Don’t Worry, God Wins

by Barb Roose | | 6 comments

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On my social media, it feels like I’m seeing a growing wave of anti-God and anti-Bible comments. In our post-Pandemic world, media outlets and pollsters confirm an increasing number of empty seats and a rise in the number of people who no longer believe in a sovereign God or that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

While we may look around and feel the decline of faith in our country, you may wonder if God is in heaven wringing His hands. Is He worried that His plan for humanity is falling apart? Is God concerned that He might be considered obsolete in our rebellious world?

Today’s truth in Psalm 2 reveals God’s response to our world’s repeated attempt to

Getting Spiritually Unstuck

by Barb Roose | | 5 comments

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On his way home from school, a young Russian boy noticed a lamb trapped head down in a drainage ditch. He went home and asked his mother to come back and help him get the stranded animal free. Azieva Radima went back to the trench with her son. As he worked to free the lamb, she pulled out her camera to capture the ordeal. It was a pretty good size lamb and the young man managed to pull the animal out of the narrow opening. Then, the freed lamb hopped away.

But three hops later, it dove headfirst right back into the ditch.

Millions of people around the world have laughed at Radima’s viral video about the lamb that immediately

Celebrating Your Security in Your Eternity

by Barb Roose | | 3 comments

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On a layover in Dallas, I settled into a seat to enjoy some chocolate frozen yogurt with chocolate-peanut butter candies on top. As I scooped the last bite of my treat, a gentleman sitting next to me asked how long our flight was delayed. I had to listen carefully to understand his Mexican-infused English. After I answered his question, he wanted to keep talking. Now, when one is in the airport, there are lots of topics that people can discuss. Usually, it’s our destination, travel nightmare stories or family. However, this man wanted to talk about something different. He wanted to talk about death.

He grabbed one of the two cell phones sitting in front of him to show

What’s Under God’s Giving Tree?

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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How do you arrange your Christmas gifts under the tree? After all, there are multiple strategies that must be considered! If you’ve got “shakers” in your family, you likely hide their gifts at the bottom of the pile. If you’ve got a “Snoopy,” like my kids, you probably keep those gifts undercover in a location that only Nancy Drew could find.

During my childhood, I described my Mom’s Christmas strategy as “Shock, Awe and Squishy.” She’d place my most-longed-for gift in front of the tree, usually unwrapped. Mom hovered by with her camera to capture the enraptured look on my stunned face.

Then, it was time for the squishy gifts. These were the lumpy, soft-wrapped packages that showed up every

Your Thanksgiving Love Challenge

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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A month after my dad died, my mom and I showed up to serve at our local shelter for un-housed individuals. We figured that serving others would help us navigate our grief, but I was uncomfortable because I worried about how I’d keep up conversations with the guests.

When we arrived, I gazed longingly over at the volunteers who stood behind the plexiglass and chafing dishes in their paper hats and plastic gloves. No awkward conversations or uncomfortable emotions, they simply scooped the food and sent the people on their way. As I settled at our assigned table, I knew that my fear of being uncomfortable may block me from seeing the God-potential of meeting new people and getting

Are You Obeying God with a Bad Attitude?

by Barb Roose | | 15 comments

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“Fine, God, I’ll do it!” After days of arguing with God about why He would ask me to go to the hospital to visit someone that I didn’t like, I finally went. As I rode in the elevator with a “I’m-a-good-Christian-woman” look on my face, there was nothing godly about what was simmering on the inside. I was madder than a millennial without a cellphone power cord. As I walked down the hallway, frustrated words escaped in a furious whisper, “God, why me? I really don’t want to do this.”

Can you relate? When’s the last time that you had a negative attitude to living out some aspect of your faith?

You resist forgiveness because you don’t think that it’s

Three Things to Do When You Find Yourself Judging Others

by Barb Roose | | 3 comments

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I shook the evidence of an addiction in front of a loved one’s face. In my fearful pursuit of confirmation, I weaponized the facts with cutting words and unkind opinions. While I had a right to be angry about the situation, I was completely wrong in how I addressed the struggle. Like a vengeful judge, I banged a self-righteous gavel atop my loved one’s heart until I felt like I’d gotten my point across. While I repented and apologized later, God used that terrible day to convict my heart of prejudicial thoughts and behaviors that often led to judging and thinking poorly of others.

God never calls us to give unconditional approval of sinful behavior. Yet harboring or communicating

God Knows How to Take Care of You

by Barb Roose | | 19 comments

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For years, I struggled with the anxious “what if’s,” so my solution was to buy lots of extras of anything and everything. My goal was to be prepared for any uncomfortable or uncertain situation that came my way. In fact, I had a magic three-word phrase that gave me permission: just in case. As I accumulated my just-in-case items like extra toiletries, kids’ clothes or snacks, I found a sense of security in those stockpiles. In fact, those extras propped up the illusion that I had control over my life. Yet, I didn’t actually have control, I just had a closet that was full of stuff and a heart that was full of anxiety and fear.

When

Every Little Bit Matters

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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“Daddy, why do you do that every day?”

After working his 12-hour shift, one of my dad’s first stops after work was to drop his spare pocket change into a large cardboard Tootsie Roll bank on his dresser. As a little kid, it was one of my favorite moments each day. Sometimes, he’d let me drop a few coins through the slot and he’d smile as the metal coins clinked together. Periodically, he’d remind me why he made that coin drop each day: “I’m saving for summertime, sweetheart.”

We only went on a few family vacations during my childhood, but my parents always made sure that we’d visit the large amusement park near our home once or twice a summer.

Don’t Let the World Hold You Down

by Barb Roose | | 9 comments

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One summer, my grandmother placed a book on top of my head and ordered me to start walking. I’d had a growth spurt that summer and my grandmother often remarked that she never wanted me to be tall like her. As an unusually tall Southern-born, African-American woman, my grandmother grew up at a time when shorter, smaller black women were deemed less threatening and more employable. Even though times had changed, my grandmother was still wary of the world that I would grow up in. She told me, “If you’re going to be tall, then you need to learn how to hold your head up high.”

I spent that summer walking back and forth in my grandmother’s living room

Letting Go of Envy

by Barb Roose | | 13 comments

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During my divorce, I withdrew from a few of my longtime friends. These precious women had stood by my side throughout years of difficulty and pain. They were my people. Yet, I pulled away.

In that painful season, the “green-eyed monster” of envy was eating me alive. I wept and admitted to my counselor that I was envious that my friends were still married to their husbands while mine walked away. It hurt to watch them enjoy the empty nest season with their spouses while I was starting a new season of life alone.

During that tough time, envy seeped into other areas, too. On social media, I dreaded seeing pictures of couples celebrating anniversaries or vacations. I struggled through

Skydiving with Jesus

by Barb Roose | | 14 comments

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During a Monday morning planning meeting, I was given two choices: pet a tarantula or jump out of an airplane. I picked jumping out of an airplane because I am that afraid of spiders! Which one would you choose?

The next morning, I drove across my home state with two co-workers to go skydiving. As I passed the highway exit near my hometown, I considered giving my parents a call. However, wisdom, or maybe self-preservation, prevailed. I figured that if I didn’t die skydiving, my mother would surely kill me to keep me from jumping out of the plane.

After I arrived, the training staff taught us the basics of how to jump and how parachutes worked. I appreciated the

Loving Others Well During Hard Conversations

by Barb Roose | | 11 comments

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A ministry leader contacted me about someone on our volunteer team who had fallen into sin due to a personal decision. It seemed to me that the best way to handle it was to send an email saying: “Hey, you know that’s not good. Stop doing that. Get it together.” But rather than shoot off an email with threats or requiring a behavior change, I set up a face-to-face meeting. I sat on my sofa and asked the person a series of questions that conveyed I cared about what was going on in her life, not just the situation.

Over the years, God has taught me that my first responsibility is to love, not finger-pointing or judgment. The goal

Relieving the Stress of Your Uncertainty

by Barb Roose | | 7 comments

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Remember when television shows used to have cliffhanger episodes at the end of each season? There were infamous cliffhangers like Who shot JR? Would Ross marry Rachel? I remember impatiently waiting and wondering all summer long to find out the answers during the fall season premiere.

We have streaming media these days, so we no longer have to wait for television shows, but our lives still have cliffhangers, don’t they? Times when we’re waiting on God to relieve the stress and pressure of our uncertainty:

God, can you just tell me if my mom will survive her cancer?

God, when will we get on the other side of this financial hardship?

God, will I ever meet the person who will love me

Letting Go of Rejection

by Barb Roose | | 7 comments

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When Lara was taken by ambulance to the hospital for a suspected stroke, her husband called her adult daughter to let her know. Lara’s daughter said that she’d heard about the stroke but she wasn’t coming to the hospital. A few months later, Lara was at the grocery store and saw her daughter pushing a cart down the same aisle. As soon as her daughter looked up and saw Lara, the daughter wheeled her cart around and went the other direction.

As Lara wept in deep heartache, she wondered, where did I go wrong? Why doesn’t she want me to be a part of her life?

Rejection. It is so painful, isn’t it? Even if you know why someone ended

One Christ, Many Colors

by Barb Roose | | 26 comments

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Close your eyes for a moment and picture who you will see in heaven. Perhaps you’ll see the face of that beloved grandma who prayed for your salvation or the women from your Bible study. You know who else you’ll see in heaven? Jesus, loving people from all different colors and cultures, many who will look nothing like you. Yet, in eternity we’ll stand unified worshipping God together and proclaiming His name with one voice.

If we’re going to worship God with one voice for all eternity, what is keeping us from worshipping and serving God with that kind of unity today?

One of the most uncomfortable barriers to our unity as believers in Christ is the topic of race.

Are You Tired of Trying to Fix It?

by Barb Roose | | 27 comments

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Many years ago, I reluctantly attended my first family member addiction recovery support group. I’d spent years trying to fix an addiction issue in my family, even forcing solutions when necessary. Nothing worked, but that didn’t stop me from trying harder. As my mind spun with hundreds of worried worst-case scenarios, I doubled down with begging, bargaining and at times, a barrage of angry words. As our family situation declined, I became desperate.I was losing hope fast.

While we like to think that hope is found in a happy ending, Today’s Truth illuminates the path to hope. It’s a progression that one scholar calls the “Golden Chain of Christian Growth and Maturity.” As the Apostle Paul defines the progression

When You’re Grumpy with God Over What You Haven’t Gotten

by Barb Roose | | 10 comments

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When am I finally going to get what I deserve?

Maybe you’ve muttered those words under your breath while reading an email from your boss. Perhaps you’ve spat those words out in anger after a visit with your parents or your kids. You feel like you’ve bent over backward, but you still don’t feel appreciated, even though you put in the time, effort, or energy to earn it.

One summer, my youngest daughter worked on the restaurant staff at a dream destination theme park. She called home to express frustration with customers who yelled and even bullied restaurant employees when a ketchup container was empty, or an ordered sandwich was missing bacon. She remarked that customers justified their rude behavior

Have Mercy on Me, God!

by Barb Roose | | 8 comments

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During my college years, I lived like a prodigal. Even though I knew that I was chasing my own selfish desires, I pushed aside the shame and guilt by distracting myself with the next party. I pretended that everything was fun and great until I crashed and burned. On the day when I realized that I’d messed up my life far beyond my ability to fix it, I feared that God wouldn’t want me anymore after what I’d done. I was too ashamed to read my Bible or even consider going back to church.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector “to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked

Tearing Up My “Good” Christian Recipe Card

by Barb Roose | | 10 comments

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For many years, I treated my faith like I was cooking dinner in the kitchen. Here’s what my Christian life recipe looked like for many years:

1 c. weekly church attendance

1 c. daily Bible study

1 c. volunteering (or 2 c. if pressured to do more)

1 c. Bible study group (sometimes a seasonal ingredient)

1 c. offering (or a dash if money is tight)

1 c. prayer (add more if you gossip, lie or occasionally swear)

1 c. good intentions

Directions: Mix together each week on your calendar. Substitute guilt for any missing ingredients. Pour generous amounts of worship music over the top to cover for anything that might be outdated or less than fresh. Finally, serve with a Sunday smile.

For years, I felt

Helping Others Without Hurting Yourself

by Barb Roose | | 9 comments

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While walking at a park, a couple in front of me abruptly stepped off the path. The woman reached down to take off her shoe and held onto the man for stability.  It only took her a few seconds for her to pluck out the rock and then she held onto him again as put her shoe back on.

As I watched that little scene unfold, I’m reminded of the times when I’ve been like that woman with something in my life that caused me discomfort or pain. I’ve felt emotional stones in my life such as depression, anxiety, control issues, anger, and disappointment. Emotional stones hurt! But it’s much harder to remove our emotional, spiritual, or relational stones

Finding Freedom from the Religious Rules-Police

by Barb Roose | | 19 comments

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When I grew up in the church during the 1980’s, my grandmother and her friends hid a shocking secret underneath their fabulous Sunday hats. Those elegant hats were adorned with fluffy feathers, giant bows, and decorative nets. They anchored those hats to their heads with a legion of bobby pins just in case they felt like jumping up and down as the gospel music started to “get good.” So, what was their secret? My grandma and her friends didn’t style their hair underneath their hats! In time, those hats became a symbol of the kind of Christianity that I witnessed and lived much of my early life: Your life might be a mess on the inside, but as