Ryan Bailey
“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” -Tim Keller This week a friend read a devotional in class using the story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus through a hole in the roof by his friends. It’s a story that’s familiar to all of us and we typically derive…
“I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.” -Walt Whitman This is going to be basic. It will be a review for many of you. But for some reason, my hard heart continues to sludge through the quicksand and act as if it has never heard this…
“It’s easier to bleed than sweat.” -Flannery O’Connor I read a great article this week about the lottery and how this record breaking amount brings out all sorts of things in people…One thing the article mentioned was how you wouldn’t want to be that guy in your office that opted out of the group pool only to seem…
“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.” -Henri Nouwen A new…
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -Jesus (John 8:12) There is something remarkable on the outskirts of Bethlehem. Just south of the small town, known more for who was born there, stands an impressive fortress, Herodium. It’s the highest point…
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” -BrenĂ© Brown Whether we are aware of it or not, we all hold power in our relationships. We have the power to make someone feel something about us (even if it is negative). We have the power to…
“The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting.” -Andy Warhol Every year, right when December 1st hits, I start to get excited. Christmas is my favorite holiday season and there is nothing better than it getting colder, days getting shorter, drinks getting warmer and the glow of lights going up in our neighborhood. Even…
“If thou art willing to suffer no adversity, how wilt thou be the friend of Christ?” -Thomas Ă Kempis I’m a planner. I like to make plans, I like when I’m in the process of fulfilling the plans, I like looking back on the plan and seeing that it was exactly what I expected. You would…
“We tend to perceive what we expect to perceive.” -David G. Martin In my reading this week I came across a short paragraph about pushing people toward experience. The quote above reflected one of the many ways we resist leaning into our experiences by relying more on our expectations and faulty perceptions. To prove this…
“You are wounded in relationships. You are healed in relationships.” -Dr. Jason Hayes My professor said this statement the other day in class as we were discussing how we experience brokenness in community. If I had it my way, community would only be about the good things: the ways I feel encouraged – the moments of fun…