One of the greatest struggles of my faith journey has been learning to hold two truths together that can sometimes feel impossible to reconcile. God is bigger than I could ever comprehend, the Creator and Sustainer of everything I can see and everything I cannot. Yet somehow, in the middle of all that vastness, my pain still matters to Him. I have wrestled with that in some deeply painful moments. I remember   losing   a friend who dropped dead in front of me, and the profound grief of realizing how fragile life can be. In moments like that, it is easy to wonder how the God who holds the universe together could possibly be present in the pain unfolding in one small human life. Psalm 147 gives us a breathtaking answer. The God who counts and names the stars is also the God who heals broken hearts. His greatness does not make Him distant from our pain. In fact, this psalm reveals that His power and His compassion are deeply connected. But as I have spent more time sitting...

  When I refer to the Messy Middle, I am referencing the space between the now and yet still to come promises of the Gospel. Think of it as that place where the holiness of the divine creator intersects with the lived experience of the sacred creation. It is this foundational belief that deeply influences my ministry philosophy and drives my purpose as a Pastor. Imagine the beauty of this messy space as the fulfillment of the account told in Matthew 22:36-40  Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The Messy Middle is the space where love of God becomes love of neighbor. Every neighbor! It is essential that we employ this filter because Jesus clearly stated ALL of scripture, both old...