Author: Betty-Anne Van Rees

Discord in Our Church Families: Moving Forward When We Disagree

Discord in Our Church Families: Moving Forward When We Disagree

Posted by | Sep 22, 2022 | |

It’s been a trying season relationally. Issues have touched us in tender places, having a personal impact and eliciting deep emotions. As we are prone to, we have often responded out of those deep emotions, and the relational fallout has been significant. Reparation is needed; new pathways of trust and love and grace will need to be forged. But this is not all bad. God has gifts for us in these realities if we are willing to receive them. Continue Reading →

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A Conversation with God for the Doubter in All of Us

A Conversation with God for the Doubter in All of Us

Posted by | Jun 8, 2022 | |

On a dark night in Jerusalem a couple thousand years ago, a doubter looking for answers made arrangements for a clandestine meeting with Jesus. “It seems like you are from God, but it’s hard to believe.” Jesus answered that doubter with these words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). As is often the case, Jesus’ words did not bring clarity but more questions. “How can this be?” Jesus replied, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony” (John 3:10-11). I can imagine Nicodemus thinking, I’m trying, but it’s really hard to understand. Continue Reading →

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Finishing Faithfully

Finishing Faithfully

Posted by | Mar 7, 2022 | |

Not all of us know when we are nearing the end of our lives in the same way Moses did, but the reality is, not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. So in some sense, there is wisdom in living every day with the intention of finishing faithfully. Moses served the Lord unwaveringly for 40 years, leading God’s people through life in the wilderness to His promise, but he knew he was not to enter the Promised Land with them. Moses is not the only example of finishing well we could look to, but he is a good one. Continue Reading →

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Celebrations in the Valley: Navigating Christmas with a Heavy Heart

Celebrations in the Valley: Navigating Christmas with a Heavy Heart

Posted by | Dec 1, 2021 | |

The holiday season is fast approaching, although it might be more fitting for many this year to say it’s encroaching—impinging, intruding, barging in, imposing itself. After a year overrun with expansive sorrow, the thought of “Christmas cheer” rings hollow. Even the message of the angel to a group of bewildered shepherds on a hill outside Bethlehem, “I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10), seems to promise more than we can believe possible. Continue Reading →

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Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

Posted by | Sep 6, 2021 | |

So many lives I enter in my counseling relationships have been shaped by an understanding of the nature of God that is, quite frankly, not His nature. They cower in fear under the glare of a finger-wagging “god” who is condemning, exacting, and unapproachable. When they open their Bible to read, or when others open it to speak into their lives, they hear something other than the voice of God. Yes, they are God’s words, but they don’t mean to them what He means. Continue Reading →

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