I was always a little bit conflicted about it, aware that it didn’t express my whole heart on the matter and could easily be taken […]

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Going There: Another Take on the Orphan Crisis

It’s been just over two years since a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti, killing more than a quarter of a million people and leaving thousands of children orphaned, overwhelming a nation already in crisis. Kristen Howerton, who has adopted from Haiti and was in the country when the earthquake struck, wrote a great, heartbreaking post on “Rage […]

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Toxic Christianity: When Our Public Face Poisons Faith

If there’s one thing that leaves me completely aghast, it’s Christians hurting one another and using religion to justify their behavior, or citing it as the reason that they didn’t step in to defend the hurting, vulnerable party. It’s the child who is abused on the mission field or in the church, but no one […]

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Video About Domestic Abuse and the Church: What ABUSERS Need From Their Church

Melody Harrison Hanson wrote a beautiful, brave post on her blog today about her experience growing up with a father who “was in ministry and was a generous, gracious, loving, God-fearing man,” but who was also abusive. In fact, he wrote a book about it: “Strongest in the Broken Places: A Story of Spiritual Recovery.” […]

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Missionary Kid-Palooza! New Resources for TCKs on the Way

Michele Phoenix knows a thing or two about missionary kids. Born in France to an American mother and Canadian father, she attended Black Forest Academy, a school for missionary kids in Germany, and eventually wound up teaching there for the better part of two decades. In her bio, she writes “All the struggles I had […]

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Is Jesus the Anti-Santa? Kids, Ministry and Super-Sized Sacrifice

I know I wasn’t going to blog this week, but my blogging button got pushed, hard. First, I saw a video of an absolutely adorable little girl who is “donating” her birthday to raise money for the famine in the Horn of Africa. Right after that, I saw a post on Facebook discussing the best […]

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Liberia, the Nobel Peace Prize, and Me

On Friday, three women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their commitment to women’s rights. Two of those women, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, were from Liberia, the country I called home for most of my elementary school years. I haven’t stopped grinning since I heard the news. See, it was in Liberia […]

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Emotional Vomit–Proceed with Caution

I am halfway through the book “The Irresistable Revolution” by Shane Claiborne, and it is making me cry. Shane is one of the founders of “The Simple Way” in Philidelphia, a community committed to–well, you’ll have to read the book. Peace. Non-violence. Living in community, friendship, and solidarity with the poor and homeless, while trying […]

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