Archives for February 2017

The goodness of the Lord gives us a reason to celebrate....

What do you do at the end of a great, good project? We’ve talked about building and rebuilding families, careers, homes, churches, and communities. But what happens next?...

If we were going to draw it into something like a formula, it might look like this: Committed Community + Generous God = Remarkable Results....

The whole community is blessed when someone is willing to step in and do the work no one else wants to do....

Those daughters of Shallum, those strong women, worked as hard as all of the rest of the men. And their work was noted both by Nehemiah and by God....

There is an intimate connection between your willingness to get your hands dirty and your ability to bless people....

Your particular part in God’s good work has not gone unnoticed by him....

Nehemiah’s testimony about God’s gracious hand at work for him gave the people the faith they needed to actively move into the future....

“We” creates space for “us.”...

Sometimes you need someone to tell you when you’re in trouble....

A patient due diligence process prepares us to step into the work we’ve been given to do in a knowledgeable, prepared way....

We live in an age that struggles with secrecy....

As people of faith, we don’t have to be afraid of planning. The same God who speeds and catches us when we take our leaps of faith can inspire and guide us when we plan....

The active, rough-and-tumble, dangerous phase of the Jerusalem rebuilding project was peppered with prayer. Connecting with God in prayer filled the beats between moments of action. ...

We often are only in touch with the surface of our desires. We rarely dive into their depths....

Fear is not the absence of faith. Even the faithful feel fear. Fear can serve us well, pushing us onto the path toward wisdom. But fear makes a terrible master....

We believe that the Lord still does this: he positions people perfectly to pursue their destiny. ...

You also can store up for yourself a supply of conviction about the Lord’s willingness to keep his promises....

Nehemiah’s willingness to identify himself with his broader family and community in confession positions him powerfully to lead his entire community in mission....

The Lord is present in our lives and history, whether the news is good or bad. When his people practice prayerful engagement, they discover that their activist God is already deeply engaged: bringing restoration, resisting evil, and generating hope....