April 27 The pursuit of happiness is even written into the DNA of America.  Way back in 1776, the Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 25 I love Derwin Gray.  He is a dear friend and cherished brother in Christ, but those things, as wonderful as they are, would not have wooed me out of foreword-writing retirement.  I accepted this privilege and carved out the space for three reasons.  First, this guy is one of the most effective Chrstian … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 23 As we learn these new ways to know God, it will change the way we talk about God…We won’t be able to talk about God without telling stories of how he met us in our ordinary days and our messy bodies and we lived him.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 197) Day 59 of … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 20 If you really believed the Spirit of the living God was at home in you, how would you live, right here, right now?  What’s the next good thing to do to move toward that kind of life?  Even if it makes you hesitate, could it be worth the risk?  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 19 I’m choosing to ask, “If I really believed the Spirit of the living God is at home in me, making me a child of God right now, how would I live?”  Can we handle the kind of intimacy described in Scripture?  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 191) Day 55 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 15 God is not surprised when we need something more than our own selves, and that is the whole foundation of the gospel.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 184) Day 51 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  The head of the UN World Food Program says that the people trapped in the port city of Mariupol … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 14 God is not that desperate king from “The Little Prince,” seeing every person as a potential subject.  Instead, God sees every person as a potential heir to his glory, a bearer of his vitality and creativity.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 182) Day 50 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  50 days of brutal conflict.  … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 11 God had refused to squeeze himself into my tiny imagination, so I finally had to confront the possibility that I was the one who needed to change.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 167) Day 47 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  As America begins the celebration of Easter week, here is an article documenting life … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 9 God did not forsake Jesus in his pain, and God does not forsake us in ours.  In fact, it’s possible that in pain we come to know him better than before.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 151) Day 45 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.  Russia’s latest atrocity in this deadly war is a missile … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion

April 7 Even if out of childlike obedience to the Spirit, we, like Jesus , are led to die social and emotional and relational and political and economic and existential and physical deaths, not one of those deaths is beyond the resurrection power of the Spirit.  (Smith, Mandy.  “Unfettered” pg 151) Day 43 of Russia’s … More Common Sense REBORN Devotion