Category Archives: Writings

Men: today is International Women’s Day.

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I woke up today without a voice. Everyone at home is straining to hear me. This reminds me of so many in the world who practically lack a voice, to fight oppression, injustice, abuse, and neglect. Today we celebrate the “better half.” Let’s give them a voice.

As my wonderful wife Kari opens on her blog, today we have reason to celebrate:

Today is International Women’s Day, which means that for this one day we get to shout YEEHAW! to the world about all things woman. Raise a chocolate bar in the air, swing your hips, turn your face to heaven and give your biggest smile to thank God for making you a woman. You are beautiful, you are cherished, you are celebrated, you are the crown of his creation. (Or, if you’re a man, thank God for making women and consider how you can bless one today!)

Seriously, men, let’s pause and thank about that. Today we celebrate women by pursuing their best.

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Kari continues:

Yesterday afternoon my Bus Stop 32 friend Julie and I sat in my kitchen over steaming bowls of lentil soup. I watched her face light up as I sliced up an avocado and sprinkled it with salt. “My favorite!” She smiled, and as I looked across the kitchen at her, I couldn’t help but stop, struck by this one thought:

She’s so beautiful.

So incredibly beautiful. Yes, broken. Yes, addicted. Yes, in desperate need. But so am I and when I look at her I see her beauty and it’s a beauty that’s worth fighting for.

A beauty we must fight for.

Because every woman displays the beauty of God.

Yes, women show the world the beauty of God.

Yet not in the way we typically assume.

(By the way, later in the evening while Kari was at a meeting celebrating a dear friend, and while I had my attention on creating a model volcano with the kids, the re-heating of that lentil soup went awry, and I burned it. Didn’t offer it to the kids, but I ate some. Later, when Kari arrived home she asked, “What’s the smell? Is something burning?” I should have responded: “It’s the smell of me needing you. Thanks for being awesome.”)

Again, all women are beautiful in a deeper-than-skin way. Kari continues:

No, I don’t mean the beauty of a size 0 figure or flawless skin. The beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. The beauty of bravery and courage. The beauty of faith-filled trust. The beauty of sacrificial love. The beauty of vulnerability. And yes, even a woman’s physical appearance–in all sizes and shapes and ages–reflects the beauty of our God.

It’s a beauty that the evil one wants to destroy. Julie had told me last week that in her job search she’d found an 80-year old man who said she could clean his house for $15. So she did. Then yesterday when I asked her about it, she got quiet.
“Yeah, that’s probably not going to work out. I cleaned his house Monday night but then he wanted me to do other stuff. Take off my clothes and stuff.”
She looked up at me. “I can’t do that. So I guess that job is probably gone.”

Man aside: I kinda want to punch that dirtbag in the face. (I won’t, but angry rises in my heart over situations like this.)

There is no doubt in my mind that Satan has a special hatred for women. We need look no further than the pages of history to see this focused assault. Stasi Eldredge says it like this.

“The assault on femininity — its long history, its utter viciousness — cannot be understood apart from the spiritual forces of evil we are warned against in the Scriptures. That is not to say that men (and women, for they, too, assault women) have no accountability in their treatment of women. Not at all. It is simply to say that no explanation for the assault upon Eve and her daughters is sufficient unless it opens our eyes to the Prince of Darkness and his special hatred of femininity.” (Captivating, 84)

But instead of sitting around and wringing our hands about the state of our world, we can take the LIGHT of Jesus Christ into the darkness and illuminate God’s women and lift them up so they too can be beacons of his beauty, love, grace.

International Women's DayWhenever we bring light into the darkness, we discover more and more of His beauty that we never even knew existed.

So today, for International Women’s Day, here are 4 ways you can shine light on the beauty of God’s women in our world:

0. Encourage a Godly Man.

(I added this after realizing I tend to rant about terrible dirtbags, yet often neglect speaking words of encouragement to inspire more courage in the godly men who are already giving their time, talents, and treasure to causes greater than themselves. They are the unsung heroes who rebel against the low expectations we’ve normalized for “boys” in society today.)

This morning I sent personal text messages and emails to many of the godly men in my life who daily represent The Man Jesus by serving, loving, cherishing, protecting, and promoting the women in their lives and those who do not have godly men in their lives. They are faithful husbands, loving fathers, courageous leaders, wise teachers and coaches, generous volunteers, and hard workers. May their tribe increase, and may more women be served by more men in their image.

1. Sponsor a Woman Missionary.

For only $30/month (cutting out one restaurant meal a month could free up this much cash) can sponsor a woman missionary  through Gospel for Asia.  Consider: Over 50,000 female children are aborted every month in South Asia. Females are often the last to eat and the most likely to be illiterate. They’re the first to work as child laborers and sometimes even sold to become one of 1.2 million child prostitutes. As they grow they gain little respect. They live in the most unreached parts of the world—places that have yet to hear the Gospel. And many women cannot be approached by men due to cultural customs, making their slim chance of hearing the Gospel even slimmer. Gospel for Asia has a burden to reach them. We believe that uplifting the lives of these women is one of the most significant things that can come about to transform families and communities for Christ.

Today, if you will sponsor a woman missionary through GFA, we’ll send you a FREE copy of Half The Sky. Just email me your receipt (jeff at Godrenews dot us) and I’ll send you the book.

2. Watch the GIRL RISING trailer and request a screening in your city.

girl rising

WORLD VISION hosted Seattle’s red carpet premiere of this documentary last night, and Kari and I have requested to have a screening come in April to the Hilltop 9 theater in Oregon City. Go HERE to request a screening in your city (direct link here to pre-purchase a ticket; still need 100 people to “tip” it at the theatre near us) after watching the trailer:

3. Read Half The Sky.

half the sky No, it’s not a light read. No, you won’t fall asleep with warm, happy feelings in your heart. But I believe you will have a better understanding of this focused assault on women, and be encouraged and inspired to do whatever you can to share the love of Christ with women in the margins worldwide. From the far reaches of Cambodia to the neighbor woman right down your street. ALL women are worth of God’s love and special care.  It’s about $10 for the paperback on Amazon, with Kindle version about $12 and DVD about $15. Not a reader? Get the DVD and watch with the women in your life. Bring a tissue.

Or, better yet » hop back up to #1, sponsor a missionary and we’ll send you the book for free!

“We love because HE first loved us.”

—1 John 4:19 (about Jesus The Man)

—
My beautiful wife ends this with a word of thanks:

Thank you to all you beautiful woman (and fabulous men!) for spreading the light of Jesus Christ to the dark corners of the world. Let’s pray this International Women’s Day finds a few more girls rising in the light of His love … Thanks for reading.

Men, if you read it to the end, you’re awesome. Thank you.

 

Guys can be wise & generous with their money too. (Free ebook today.)

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Anticipating a few calls, talks and emails about my wife’s new book, Faithfully Frugal. I’m convinced it’s her best one yet, and yet it might cause a stir in your home. Maybe in your wallet.

Kari has the audacity to write about a taboo subject: money. Especially our relationship with money. It might cause some people to squirm. And … then … if they stick with it … to find happiness. Especially if a husband and wife team can get on the same page in their finances.

Faithfully Frugal

There are dozens of great resources out there on finding financial freedom and becoming savvy with your money. Take a course, buy an audiobook, create a budget, stick with it.

Yet, we see a gap between the “how to” of saving money and the “why” of being generous. Most courses and books seem to promise “more money for you,” as if keeping more of your money will ultimately make you happier. (And make God happier and proud of you.) Fear and pride go a long way to changing behavior, though they won’t producing lasting change, which must take root in the heart.

This isn’t a guilt trip. This isn’t a call to sell all you have and give all the proceeds to the poor (though Jesus told one guy to do just that). 1 You cannot save your soul by giving away all your stuff. At the same time, while you can’t buy happiness, I’m convinced you can give it away. That’s what Jesus did.

We intentionally went FREE with the releases of Plenty and Let in Light because we think the words carry weight. It seemed like both books were meant for the ladies (I guess Plenty clearly was, as the subtitle suggests: “31 Sips of Joy for Moms Everywhere.”) Even still, Faithfully Frugal, though foo-foo sounding, isn’t just for frugal moms everywhere.

Men, I implore you to read this book. At the very least, download it free today. (Works on Kindle AND any other computer or device.) If your wife brings up the subject, put on your work boots, pour a cup of black coffee, and listen to her. There’s something happening in the garden of her heart, and she wants a husband (literally, “gardener”) to tend it and help her grow.

I hope many men read this book.

In fact, it’s so short — though lacking pictures, sorry — you could read it in under a half hour. Great words packed into this tiny book. Like how they should “show DIY-manuals with pictures of people crying or punching holes in walls.” You might even laugh in that half hour. Yet the effect I hope it has on you will last far longer.

Maybe the retro cover is too feminine for you? 2

Men, if , try this man version…

Faithfully Frugal for Men

Think of the Capital One vikings running across it plundering and hollering, “What’s in your wallet?”

Better yet, “What’s in your heart?”

(It’s an e-book, so there’s no cover to hide in real life.)

Faithfully Frugal isn’t about penny-pinching. Not trying to be “penny wise” yet “pound foolish.” I promise there are no tips in there on hoarding coupons, though you could make your own laundry detergent (maybe), and certainly eat at home for less. Plus, invite others over and make a hospitable night of it.

The subtitle gives away the three big ideas: Spend Less, Give More, Live More.

The point is: when we intentionally look at our money as actually being God’s resources, and we move ourselves from greed toward generosity, we will find more freedom and joy than you ever imagined. Happiness cannot be bought, though it can be given.

Jesus, The Man, gave all He had. Let’s do the same, men.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
—2nd Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)

  1. I’m convinced if Jesus said those words to a woman she would have done it right away, all the way, and with a happy heart. And then asked what else she could do as she left all to follow the Master. In the real scene, the man walked away dejected. ↩
  2. (Thank you, Pepper, for creating the real retro cover.) ↩
 

The end of the world as we know it. (And the boy and I feel fine.)

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Take hope: even if the predictions aren’t true, it won’t be the end of the world.

It will be either mass hysteria or mass sarcasm today as the End of the World comes or passes on 12/21/12.

Whether it’s your last day or simply the first day of winter, let me be the first to mention Kari’s new ebook Plenty is free today for Kindle.

As for our family, 12/21/12 means celebrating the end of the world as we knew it six years ago.

20121221-061504.jpgThat day The Dutcher entered our lives, the boy with the Christmas Day due-date who showed his true colors in arriving four days early. Every since he’s been ahead of the curve. Until today 2012 has been marked by using fractions:

He was five-and-a-quarter by Spring…

became five-and-a-half in the Summer …

then five-and-three-quarters on the first day of Fall…

(and five-and-seven-eighths sometime in there…)

Is a full integer Six today.

LEGO Police Station 7498Our justice-loving boy has been hoping, waiting and asking all year to get the LEGO Police Station #7498. For ages 6-12. Did you read that? Six-to-Twelve!

Thankfully the boy has grandparents who listen well and give generously.

I haven’t had the talk with our son about the significance our society (and the ancient Mayans) placed on this date. He’s simply been learning to count in fractions on the way to whole numbers. No more decimals (for a day), no more fractions (for a season). The boy is an integer whole. Which, as he and I are both learning by experience, is like putting together the pieces of our brokenness on the way to integration — wholeness.

Sometime today this justice-loving father and son will talk about why his wanting to restore order and justice to the LEGO universe is a metaphor for the true Integral One, the Law-Giver and Mercy-Maker who personally came to right all wrongs. He will set everything right on the real Last Day. Everything sad will become untrue.

For starters he and I will busy ourselves building a three-story police station. Hauling off crooks to a holding cell, so they can consider the errors of their ways. Each will be treated with dignity, given a space to repent, and in the LEGO jail anthems of heaven will be happily pounded into their heads. Let’s start with the one our kids call “that whistle song.” Continue reading →

 

Speeding ahead, finding confidence, being protected.

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Last week Kari and I finished writing a letter to send to friends and family, including a little bit of an update on church planting with RENEW. Re-reading it yesterday caused me to pause and thank God, while considering the rapid change in our lives. This is a season of dynamic change, while other seasons are more like plodding or trudging through the mud. (Which season are you in? Are things moving fast, or really slow?)

I sat there and thought: “Who is up for this challenge? How can we not lose heart? We’re clearly not doing everything ‘right.’ No wonder most church plants ‘fail’ (on a human level). How can we gain the wisdom, generosity, courage we need for this journey?”

That’s a moment of searching for confidence.

Then this morning this Scripture leapt of the page:

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord [the Gospel] may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
—2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (ESV)

All those verbs Paul uses jump off the page (or screen): pray … speed ahead … delivered … establish you … guard you …

It’s remarkable how a passage meant to encourage it’s first readers can also encourage us, while not really being about them or us. It’s centered on Jesus, the Hero. We gain our significance from being minor characters in His big Story.

Will you pray that for us, as we pray the same for you?

20121129-061852.jpg If you are curious about RENEW, there are three main ways to support this pioneering church plant, described briefly here. One way is to give financially at the close of this year. We’ve simplified the process, adding online giving to snail mail to the PO Box. You can also sign up to receive not-more-than-monthly updates.

Most of all we ask for your prayers personally, that the Gospel would race ahead of us, and this would clearly be God’s work and not merely ours.

 

Dependurance: Hood to Coast.

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Hood to Coast is the largest relay in the world, spanning 199 miles from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast. It’s nicknamed “the mother of all relays.” Have you run it before?

A few weeks ago, while up early to go for a run, a new word popped in my head … dependurance. While I’m pretty sure it’s not a word, it does describe the season we’re in: depending upon God’s strength and love as we press on through.

Hood to Coast

As Kari notes, we have a few plans this weekend:

  1. Run a 200-mile relay
  2. Don’t sleep
  3. Attend 4 church services
  4. Attend a baptism
  5. Say goodbye to 1,500 people
  6. Host 40 people for a BBQ at our house

Kidding about the not sleeping part. (Kinda.) It’s ambitious, though it certainly isn’t sustainable. It’s the confluence of various plans, coming together over one big weekend. Glad we don’t have to do it all alone.

The idea of dependurance speaks to a larger theme in a life lived with God: He will take us through challenges insurmountable by ourselves. During those times especially we need running partners to spur on and to be spurred on by them. (The need is mutual.) Whether we’re running from a mount to the ocean, and more importantly when we’re aggressively confessing sin and repenting as we cling onto Christ and His promises, we must do life as a team.

Hood to Coast team 886Today Kari and I join ten others on a team simply hoping to finish; if you see us out there, we’re team #886, the “Gals ‘n’ Guys with Achin’ Thighs.”

Fourteen years ago I ran the “mother of all relays” with college friends, and this weekend get to revisit it with newer friends, all of us now married, most of us with kids. Looking forward to cheering on my wife and the rest of the team.

We’ve in Van 2. My legs are 9-21-33; Kari’s are 12-24-36. She’ll finish the race for our team, all of us (parking-and-logistics-permitting) hope to join her to cross the finish line together. Looking forward dependuring together.

(By some quick calculations my running pace will be 2-3 minutes slower per mile than back when I ran it with college fraternity brothers.)

#dependurance #htcrelay

 

On your mark … Get set … Go!

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Even when I knew it was coming, the starting gunshot was always startling. I suppose that’s the point—the loud crack splitting the air gives that rush of adrenalin that helps the runners race. At that point, there’s no use sitting around and contemplating the race ahead, how long it will take, how much it will hurt, how it will feel to finish.

At that point, all you do is run like crazy.

On June 16th, we heard God say, “Go!”

For about six months we’d sensed that change was ahead. We weren’t sure when, or even what, but kept praying that God would make it clear whenever He was ready, and that He’d give us the sense—the grace—to just obey whatever it was.

And He did. He made clear the when and the what, and although it wasn’t at all what I expected, I had been set in the tracks and waiting for the gunshot. We heard it loud and clear.

It was time to run.

In what direction? Kari fills in the details here…

 

What Drives Us? Pragmatism?

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Time for another installment of our What Drives Us series looking at why we do, think and feel the way we do. The core idea is this: we either make our decisions based on God’s promises in the Gospel, or on something else.

We’ve looked at Preference, Perfection, perhaps nothing (apathy), and Protection.

Now it’s time to get down to business with Pragmatism, the idea that as long as something works, it’s good. The end justifies the means.

Does Pragmatism drive you?

Let’s look at how this plays out in life.

Situation … response:

  • When all is well in my life … I must be doing things right, since everything’s working out well.
  • When trials enter my life … I will do whatever it takes to get the circumstances back to normal.
  • When I am criticized, I … think that I can do better if given more time or another set of resources.
  • My relationship with God … is a way for me to find significance.
  • Motivation: Desire to be great, be known.
  • When I sin … I remind myself that failure is inevitable since I attempt risky things for God. (For me sins are actions that fail to bring about the desired results.)
  • I trust … in the best methods known today, and will shift to new methods if they benefit me.
  • My greatest strengths/weaknesses are … my strength is I have a simple perspective on life; my weakness is that when things don’t go well I dwell on it.
  • My identity is found in … being effective, efficient and known.

Perhaps as you read this list not much seemed out of place. What’s the trouble with being a pragmatist? I mean, don’t we all want life to “work out” the way we dreamed?

In part, pragmatism is good, as is true with all the motivations explored so far. In life, we should be pragmatists about many things, like when shopping for cereal (which box is the most healthy, for the best price?), and exercise (just do it!).

Yet, as a philosophy-of-life, pragmatism simply does not work. It’s self-defeating, because no one can life solely on principles, even one so simple and streamlined as “do whatever works.” Unless one is convinced their pragmatic ways are incomplete, one will not see the need to change. We tend to see the need to change during times of trouble. An insurmountable obstacle in life comes along and one realizes he lacks the resources to overcome it.

Pragmatism doesn’t help the person who is at the end of themselves. And that’s a good thing.

What’s the antidote for our rampant pragmatism?

First, repent. The pragmatist does not worship God; he uses Him. Continue reading →

 

Why are some Christians such terrible people?

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“The Gospel is the power of God for the beginning, middle, and end of salvation. It is not merely what we need to proclaim to unbelievers; the Gospel also needs to permeate our entire Christian experience.”
—Jim Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as If the Church Mattered (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 27.

Why are their so many Christians who are simply terrible people?

Why the hypocrisy, the gossip, slander, selfishness and sin? Why are self-professing “Christian” businessmen often the most shady ones around? (And terrible drivers while supposedly donning His symbol.) Everywhere we look, it seems everyone lives the same way. Believers are no different, it seems, than the world in marital faithfulness, morality, and convictions. Perhaps you’ve heard of the genesis of the new hit TV show on ABC, GCB, the first two words standing for “Good Christian” and the third word will be up to your imagination [a friend’s take on it, with an answer to this same question].

How can someone claim to to know God, yet proceed to use people to their selfish ends? Indeed, the Apostles asked the same question.

This is the primary question I get asked when talking with people who don’t follow Jesus (and with those who claim they do). Across the board, everyone is perplexed by this. Sure, many ask why a good and loving God can allow so much suffering and evil in this world, and that’s a worthy question to wrestle with (and I have). I love wrestling with that question out loud with people, because it means we are thinking and feeling, and realizing we have very little capacity to change the evil in this world.

Back to the question at hand: Why are there so many bad Christians?

In politics and in war we like to separate people into two groups. Can you guess the two labels we give them?

Yep. The good side and the bad side. There are “good” people and there are “bad” people. We teach our kids this from the first day. Want to guess which side we are on?

So, we ask why do bad things happen to good people? It only happened once.

Let’s rearrange that question: Why do good people do so much bad?

Our hearts remain under the sway of sin until death, and even we who hope in Christ still fall prey to our sinful desires. That makes sense, and I get that. But, still, why are some people painfully unaware of their leachery?

Think of the good side and the bad side. We each have both. No one is all-good (except God), and few are all-bad. We’re a mixed bag, overestimating our good and underestimating our bad. When parents compensate for their kids laziness, greed, and waywardness by not confronting their kids or calling them to maturity, the people spirals out of control. . This happens in our homes and our broader society. That’s why when a lazy person gets let go from their job, he doesn’t get the clue that he was the problem. They were only downsizing, not needing that position” he thinks to himself. “My boss had it out for me from day one,” he reassures himself. It’s all their fault. Really? Perhaps there are situations where this happens, but when we encounter problem after problem, we must ask ourselves is “they” are really the problem. All my problems have one thing in common: me.

Consider the Story

A huge part of the problem is the story we’ve grown up believing. We’re told from infancy — at least here in the West — that everyone is amazing, that our independence is the main thing worth fighting for, and we can do anything we want with our lives! That’s Stuart Smalley’s schtick, but it must not be ours. Is everyone really amazing? If so, then why are we so upset when they appear to no longer be amazing? Let’s keep pretending we are good and do good. Let’s keep pretending that our personal freedoms merely empower us but don’t harm others when we live in greed. Let’s keep pretending that our affluence here in the West has not contributed to the poverty abroad. Let’s keep asking Jesus why He allows so much injustice and pain in this world, but not wait long enough for Him to ask us the same.

Let’s keep being proud and greedy, not calling each other on our foolishness.

Oh wait, that’s what got us into this problem in the first place.
Continue reading →

 

Just follow your heart map, right?

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“My heart is my map.

Turns out Tallahassee is about 200 miles inland, so I overshot a good amount.

But still not bad for a heart map, right?”

—Andy (The Office), in love with Erin, chasing after her all the way from Scranton, PA to Florida

20120329-080341.jpg

Arriving at Erin’s door, Andy confidently proclaims:

“I am here to take you back to Scranton, because I love you, and I want to be with you.”

Her response wasn’t what Andy anticipated.

He expected to win his girl, after months of ignoring her and pretending to not like her. So she moved on emotionally. Reminds me a fool I once knew (me).

“Andy, you broke my heart, and do you know what it feels like to be constantly rejected by you? … You broke my heart more recently and more often. And I guess at some point it clicked … that we’re not meant to be.”

Andy responds:

“I am so sorry that we have not loved each other at the same time.”

Fans of The Office know what “happened” next in that episode, and I won’t spoil it for you.

I don’t know what will come of Andy and Erin’s relationship, but I do know that when this fool was growing up into manhood he wasn’t quite in-tune with what God was telling Him when it came to his future wife. Thankfully, Providence is idiot-proof for all who follow Jesus.

 

Friday of Holy Week: It is finished.

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Kari continues writing meditations for each day of Holy Week…

Friday’s Reading: Matthew 26:47-27:51, Mark 14:43-15:38, Luke 22:47-23:49, John 18:3-19:37

“It is finished.”

—Jesus (John 19:30)

I clicked “send”, made sure it went through, then closed my laptop and exhaled in relief: Ahh…It’s finished. I’d been working on it night and day, and when I wasn’t working on it I was thinking about working on it. Ever been there? It’s not so much the time you spend working on something but the time you spend thinking about working on it. My mind and energies were depleted. As soon as the kids were settled for the afternoon, I crawled into my bed and took a nap, the first time I’d really rested that week.

I couldn’t rest until it was finished.

And as soon as it was, my whole body knew it. The sleep that had evaded me swept back all at once as I slept soundly despite the bright afternoon sun. The rest of knowing it is finished.

We rest because we know that it is finished.

Today, Good Friday, we meditate on Christ’s final words, His victorious cry from the cross of Calvary, the sacred words that fill my eyes with tears:

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

From eternity past Jesus had a project. Nothing surprises God, and it was not Plan B that Jesus had to die in our place. He knew all along, and Jesus knew all along that this was His project. In a divine sort of way, Jesus never rested. Until then.

Then He finished.

In one final surrendering act Jesus “gave up His spirit” and the full wrath of God was poured out on His sinless perfect lamb. All the punishment for my selfishness, my pride, my greed. All the punishment for the rapists and robbers, swindlers and sex-traffickers. The most heinous of crimes, He took the punishment. He laid down His spirit. Died.

But of course Sunday’s coming.

But here’s where I get excited. Do you know what Jesus did after He rose from the dead? After he appeared, bodily, to more than 500 people? After he gave the great commission and then ascended into heaven? Do you know what He did after that?

He sat down.

Why? Because it was finished.

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)

I took a nap. Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. His work was done. Finished. But here’s the beautiful part.
Continue reading →