• Children's ministry,  Faith

    “So the homeless don’t count, right?”

    I have loved teaching fourth through sixth graders on Wednesday nights for the past three years. The kids ask all kinds of questions without wondering what their friends might think. They go deep, like this one from last week: “Ms. Elizabeth, does God love Satan?” (Has anyone else had that question? It was a first for me.) This school year, we are walking through the Bible chronologically in an effort to understand the overall redemption story — the “upper story” if you’re familiar with Max Lucado and Randy Frazee’s “The Story.” The thread runs through the entirety of Scripture, and I believe seeing the story unfold will help these children…

  • Faith

    When it’s time to leave a church

    I’ve never been a quitter, and I really did not want to leave my church. However, some bad things were tolerated, and I decided to leave. I felt released from the negativity, and, through His word, meditation, and prayer, I felt God say, “Now that you’ve seen the damage churches can do to families — the damage that happens when good people decide to do nothing — go do the opposite. Go fight selfishness, arrogance, and heartlessness and let me use you to reach those who also have been hurt by the church.” Leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but I’ve learned a few things along…