Hope Hill Blog

This Lenten season has given me some time to reflect. In years past, I would sometimes give up something that I loved (that is, food) during Lent, but it was more a quasi religious self-improvement program than anything to do with the sacrifice of our Lord. Nowadays I...

Have you ever failed at something, or gone through something really hard, and yet come out on the other side feeling like it was all worthwhile? Researchers and experts say we learn more through failure and adversity than we do from success. Winston Churchill said,...

It’s below freezing outside as I write this, so it is with special interest that I notice John writes in chapter 10 verse 22 that it was winter. We don’t get many details like that in scripture, so the few that are included sound off like klaxons in the text, loudly...

In the busyness and general sparkly jolliness of the holiday season, it’s easy to forget that many, many people do not feel particularly merry. It could be they are missing a loved one, it could be they are struggling with addiction or besetting sin, it could be...

The story goes that a friend once asked the famous theologian Martin Luther what his plans were for the following day. Luther is said to have replied something to the effect of, “Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall...

After Jesus’ perfectly beautiful encounter with the woman in John 8, he tells her, “Go, and from now on sin no more.” So she starts going to church, tithes ten percent, volunteers at the animal shelter, always drives five miles under the speed limit, and lives a...

Have you ever seen a toddler throwing a temper tantrum? Odds are, if you have ever seen a toddler, then you have seen a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. They can come in a variety of flavors, but the general progression is as follows: Child asserts his/her...