The Gift That Keeps a Heart Soft
Barbara said it plainly: “Forgiveness doesn’t cancel consequences. It cancels your right to revenge.”
Don’t Negotiate with Temptation
Elijah said it without sugarcoating: forgiveness is wonderful—but it’s better not to sin in the first place.
Mothers Are Not Replaceable
“Elijah didn’t speak in slogans. “We’re going to pray for local, state, and federal authorities,” he said, “because God uses people, and people need wisdom when the trail is cold and the stakes are high.”
The Playlist of the Persecuted
“Let’s pray like we mean it.”
Elijah slid a napkin into the middle of the table and wrote four lines like he was driving nails into wood: protection, justice, courage for leaders, endurance for congregations.
The Therapeutic Gospel: Words We Use
“A feed can disciple you faster than the Word—if you let it.”
The Therapeutic Gospel: The Better Vocabulary
“Christians are not forbidden to seek help. But Christians are forbidden to replace God.”
The Therapeutic Gospel: The New Concordance
“The language of care becomes the language of authority.”
The Therapeutic Gospel: The Folder on the Table
“Barbara stepped inside with her scarf tucked neatly at her neck and a folder held close to her side like it mattered—not the frantic kind of ‘mattered,’ but the weighty kind.”
Where Did Common Sense Go?
If logic collapses in the culture, it won’t stay outside the church. It will seep in—until Christians start reading Scripture like headlines: fast, reactive, and without context.
The Whisper Tax
Barbara stirred her coffee slowly, watching the dark surface twist into circles. “That’s what slander does,” she said. “It doesn’t always explode. It just keeps stirring until everything gets cloudy.”