Another one bites the dust

[Happy Easter, y'all!]

I just found this (sad!) on Reddit Reformed: What happened to my conviction and love for God?

Reformedhabeshagirl said:

Hello brothers and sisters

I have always been a Christian and grew up fearing the Lord. I remember being convicted about my sins as young as 7 or 8 years old. I became Reformed around age 17 and I am 23 now. I have always been a repentant believer. My heart used to break when I sinned, and I love the Lord. I studied my Bible a lot, prayed often, and was very interested in theology, sermons, and everything related to faith.

The problem is that my heart has lost all desire for the things I used to love. I stopped listening to sermons and I don’t want to study my Bible anymore. Any interest I had in Bible study or discussions about the Lord only came when my ex-boyfriend shared things with me every day or when it came from my pastor every Sunday. Now my heart feels hard. I am not convicted about the things I used to mourn over.

I distanced myself from my amazing best friend and mentor who helped me grow so much in my faith and in my understanding of sin. I broke up with my boyfriend, and now I don’t even feel anything about it. I know he would be the best husband in the world and that I’m missing out, but I’m still not sad about it.

I’m not sad about not praying or studying the Bible anymore. I’m not interested in anything at all.  I feel numb and emotionless.

I’m starting to think that maybe I was never saved, since I firmly believe that salvation cannot be lost. But if I was never saved, why did I feel all those convictions before? Now I don’t care about any of it. I want to care again. I want to miss the Lord like I used to, but I have no interest at all.

Am I lost?

Hardest Spiritual Lesson #9: Humility and Brokenness

The last of the "Hardest Spiritual Lessons" posts: 

Humility and Brokenness

White horses and a cup of tea (part 2: A theme)

(picking up where we left off in part 1...)

And that brings us to this year.  This year I wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions.  I was like "meh, who cares?"

But then, two things grew naturally in my mind, goals for this year.  (The first one will take three posts, and then I'll share the second one after that.)

(Plus, I think I'll keep trying the "talk less, listen more" resolution, too.  I could always use more of that.  And I think I'll add "try to stop speaking negative things."  That won't be easy.  I do far too much of that.):

A Theme: 

This is going to be my "white horse" year.  

"What's a 'white horse'?" you ask.  

Well, I'm glad you asked.  I'll tell you.  

Another great sermon: What if love meant more than you thought?

Before I get to part 2 of "White Horses and a cup of tea," here's another great sermon from Willow Creek (they're on a roll): 

What If Love Meant More Than You Thought?

A sermon like this is especially needed in this "outrage culture" where people spend their days looking for things to be angry about, for people to lash out at.  Ugh.

But there's a better way.  It doesn't have to be like this.  We don't have to let the news and social media lure us into an ever-increasing spiral of hopelessness and discouragement, antagonizing us into hating life and everyone around us.

White horses and a cup of tea (part 1)

I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions.  I mean I do sometimes, but I don't really see the point because they never last.  It's often more fun making the resolution than keeping the resolution, isn't it?  And so what started out as a grand idea on January 1st becomes a grand flop by January 31st.  We can waste more time planning and daydreaming about our resolutions than actually doing them, am I right?😁  

(Besides, if it's important enough, we'll do whatever it is when we're motivated enough to do it, regardless of the time of year.)  

And so instead of any grand resolutions these past several years, I've been trying to think of more light-hearted things to "resolve" to do throughout the year, relaxing things.  

Who says resolutions have to be lofty or serious anyway?

Such as these resolutions from the past several years:

A great sermon to start 2026

I watched this online Willow Creek sermon yesterday from a new series called The Jesus Way, about the Sermon on the Mount... and I just gotta share it because I haven't heard a sermon this good in awhile.  In fact, it's one of the best I've heard in a long time.  A great way to start 2026!  

Maybe it just said what I needed to hear at this point in my life.  Maybe it won't speak to you the same way.  But, who knows, maybe it will.  Give it a try.  What've you got to lose?