Expectations | When Things Go Wrong

John Rice May 22, 2026

This blog series is for the moments when it seems like God must have misheard our prayers. When we come expectantly to the feet of Jesus and leave confused, disappointed or angry. And also, for the moments that God surprises us in the moment or in a later season with an answer we wouldn’t have dreamed of. Join the CitySalt blog team as we explore missed expectations, sovereign surprises and the practice of holding ourselves open to God’s plan.

I’d be willing to bet that every follower of Jesus who has ever lived has had to deal with unmet expectations at one time or another. How can I be so certain of that? Well, one place to start is simply that God is God and we are human. Even though the Bible teaches us that we humans are made in the image of God, we aren’t the all-knowing and all-powerful Creator who brought all things into being. And there’s the rub. We can have all the faith in the world and say all the “right” prayers, and still not get the answers to those prayers exactly like we wanted. In fact, sometimes the answers to our prayers are nowhere near what we wanted, possibly even the opposite of what we wanted!

The Scripture that first helped open my eyes to this dilemma is found in Luke 22:42. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples, just before his arrest, and he is praying to his Father about his coming torture and death. He says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” This is really amazing when you think of it. This is the Jesus who has performed many miracles and could certainly have escaped the soldiers in the Garden if he chose to. His desire was to get out of this trap. He, of all people, would have prayed with all faith that God would save him. But we see the astounding humility of God’s own Son when he acknowledges that the Father’s ways are higher than our ways. God knows things that we don’t.

Many years ago I heard it taught once that we shouldn’t add “but your will, not mine, be done” to the end of our prayers because that indicates a lack of faith. Well, if it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!

There are plenty of Scriptures which encourage us to pray and that promise us that God hears our prayers and answers them. For example, Matthew 7:7-8 says “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, the door will be opened to him.” What we don’t know is exactly the kind of requests Jesus is referring to here. But what we do know is that we don’t always get what we’re asking for and so we’re still left with the paradox.

The Scriptures that have been most helpful to me with this problem of expectations (or “Do we always get what we pray for?”) have to do with God’s promise to always be with us.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them (your enemies), for the
Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.

Joshua 1:5
As I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’

I remember as a young follower of Jesus, I was led to believe that life would run smoothly and favorably for me as long as I stayed close to God and prayed to him. But as life moved on, I realized this was not true! Sometimes life got extremely hard and dark and my prayers weren’t answered at all like I’d hoped. That’s when I realized how close God was to me through all the hardship and darkness. His presence was extremely helpful, comforting and encouraging. There’s such a temptation to blame God during these times, but that is so missing the point! God doesn’t always stop the storm, but he walks with you through it. That does something inside you, in your soul, that is priceless and eternal.

When speaking to Moses and Joshua, as mentioned above, God doesn’t promise to remove all of Israel’s enemies ahead of them so that they’d have easy passage. He could have done that, but for whatever reason he chose to allow the Israelites to struggle through the difficult adversity awaiting them. His promise was he’d always be with them, strengthening them and giving them wisdom and confidence.

So when things go rough for me now, I quickly look for God nearby. I ask, “Where are you? I know you’re here! What should I do, Lord? Thank you for never leaving me!” And this makes all the difference!

About the Author

John lives in Pleasant Hill with his dog, Gunnar, and a multitude of guests who enjoy the peace and beauty of the Cascade foothills. With three children and three grandchildren all living in Oregon, he is continually blessed with their company and the good food that always accompanies their get-togethers!

Learning to Pray | Life is Daily

Darla Beardsley April 24, 2026

You know how sometimes you can’t remember what you had for dinner last night or what your spouse told you they had going today? Then again, some things stick with you for life. I remember years and years ago a pastor at Faith Center at the time, Ted Roberts told me, “Life is daily.” I don’t even remember what in the conversation prompted that comment or why it was profound enough to stick with me all this time. Most likely because it is true. We have hard days and good days; we have confusion and “aha” moments; we have deep sorrow and unbelievable joy. And frankly, everything in between. Time marches on.

I think faith and prayer are also daily.

Sometimes I pray and immediately that prayer is answered and I know it was the Lord. Sometimes it is not so immediate, but I do see God working and over a short period of time, I experience what I believe is God's answer. The answer is not always, “Yes and Amen!” But at the same time His answers bring provision and great blessing…even if they take longer then what I was hoping for :-)

One day I was praying and the Lord brought to mind an image of a landscape of hard packed soil. Have you ever tried to start a garden in hard packed soil? Packed earth can be solid as rock especially if it has continuously been walked on and packed down over a long time with little water. Even with a shovel, a hoe or a pick axe, it takes time and backbreaking work to break it up so that something can be planted in it. Sometimes you have to call in the big equipment and healthy replacement soil.

Some areas of our lives and the lives of others are like this. Hard packed hurts, trauma or areas of sin are not conquered overnight. Coping mechanisms that humans adopt to help them along in life’s seasons are not always healthy and can get so reinforced by habit that we don’t even realise that we are still using them long after the circumstance that prompted them has passed.

It is not uncommon for me to get mad at myself if I struggle with the same issue over and over again. Sometimes I get frustrated or mad at God if prayers seem to go unanswered… and time marches on. I think the Lord shared the packed earth image with me to remind me that there is a lot going on in my life and the life of others that I don’t recognize. Maybe the soil is packed in hard! Perhaps there is soil being tilled, watering going on, or new soil being brought in, before the ground can be productive and healthy again and God can even consider planting something in it. It doesn’t happen overnight. It might require rain, digging, worms, seasons of rest and who knows what to make this part of life healthy again.

Not that this answers all my questions about prayer, but I think it is something worth considering if we are frustrated with ourselves or God. There is so much more to life and to God then we can take in. It is just possible that something that we pray for and are sure we have the best answer for…we don’t. If I consider prayer to be talking with the Lord, then it is about getting to know Him or Her better as well as and even more so than ‘getting what I want’. When I am confused by something I thought I knew about God, instead of panicking, I like to look at it as an opportunity to get to know Him better. Prayer and listening open the door for that.

Pastor Aaron reminded us this last Sunday that Jesus’ love isn’t something that we receive once and done. We get to be open to receiving it again and again. Hopefully daily and moment by moment!

A side note:
I want to leave you with another practice that I feel the Lord has invited me to in a season when the world seems to offer so many things to discourage us. If something happens that gives you joy, take a moment (or 5) to soak in it. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. More likely it may be small and easily overlooked. What started it for me was a friend giving me a little yarn pumpkin she made with a stick of cinnamon for its stem. It smelled sooo goood! So I took some time to delight in the aroma. It could be lingering in a warm shower an extra 5 minutes or walking your dog in the sunshine, or curling up with a cat in your lap or so many different things. Cr-p happens. But so do incredible life moments! Less than pleasant moments in life seem to scream at us. Invite the moments of JOY to SING!

John 16:32-33 NKJV
Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Philippians 4:4-9 NKJV
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

About the Author

Darla is a creative at heart, and a communicator by nature and trade. It is her goal in life to love God and love people at which she has varying degrees of success. The Lord has gifted her with an amazing husband and partner in life who is a source of great support and encouragement. She is grateful for her family and her church.

Learning to Pray | A Quiet Moment

Jessie Carter April 10, 2026

In a past post, I’ve mentioned having done a study of the short writing “Practicing the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. (If you haven’t read it yet, find it online. It’s very old and still very relevant.) This last fall, I went back to teaching at my old military-ish school, and finding quiet time has been a challenge. And when I say “quiet time,” I don’t just mean official prayer/devotional time. I mean that my life (between teaching kids and having 5 kids at home) is literally noisy. I don’t even want to listen to audio books or podcasts while washing dishes or driving home from work. My brain craves an actual break from hearing words.

But God has given me an interesting gift: an annoyingly quiet minute or two at the same time every weekday. Every morning, the whole school gets quiet as we solemnly wait for the “colors” (flag-raising process) to happen. We’re in the gym grouped up in our little homeroom platoons, standing at the position of attention until the order is given to salute. Sometimes it takes a while. It’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I see the 7th graders facing me from across the gym and try not to yawn when I see them yawn.

I used to dread that time of day. Most of the kids probably do. Squirrelly 6th graders trying not to move? Good luck! Even my 11th & 12th grade homeroom kids have a hard time! But one day, I realized what a gift that minute or two is. Peaceful quiet. Some might say it’s a good time to practice mindfulness before the craziness of the school day. I hope many of the kids think of it that way. But I decided to take it a step further.

Nowadays, when we all go to the position of attention and await the order to salute and the sound of the bugle, I take that time to pray. I pray for the day ahead: for the safety of the school, for the welfare of the students, for me to teach well, etc. Even though things don’t always go well (we live in a broken world, and God is not a genie that just grants magical wishes), I always feel a bit more at peace after praying. It reminds me that no matter what happens, God is with us.

I save the bigger prayers for Wednesdays, when a colleague and I meet up outside of school hours to pray. This is when we pray for the bigger student needs, bigger school needs, our own families, and heck, we pray for the whole world while we’re at it, because it’s a hot mess right now.

Would you join me in these prayers? For hope and peace/safety in our world, country, state, community, families, schools, and in the hearts of kids. Thank you.

Psalm 46:10 NKJV
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

About the Author

Jessie is a novice writer, with several books in various stages and a blog about travel and the journeys of women. She is very excited to be a part of the CitySalt blog team. She has been blessed by a few communities of Christian writers that have encouraged her dream. She lives with her sweet husband, Chris, their 5 funny kids, and 1 fluffy cat in Springfield. She loves hiking and other outdoor and indoor adventures with her family.

Saved Once and For All

Terry Sheldon March 27, 2026

"Jesus Saves ... Green Stamps"

In obvious bad taste, this cynical but funny line caught my expanding junior high world view back in the 70s. For me raised in the church, it was certainly irreverent.

Being saved was absolutely central to my faith. I learned about salvation from a very young age and it was something that religious people around me never questioned, in any detail whatsoever.

Mostly out of fear, unfortunately.

Modern Christianity’s version of salvation is a big event - releasing us from sin once and for all. Also a big production following a fiery sermon with dramatic and pleading music. And for an impressionable and conscientious young man, it all seemed epic! I experienced many, many altar calls in churches and camp meetings over the years, but unfortunately they didn’t seem to stick. The promises were plentiful but the payoffs were not.

Why? I did not know.

We were told to confess. I confessed. Told to repent. I repented. But in Romans 7:15 the Apostle Paul echoes an all-too-common frustration with believers everywhere: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."

And the nuts and bolts of trying harder to be good aside, I just didn't feel saved! My friends around me would share their testimonies, tales of pain, longing and moral failure - turned into victory! Were they exaggerating? They talked of a transcendent moment of change, the amazing feeling of being filled with the Spirit of the living God. When hearing the sermons and singing the songs, I felt good, but for me it certainly wasn't as advertised.

It still felt hollow.

And then came the distractions of everyday life - schooling, jobs, a wife and kids - a real time pressure cooker. I needed a release! Getting saved was a distant, cloudy memory. My present took all of my attention, as my faith wavered.

Back to church again and again, once a week or more, chasing a deeper feeling, or any feeling at all.

Oh yes my brother and my sister, I had "those backsliding blues", according to a hip Christian band. But the lyrics confused me. Backsliding from what? My sin? I thought Jesus took care of it once and for all. He sighed a great sigh on the cross and exclaimed with his last breath "It is finished", right?

It certainly didn't feel like it.

But as I've matured over the years in my faith and as an adult, salvation has taken on an expanded meaning. Yes we are saved from our sins (which simply means "missing the mark"), but mostly we're saved from ourselves, our mistakes in judgment, our insecure reactions aimed at people we love, and our self-centered pride.

It all started with the word being.

Fast-forward many years now, and I'm transformed! I was supposed to be saved, but now I understand being saved. That little word now speaks volumes to this more mature believer. Salvation wasn't ever simply a single event, it's a lifetime of events.

So what are my events? It's really quite simple. Everything (is spiritual) - a common theme in most of author Richard Rohr's books, especially in The Divine Dance. God shows up and speaks to us in a million ways and through everyone we touch, through our own cadence of time (even through Dave, my daughter's sweet and crazy Australian shepherd). The Trinity's presence occupies our life's pleasures and its pains (usually more in our pains).

Yes, my initial salvation was real, but that altar call was only the first of thousands of salvations - more and more transformative moments happened as I simply said YES in the moment.

Jesus really did finish it all. But the business of ongoing change is now a shared, pleasurable and cooperative dance. No more heart-wrecking guilt, fear and shame. Just peace - the one that really does pass all understanding.

I've been born again, again.

About the Author

Terry is a man in constant motion to explore new horizons. He has a thirst for new places and faces, and a deep love for the natural world - with a weakness for waterfalls and sunsets. All of this venturing out helps to both ground and inspire him, because it opens him up to people, with their vast, collective array of experiences, outlooks and responses.

He finds all of this fascinating and sees that it has encouraged the growth of something crucial in his Christian development: empathy and compassion toward his brothers and sisters on this planet.

Learning to Pray | What is Prayer? You tell me!

John Rice March 13, 2026

Following CitySalt’s recent sermon series on prayer, the blog team is leaning in to share our own perspectives and learnings on the topic. Join us as we explore personal discoveries of what prayer is and what it was never intended to be, and we pursue deeper alignment with how God invites us to communicate with him.

As a kid growing up in an Episcopalian home, I learned two prayers. Not more, not less, not ever venturing off into the unknown of conversational prayer. Rote. Memorized. Genuine, I think, but said so often that you didn’t really need to think about what you were praying. One was said before supper and this prayer was always said by my father. It went, “Please God bless this food to our use and us to Thy service, for Christ’s sake. Amen.” Nice. Short. No real thanks for the food, but hoping that it might help us be healthy so we could serve God (who knew what that meant?!). The second prayer was at bedtime when we were taught to pray for ourselves, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Oh, Lordy. Every night we reminded ourselves that we were going to die, and maybe it’s even tonight! I guess you could call that a fear-based prayer.

The next prayer I learned before my full confirmation into God’s Episcopal family was the Lord’s Prayer. Again, memorized and kind of rote, but beautiful and meaningful nonetheless. The “Our Father…”, I’m sure you all know this one so I won’t repeat it.

So these are what I thought of as prayer until I was 18 years old when I was introduced to the living Jesus, accepted him and started to go to church to learn more about him. Pretty quickly I entered the world where you asked God for things: if you needed something (more money) or hoped for a certain outcome (a passing grade in your Math class) or wanted your sick friend or grandmother to be healed (from anything from a cold to a deadly disease). These prayers were based on scriptures like:

Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Mark 11:23
I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

James 5:16
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

These are the kinds of prayers I prayed until reading a book in the 1990’s entitled Listening Prayer by Leanne Payne. Learning and practicing prayers that weren’t necessarily about asking God for something (though that could still be part of it), my wife and I started to expect God to speak to us if we only would wait and actually listen for a response. This was a radical shift and greatly increased our faith in, and closeness to, God. This expanded our awareness of God’s presence with us at all times and all places. This kind of prayer, added to the intercessory kind, established a genuine conversation with God. It was a wonderful revelation! But I remember one time long after we’d been practicing this kind of listening prayer, when I asked God for his council on something and I was waiting to hear his answer. What I heard him say to me was, “Well, what do YOU think😊”. I include a smiley face because I heard this with a light-hearted attitude on God’s part, wanting to teach me that he’d given me the ability to reason things out and that whatever decision I made, he’d be with me to guide the next step and teach me from the experience. That was empowering!

Then there came a very difficult time in my life when I felt spiritually depleted, unable to read the Bible with any openness, or to pray with any conviction. Too many prayers had gone unanswered. A wise counselor encouraged me to simply “float in the sea of grace”, not attempting to read, craft prayers or do anything else. This was so powerful and just what I needed to recognize that God is always with us, upholding us in his grace, no matter how well or passionately we prayed. In fact, this silent floating became the prayer itself. Oh, how freeing and expanding that was…and still is.

Another profound teaching I was introduced to proclaimed that God’s Creation was actually the “first gospel”. Before Jesus came in bodily form to this earth, the whole universe, including the heavens, the earth, the waters, the animals and we humans proclaimed the glory of God:

Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

For many, simply walking out in the woods, camping in the mountains, swimming in the ocean, watching the sunrise… all these things are prayers if you acknowledge the presence of God as the Creator of all things. I believe he delights in the times we delight in his natural creation.

The point of this blog entry is really to contend that prayers, like so many spiritual practices, are not black or white, right or wrong, good or bad. Prayer is simpler than that. It is just finding the best way to commune with God at any particular season in our lives. Don’t judge it! Experiment with different forms of it! Practice whatever allows you the most closeness to the God who loves you!

About the Author

Words to Live By | My Invitation to a Breakthrough

Sara Gore February 13, 2026

I have long wanted to memorize scripture. Before the days of Smart Phones and Bible Apps, I would write verses on index cards and tape them to the wall in my bedroom so I could see them as I got ready for work. This method was not as successful as I hoped.

I then bought a package of pre-printed scriptures on 2”x 3” cards. I kept them in my pockets to seize brief opportunities while walking to work, or riding the bus. The simple practice of reciting scripture out loud with merciless repetition did result in a memorized verse or two, but they didn’t always stick with me.

Out of frustration, I took an extended break from my efforts. But my desire to memorize verses only grew deeper and more resolute. So, a few years later, when I rediscovered the stack of small scripture cards, I dusted them off and tucked them into my pockets once again. This time I earnestly prayed, asking God to help me get past the point where I previously got stuck and gave up.

In retrospect, a valuable outcome of my past failures is I now know that scripture is an indispensable part of my spiritual armor. And that people with an active faith in Christ are subjected to spiritual warfare far more often than they realize.

At this earlier time in my life, the adversary’s fiery darts of condemnatory thoughts were so common, they snuck under the wire of my defenses by convincing me they were true. My thought life was exhausting.

On the day I needed to drive to an appointment in a neighboring town, I thumbed through the stack of cards and placed this verse in the cupholder next to me:

Galatians 2:20 NASB
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

While waiting at a red light, I unexpectedly said “No!” to the thoughts telling me I did not have enough time to work on this verse. I picked up the card and read the verse over and over until the light turned green. And as I drove to my destination I stubbornly recited it very loudly, as if to drown out the silent inner discouragement. I quickened the pace of my recitation and felt the unwelcome inner critic go silent. I felt as if the words of the scripture were being absorbed by my spirit, energizing my faith and determination.

Post Script: three decades have passed since these events and last year, I was diagnosed with ADHD. This explains my difficulty with focus and with completing a goal. But more importantly, it makes the events that occurred even more significant. God mercifully interceded and gifted me with the ability to memorize this verse! I still have it in my memory.

And this verse has become one of my most effective spiritual weapons. The truth of Galatians 2:20 enables me to defend my boundaries and to feel safe in the fortress of my faith. The adversary no longer invades my thoughts unchallenged. This scripture marks a turning point in my faith and has served me very well for many years. I am so thankful to God for changing me from glory to glory!

Sara has attended CitySalt Church since 2004, the year it was founded. She studied Journalism, wrote for her college newspaper, and is a member of Oregon Christian Writers. Sara also enjoys singing hymns with friends: “there is a sermon in every hymn waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.”

Words to Live By | A Father to the Fatherless

Mollie Havens January 28, 2026

There are many concepts in the Bible that have captured my attention over the years–verses that describe God as our healer, counselor, peace, protector, and provider. But, no picture of our loving savior has framed my perspective of Him more than that of our heavenly Father. Growing up, I was a Daddy’s girl. I loved playing sports and spending time with my Dad. However, one thing changed our relationship. When I was 11, my parents decided to get a divorce. My Mom described my Dad in a lot of negative ways, which led me to believe it was all his fault. I ended up holding a grudge against my dad for a long time. It was during this time that I learned what it meant to have God as a Father, as I had rejected my earthly father and desperately still needed a dad in my life.

In middle school, I turned to God more than any other time in my life thus far. I knew I needed a father, but refused to turn to my own. So I found God in new ways. It was verses like Romans 8 that describes those who receive Him as being adopted into His family that led me to trust more and more in God as Father. I longed for a new family, and I found that family in the church. I devoted all I had into attending every service and taking part in every outreach. I learned what it meant to be accepted, loved, and cared for in ways I never knew before. God was my compassionate Father, taking me under his wings and wrapping me in his warm embrace.

After many years of rejecting my earthly father, God prompted my heart to try and restore my relationship with my dad. I learned to forgive him and see that my dad was not the only one at fault for the divorce. I grew to trust him more and more and with time, God redeemed our relationship. Now I see my Dad as a reflection of my caring heavenly Father. I am so grateful that as I surrendered and sought out a relationship with God, I was met with understanding and more than I could ever ask or dream.

God is a father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). He lavishes his great love and affection on us as it describes in 1 John 3:1. He is our Abba Father. Just like the parable of the father and his son in Luke 15, God runs towards us with open arms, desiring to provide for us and love us in ways that only He can.

About the Author

Mollie is married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Words to Live By | Seasons

Jessie Carter January 16, 2026

Some people have a “life verse” or passage that has helped them deal with life or defined what they live by over the course of their lives. I think I have “seasons of life” verses. Three different passages of the Bible have stood out to me in different parts of my life so far:

Psalm 103 - Love
This was my first favorite verse/passage/chapter (in my young life and first marriage). I found it because a Bible I had at the time had a list of topics at the end of it that listed verses/passages that addressed them. I think I was dealing with shame at the time, and I just felt off somehow. I looked through the list of topics and found the word “depression” and it led me to Psalm 103. Instantly it was my favorite passage, and I loved the whole thing. It felt like a love letter from God.

One section that stuck out to me was verses 2-4: “Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits– who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…” Being super into the world of epic literature and fairy tales at the time, I loved the imagery of God rescuing me from the pit of shame, and the symbolism of Him putting a crown on me. Not just some piece of metal with jewels. A crown of love and compassion.

And that led into the other section that I loved, verses 8-12: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Again, I love the imagery here. I can picture the sky above and how vast and far away it is. God’s love for us is as big as that! And it’s big enough to forgive us–as far as the east is from the west! That’s forever away, now that we know the earth is round! Our transgressions are gone. This whole chapter in the Bible always encourages me.

Acts 2:28 - Joy
After my divorce, I felt like I was in a new phase of life, and needed a new “life verse” to live by. It was a lonely but interesting season. Up until then, I’d lived in the Willamette Valley, but in those days, I had been teaching overseas and working for social services in South Douglas County. By the time I moved back to the Willamette Valley, I’d become a bit of a sojourner, traveler, and explorer. Then I found Acts 2:28 - “You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.”

Instantly I loved it. Just like Psalm 103, it won me over with its vivid imagery. I was a bit scared of being stuck in the city I grew up in, living a boring life. But God promised to lead me to “paths of life.” This sounded soulful and vibrant. And joy in His presence! I needed that. It didn’t matter whether I was married or single, living an exciting life abroad or quietly teaching in my hometown. With God, I would live with adventure and joy. So what did I do? Got it tattooed on my arm! With a compass rose, of course. My longtime friend Sarah and I went to get tattoos together for our 40th birthday, and now I can’t forget this verse even if I wanted to. Side note: this verse references Psalm 16:8-11.

Psalm 121 - Peace
I’ve loved this chapter and the worship song based on it since I was a young adult. When I was in Afghanistan, I used to go up on top of the high school building and look around at the hills that surrounded the city (foothills of the Hindu Kush, a branch of the Himalayas) and sing it: “I lift my eyes up, unto the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from You, Maker of Heaven, Creator of the Earth.” Now that the world seems to be going crazy (even here in the US), I look around at the hills and mountains surrounding the Willamette Valley, and I think of that passage and song. It gives me comfort and peace. This world isn’t at all peaceful. But He is the Prince of Peace. He gives us peace in our hearts now, and promises total peace to the world someday.

As I was writing this, I realized that the three verses/passages I’ve considered “life verses” have the following three major themes: love, joy, and peace. Three things we need most desperately. Praying that you all find love, joy, and peace in your lives, whatever verses you read or love. Here’s a song that I wrote during my divorce that has these themes and more. Like the verses I love above, it’s full of imagery that helps me picture these things.

Fill Me

Verse 1:
Fill me with Your peace like a mountain stream
Fill me with Your joy like the sun
Fill me with Your love like the ocean blue
Fill me, Lord fill my heart with You

Verse 2:
Fill me with Your grace like a waterfall
Fill me with Your hope like the sky
Fill me with Your strength like a thunderstorm
Fill me, Lord fill my heart with You

Bridge:
I need You like a fish needs water, Lord
I need You like a bird needs wind
Fill my soul with Your Holy Spirit, Lord
Fill my heart with Your love so true
Fill my heart, draw me close to You
(repeat verse 1)

About the Author

Words to Live By | The Rock I Stand On

John Rice January 2, 2026

Scripture can provide a foundation that keeps us grounded and steady throughout our lives. While we ride the roller coaster of joy, grief, success and failure that life is sure to throw our way, we are invited to dwell on the truths we find written in the Word of God. Over the coming weeks, each blog team member will share a meaningful verse, parable or bible story that has served as an anchor throughout their lives. Perhaps it will inspire you to think of which scriptures have provided that stability for you as well.

Our theme for the CitySalt blog this season is “Life Verses”. We blog writers were asked to think of a verse, a parable, or a Bible story that is “the rock we have built our house on” as Jesus advised us to do in Matthew 7:25. It could be a challenge to come up with a life verse, couldn’t it? There are so many good ones! And truth be told, I couldn’t come up with just one, but if I put three together, that seemed most like the rock that gives me a foundation for my life and my faith.

Here are the three scripture passages that come together to form my rock:

Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

John 15:5, 8-11
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Now I know there is a lot to unpack in these three passages, so I will summarize to make it simpler and hopefully clearer:

God’s love is absolutely gigantic and there’s nothing outside of it.
Because of God’s great love, if we choose to live in it by centering ourselves within it, we have access to all the love and power that God has.
If we love Jesus, we will follow his command which he made very clear:
LOVE EACH OTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!

Wow, there’s a lot of love talk in there, isn’t there? Jesus states these things simply and directly, but we know by experience that living and doing all this love is not a simple, easy task. It truly does require God’s Spirit moving through us (1) to even see how to love and then (2) to follow through with the action of love. But as difficult and elusive as this task might be, we get to do it completely encompassed by the life-giving, powerful love of God. That seems like a pretty good deal to me and why these are my life verses.

About the Author

Past, Present, and Future of Charles Dickens

Professor Popinjay (Chris Carter) December 19, 2025

Last week we finished our blog theme, Beyond the Binary. In 2 weeks we start our new series, Words to Live By. In the interim, please enjoy a thoughtful seasonally appropriate post from Chris Carter.

[I suppose I should indicate a SPOILER ALERT for the film The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) but it is centered around A Christmas Carol, written 182 years ago. I’m pretty sure everyone has seen or read it by now.]

The word “Dickensian” is often used to describe squalid and unfair working or living conditions, unreasonable bosses and landlords offering little pay and high prices. This very accurately describes the world in which author Charles Dickens lived. But Dickens himself wanted something different.

It may be easy to ask “who wouldn’t want to change such a terrible world for the better?” Unfortunately, the people who would resist such changes are all too real and every form of Want and Ignorance extends from their greed.

The 2017 film The Man Who Invented Christmas shows a conflicted Charles Dickens as he begins to develop his famous story A Christmas Carol. We see a man who is at once a defender of the poor and downtrodden, and yet he greets his own freeloading father with frustration and a lack of empathy. One after another, we see Charles encounter examples of stinginess, arrogance, apathy, and exploitation of the poor. These inevitably manifest in the creation of a character named Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Scrooge is Greed incarnate. A lover of darkness as it is cheap and, by extension, a promoter of death as it means less mouths to feed, less bills to pay. Dickens wanted to change this world. But that would involve changing a person like Scrooge. Was this even possible?

This question begged an answer when the figment of Charles’ imagination, representing the ghost of Marley with his many weights and chains forged in life selfishly spent, asks him “Do you ever wonder at the lengths of chain you yourself have forged?”

“Me?” Asks Dickens, taken aback.

“YOU!” Repeats Marley with grave emphasis.

Suddenly Dickens, as depicted in this film, is faced with the revelation that he has more in common with his infamous character than anyone he has yet met. While it may be easy to cast off those we do not know, or even defend those with whom we are not familiar, how often do we shun those closely related for some petty reason not even worthy of indignation, whether righteous or otherwise? Even now as I write these words I feel my heart harden against those who have offended me, people who deserve my pity, people who want love as much as I do.

Charles wrestles with this question through much of the film, all the while tormented by the imaginary Scrooge. With every poignant and cutting remark it becomes obvious Charles hates himself even more than he hates Scrooge. Scrooge is expected to be all these terrible things. That’s the reason he exists, isn’t it? But Charles, on the other hand, knows his own convictions. He knows for what he champions. How? How can these two forces exist in the same person? He is far worse off than Scrooge! He is a hypocrite!

Just like me. Just like everyone on this whole planet. We don't do what we want to do, and the thing we do not want to do, that is what we do. Perhaps you don’t celebrate Christmas. Perhaps you celebrate Chanukka, or Kwanza, or Diwali, or just Arbor Day. Whatever you believe and celebrate, I believe all of us can celebrate this: We must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is a thing not always so easy as we’d like it to be.

Looking out for number one might feel like loving one’s self. But as the ghost of Marley explained, his chains were wrought from his greed and selfishness. Dickens was spiraling. The weight of his own chains surmounting with every heartless act toward his father, toward his wife, toward the staff of his house. What he did to others, he was doing to himself. There seemed to be no way out.

In his depression and his despair, Charles visits the abandoned boot black factory where he once spent three dreadful years of his childhood, while his father, mother, and siblings whiled away in debtor’s prison, a result of his father’s foolish spending. History shows the place to have been torn down by the time of Charles’ adult life but for the sake of this film, an apt setting is provided. He is alone, save for the constant nagging presence of Scrooge. The similarities between them, now unmistakable. Charles sees the place for what it is in his mind: a grave yard; the place where his childhood died, where his faith in his father and mother died, where his faith in humanity died. Scrooge will never change. There is no hope for him. There is no hope for Charles. There is no hope for this world. The only fitting thing left was death.

Scrooge, now imagined standing in the deep grave as the walls gradually close in on him, looks up at Charles with pleading eyes.

“Please…” says Scrooge. “I don’t want to die like this…alone, unloved, forgotten.

“It’s too late”, says Charles, seemingly now to take the place of the iconic grim visaged specter.

“Never too late! Oh, never too late. Please! I’ll change!”

The walls continue to close in on Scrooge. He implores to Charles…

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Give me another chance, I beg you. Let me do some good before I die.”

Ebeneezer Scrooge, the embodiment of so many worldly evils, a seemingly unreachable monster, had changed! The burdensome restrictive chains with which we inhibit ourselves? By God, THEY CAN BE BROKEN!

THAT is the love afforded to each and every one of us and with that freedom finally we are unburdened in forwarding this same love to our neighbors!

In the film we see Dickens invite his father back into his home. He reconciles with the maid he sent away in anger. And naturally, as you may have guessed, he finally realizes an ending for his book.

In 1843, the celebration of Christmas was waning. The traditions that revolved around the holiday were vague and as yet unrefined. Thanks to Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, the Christmas Tree was gaining in popularity but that was about it.

Dickens had come out of two literary flops by 1843. Money was tight. The idea of a Christmas novel seemed almost absurd considering Christmas was not in high regard. Not only that, there wasn’t much time left in the year to write and publish an entire novel.

It’s true Dickens was increasingly concerned for the welfare of children and the exploitation of the poor. The aristocracy of the time were often utterly calloused. Dickens’ indignation on behalf of the oppressed is no surprise when we understand the traumatic transpirations of his own childhood. With his book he sought to strike at the heart of Greed that plagued the world.

A Christmas Carol, miraculously written and published in only six weeks, would be wildly popular and would undeniably shape many Christmas traditions which are observed to this very day almost 200 years later, not the least of which is the general spirit of goodwill toward each other.

Not only did Dickens’ book put Christmas indelibly on the calendar, charitable giving began to swell every year from then on. Dickens had shown the world what happens when one person chooses to renounce their greed and instead love their neighbor no matter their station. Now the world was changing to match his vision. His books, lectures, and petitions would even lead to reforms in the judicial system and child labor laws. Dickens learned the lessons of his Past, took action in his Present, and changed what was once a bleak Future.

Dickens was just a man and certainly made other mistakes later in life. The contradiction of his public campaigns for children’s rights compared to the conduct of his personal life continued to be a constant struggle for him. I believe his struggles are evidence of the factions that war on in all of us. And it seems even in death he endeavored to do some good. Dickens’ last will and testament supplied ample provisions for family and friends alike, even those from whom he had become estranged.

While many think of harsh times when hearing the word “Dickensian”, I think of Redemption, Reconciliation, Forgiveness, and the eradication of Greed.

I can think of nothing our own present and future needs more than these.

God bless us, everyone.

Merry Christmas.

About the Author

Christopher has worked as a children’s pastor and youth leader for several years and has published countless humor articles under the pseudonym Professor Popinjay. He studied biblical history and child psychology through Burean University and various other educational institutions. He enjoys writing, art, and the history of invention. He lives with his amazing wife Jessie and their six bizarre children, one of whom is a cat..

Beyond the Binary | Guidance Through the Gray

Mollie Havens November 21, 2025

When I was in high school, I went on a mission trip to Mexico. It was my freshman year. It was a whole new experience— a new culture, different time zone, and it required a lot of courage. We led an outreach at a park and I met a young girl there named Abby. I was able to pray with her and lead her to the Lord. It was so neat to go outside of my comfort zone and see her heart change. The next year I was able to go back to Mexico again. The craziest thing happened. We were just at a restaurant for lunch, and lo and behold, there was Abby. She was there with her whole family. I was able to connect with her and learned that her whole family now went to church and were growing in their faith.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, it describes how God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. This verse reminds me of the mysteries and vastness of God. When I am stuck in my finite mind and plans, I am able to turn to Him and go beyond my circumstances. I may not always understand or fathom His will, but I can trust that He will lead me in it. As I walk in humility and seek his face I can have faith that he will guide me in the right direction.

As I grow in my faith, I learn that there are more gray areas to God than I previously thought. There is not always one right way or thought. At times there are multiple directions I could walk in but they all lead to a similar destination and He will keep me in his will as I pray about which path to take. Sometimes it is just a word that he uses to speak to me in His still small voice. I need to take time to sit in His presence to hear his voice. Like lately, I have just heard the word “Stay.” Stay in this job, stay in this city. Stay where I have planted you and grow.

God works in mysterious ways to encourage us and embolden us. At times when I get discouraged or question my faith, I look back at that time in Mexico when God showed his majesty and power through reconnecting me with Abby and her family. I am reminded that nothing is too hard for God and nothing is small.

About the Author

Mollie is married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Beyond the Binary | Start With Mystery

Aaron Friesen November 7, 2025

At the core of Christian theology is the doctrine of the trinity, that God is one God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of the incarnation, that Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human. Both of these doctrines defy human logic and rational reasoning because: 1) they join two ideas that are normally held to be logically in tension with or opposed to one another (binary options), and 2) they do so without any other corresponding reality in the universe.

Thus, at the center of Christian theology is a profound mystery.

Many of the early church Councils and debates focused on deciding what precise words should be used to describe this divine mystery. They debated how to talk about God as one single God without straying into polytheism, reducing the full divinity of either the Father, Son, or Spirit, or creating some kind of hierarchy of divinity within God. They also debated how to talk about the divinity and humanity of Christ without reducing one or the other to a partial presence or making one part wholly subservient to or controlled by the other.

Over the first five centuries of the church’s existence, there were many leaders who attempted to move the church toward more rationally palatable doctrines of God or Christ by reducing or collapsing important distinctions in the Godhead or by separating out the unified aspects of God or Christ into multiple disconnected parts. It is fascinating to me that in all of their debates over particular words and phrases, the orthodox Christian position continued to uphold the utterly mysterious natures of God and Jesus Christ. In doing so, they placed the revealed truth of God in Christ over human reason.

I used to think all the trinitarian debates of the early church Councils were splitting hairs unnecessarily and choosing to divide over mostly irrelevant theological minutia. While that may be true in some isolated cases, I’ve come to appreciate that the bigger picture of what was at stake in these debates was very important, even essential, to one’s quest to know God. One might say that these early apologists of orthodox theology took upon themselves the responsibility of preserving the mysterious nature of the Christian God for future generations by defending it against the forces of reductionism, rationalism, and binary thinking.

A practical consequence of this history is that as we seek to grow in our knowledge of God and progress down the path of following Christ, we must start with mystery. Mystery is not a theological last resort or a place of theological failure, where one ends up reluctantly after one’s rational proposals and doctrines about God prove to have some logical flaws or weaknesses in them. Rather, mystery is a place of beginning. One must start with an appreciation of the bigness and awesomeness of that which we seek to understand and follow, the God who is most clearly yet mysteriously revealed in Jesus Christ. Whatever words or doctrines or principles we use to describe this God, we must begin with the understanding that they will never be exhaustive, and they will often prove to be grossly inadequate.

Starting with mystery does not mean that God is distant or unknowable. (In fact, one of the most mysterious aspects of God is his nearness and closeness to us.) Starting with mystery simply means assuming that our knowledge of God will always be partial and incomplete. Our quest to know God will ever lead us into new moments of awe and wonder. As Metropolitan Kalistos Ware says in his opening chapter of The Orthodox Way, “We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”(1) Starting with mystery keeps one humble, always open to new experiences and surprises from God that do not neatly fit into one’s past conceptions or definitions of God.

Although such surprises might lead to feelings of distance from God at first. Over time, they have the power to deepen our sense of intimate connection with God as they represent God’s self-disclosure that is truly, to quote Michael W. Smith’s 2003 hit, Above All:

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth

(1) Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2018), 21.

About the Author

Aaron is a passionate seeker of God and truth, and he enjoys encouraging others in their own pursuits of the same. He especially likes to think about how God is at work in the most ordinary and mundane aspects of our existence. He loves going on adventures to new places with his wife, Heather, and four kids and his perfect day would involve an excellent cup of coffee (or two!), a hike to somewhere beautiful and serene, and some good conversation over a pint at a warm pub. He currently serves as an adjunct instructor at Portland Seminary and co-leads the CitySalt Kids’ Ministry along with his wife, Heather.

Beyond the Binary | Room for Everyone

Jessie Carter October 24, 2025

“If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.” - Anakin Skywalker

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

My husband and I have discussed the irony of Obi-Wan’s response to Anakin (the future Darth Vader) because it is just as much of an absolute as Anakin’s binary-thinking. But we get the point he’s trying to make: not having room for nuance can have a devastating effect on your worldview, which affects your relationships and actions. As we’ve seen in recent history with assassinations and mass shootings, it can have a devastating impact on the world around us, too.

We have a fairly good idea of why our human tendency leans toward black & white thinking. It’s easier for our overloaded brains to handle. It puts things into neat categories to help us understand the world. It helps us justify our prejudices and predilections. Etcetera, etcetera. But do our religious texts contribute to this as well? Jesus made a couple of statements that seem very binary, although they also seem to contradict each other.

Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with me is against me…”

Mark 9:40 “...for whoever is not against us is for us.”

Which is it? Who is on His side? Or did he make both of these statements to show us that there is nuance and context to situations? I read a commentary (of a commentary from nearly 1,000 years ago) that discusses the context of those passages.(1) This says that the first one I listed is regarding the spiritual world (ideas, angels & demons, etc.), while the second one I listed is about people, especially lay ministers. The commentary believes that that passage shows us that God is biased in favor of people.

I love that. I think Jesus made it very clear that people are not the enemy. He said in Matthew 5: 44-45 - “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

In our very “Us vs. Them” culture right now, it is just so convenient to blame all of our problems on a person or a group of people. I’m not saying that there aren’t people out there who are causing problems for other people. But I’ve caught myself blaming everything on certain people or groups, and I know I’m not the only one. This mentality taken to its extreme has led to acts of violence.

Fortunately, there is an antidote: love and forgiveness. There is a recent article by David French in the New York Times that brought tears to my eyes.(2) In it, he discusses how the Mormon church responded to the mass shooting: by fundraising support for the family of the shooter. Dang. I’d use a different word but this is a church forum. That is true godly love. He also mentions the forgiveness offered by the widow of a political figure. It makes me think of the love and forgiveness offered to Nazis by Corrie ten Boom. Only God can empower us to give that kind of love. And it is this amazing love of God that redeems the world.

Father God, please remind me daily that humans are not the ultimate enemy. They are all made in Your image and are loved by You. Please help me remember that it is love that conquers evil. Your amazing love died for us, while we were yet enemies of You. Please help us to pass that love on to all around us, even those we see as enemies.

There is one thing that I believe is absolute truth: God loves the world. Everyone in it. Even the Sith.

(1)Bible commentary that I read about the first two passages:
https://www.kencollins.com/answers/question-43.htm

(2)David French article: (you may need a subscription to read the whole thing)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/opinion/hope-grace-michigan-shooting.html

About the Author

Beyond the Binary | Mystery is a God Thing

John Rice October 10, 2025

The older I get, the more I recognize and appreciate how mysterious God is. It’s a funny thing, but when I was younger, especially in my 20’s and 30’s, I was pretty sure I knew everything there was to know about God. I had read the Bible a number of times cover to cover, heard hundreds of good sermons, participated in retreats, workshops, Bible studies and conferences led by many gifted and seasoned Christians. I was very sure that I had it all figured out and was ready to defend my position from anyone who thought otherwise!

As I got older and life became less predictable and controllable, my assurance in having all the answers to life’s questions and in knowing who God is and what He/She/They would or would not do, became less and less solid. I am forever grateful that our particular brand of Christianity as a Charismatic church taught me to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit. I believe this provided a doorway into a world where the experience of God’s presence became more important than just having the “right” theology and the right ideas about who God is and what we are allowed, or not allowed, to believe and do. The practice of the presence of God has helped me focus on the priorities that Jesus spoke about, to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and to love my neighbor as myself. Another priority, summarized by the prophet Micah, tells us that all God requires of us is to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. I really love it when thousands of pages of a book are summed up in a couple of guiding principles! Not that it is a simple thing to do to follow these principles, but the “loving God and people” thing is a lifelong challenge worthy of undertaking. And for me, anyway, it opens me up to be more patient and curious about people who believe differently from me. It helps me respect their journey along the road of life and not need to judge them, correct them, teach them my way of believing, as if it’s the only right way. It’s such a freedom not to be pressured in this way! It’s way more interesting, rich and fun to “live and let live” and learn from others no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, gender or political viewpoint. This allows God to be more mysterious than I ever used to think of Him and even to see Him in, around and through all sorts of other people (and in animals and nature too😊)

God is so much bigger than we can imagine, isn’t He? He is bigger than any book, even the Bible, can fully describe to us. Though the Bible and good teachers/authors/pastors have a lot to teach us, the “walking humbly with our God” thing requires us to stay open, to seek Him daily, to be willing to be surprised, to allow God to be mysteriously awesome and to walk around in great love and respect for all that He has made.

About the Author

Beyond the Binary | Absolute Certainty

Terry Sheldon September 26, 2025

We often live in a world that presents as very black and white, without room for the nuance and complexity of humanity. This binary way of thinking can sometimes be exacerbated for Christians who ascribe to a rigid or restricted understanding of our faith. But, we serve a God that invites questions, meets us uniquely where we are, and is big enough to hold a broad spectrum of our experiences and perspectives. Join the blog team in exploring the multitudes that God contains and the beautiful range of what he is inviting us into.

Everything and everyone in our world seems to be moving at a more and more blistering pace.

Warp speed!

Technology is truly breathtaking, but also socially taxing. Its speed and reach seems to be taking its toil on our western world's individual and collective psyches. The A to Z, plodding linear path of last century's industries has been replaced by the Internet's 24/7, non-linear ways.

Its effects are instead expanding in every direction, all at once - like the crack of a hammer strike on glass. Our desktop computer-driven promise of streamlined productivity for our work and home to-do lists is well realized, but stress, anxiety and resulting relational separation has increased as well.

Like a big bang of random chaos.

So in all this, what is binary thinking? First of all, know that it's universally common and absolutely necessary! A more left-brained, literal way of thinking, it relies on simple cut-and-dry absolutes - good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, black vs. white, for example. Solid physical science and technology demands it because the development, operation and maintenance of our cities, health care, infrastructure and much more literally depend on it.

But binary thinking is only one aspect of our human and spiritual experience, and with all our technological advancements, it's affecting our non-binary side too and creating an imbalance. A non-binary perspective encompasses art, feelings, creativity, sensitivity, empathy, and essential components of our relationships.

It also encourages and improves our contemplative spiritual health. It asks for and makes space for our developing faith, and the wonderful mysteries of God. And perhaps best of all, it teaches us to be in all our moments, instead of rushing through them.

Our western culture has made amazing tech gains, but suffered critical emotional losses.

So why did we split ourselves up into two sides? It can be traced back to Aristotle and Socrates, who helped develop the idea of dualism, and its emphasis on binary thinking.

A quick (I promise) dualism explanation: Their premise is that we humans and our consciousness are not naturally integrated into a cohesive whole (connectedness), and our reality is strictly divided into two fundamentally different, dual parts - the immaterial mind and the physical body (we think vs. we feel).

It turns out that splitting ourselves this way isn't an emotionally healthy way to operate, and we humans naturally favored the binary to “get stuff done.” Then we chose a false sense of certainty through our religions - the law. This imbalance inadvertently gave power to counterfeit religious systems (like the Christianized Roman Empire), to"fix" individual sin and exercise control. In this widening notion of a split self, science marched forward, while authentic, compassionate religion diminished.

I believe this is at the heart of our current cultural wars, manifesting itself in circling our church wagons, tribal thinking, and mean-spirited arguments. It isolated all of us Children of God - the churched and unchurched! And it's a division of our own doing.

Also the knowing (binary) is so much simpler than the not knowing (non-binary). We haven't really been taught how to live out a God mystery (non-binary) and have replaced it with absolute certainty (binary).

Whew, hang in there!

Lastly, I think the speed and pressures of our cultural changes, combined with our inherent and insecure doubts of faith, plus the relative comfort of our technology has made it harder to reclaim our authentic spirituality.

But the truth is, it's all spiritual, and everything belongs.

I believe we believers need to slow down in our moments, regroup, venture out of our church comfort zones and get back to the well-balanced middle of things.

I am hopeful. God will help us fix this!

About the Author

He finds all of this fascinating and sees that it has encouraged the growth of something crucial in his Christian development: empathy and compassion toward his brothers and sisters on this planet.

Loving Our Enemies Within | God Loves Seeing Our Typos

Aaron Friesen August 29, 2025

Last year, as an undergraduate professor at a local university, I said something I never thought I would say to my students. I told them I didn’t care about typos or punctuation or grammar in their initial assignment submissions. I told them that I really just wanted to know their own thoughts and ideas about what we were learning in class. With the rise and proliferation of AI tools over the past few years, it was clear to me that some of my students were resorting to these tools for completing their class assignments. As a result, even though I believe developing good writing skills is an important part of a college education, I actually started being glad when a student turned in a paper with a lot of grammatical errors and awkwardly worded sentences in it because at least I could be reasonably sure it was their own work. (Now there is even software that will “humanize” text that is generated by AI!)

If student learning is the main goal of teaching a class, then nothing is worse for a teacher than a student turning in work that is not their own. It completely sabotages the learning process that a teacher works so hard to give to their students. Education is fundamentally about filling gaps in one’s knowledge, developing skills that one does not yet possess, and increasing one’s aptitude in particular areas. As a teacher, I work hard to develop a program of instruction that will effectively guide a student through a process where these changes will take place. However, the program only works if the student brings their authentic self to the process. Without honesty about one’s present reality (one’s current knowledge, skills and aptitude), the instructional program becomes a performative charade.

The same is true for our spiritual lives. I wonder if God sometimes feels like an instructor having to deal with students who turn in assignments written by AI. He wants more than anything to help us increase in love, grow in our capacity to care for others, and develop greater spiritual awareness and sensitivity. But when we deliberately try to cover up our weaknesses and imperfections, we sabotage the whole transformational process.

Why would a student decide to pay good money for college and then use AI to complete their assignments? Because real learning is difficult and vulnerable. It takes an investment of time and energy. It takes hard work. It also takes trust in the process and trust in the teacher. It takes trying and failing. It takes making mistakes. It takes honestly facing one’s deficiencies or weaknesses in certain areas so that growth and improvement can take place. Since real learning is often difficult and uncomfortable, the possibility of getting some of the rewards of learning (a good grade, respect from others, more money, a promotion, etc.) without all the struggle can be very enticing. Yet, in the end, that decision costs the student the opportunity for real learning and change in that area.

When it comes to the spiritual life, I think one of the main reasons we might decide not to readily and honestly share the things we are struggling with (sins, doubts, confusions, hurts, etc.) is that we fear condemnation from God or others. It is difficult for us to trust that God cares about our learning and growth process more than our performance, and so we do our best to hide what’s really there from God, others, or even ourselves.

About 20 years ago, when I was a student at Fuller Seminary, I took a class called “Henri Nouwen: A Spirituality of Imperfection.” The class was taught by a recent PhD graduate, Wil Hernandez, who did his doctoral work on Henri Nouwen (a man widely regarded as one of the greatest Christian spiritual writers and teachers of the last century). Hernandez summarized Nouwen’s approach to the spiritual life as “a spirituality of imperfection.” By that he meant that the brokenness and weakness we all experience as human beings doesn’t have to be a barrier to our communion with God. In fact, it can be the opposite. It can be a gift in that it helps us to recognize our need for and dependence upon God’s grace, and it can become a gateway in that it provides the context for an authentic experience of God’s salvation, freedom, and glory.(1)

This idea of a spirituality of imperfection has radically altered how I think about my relationship with God. It shifts the focus from simply trying to perform well for God and others to embracing an honest process of growth and change where I let God see my real work – typos, awkward sentences and all! Through this honest and open communication, revelations of personal weaknesses and problems become blessings because they open the door to real experiences of God’s transforming love and power.

The key for me to make that shift in my life has been learning to trust God as the best possible teacher. God is not a harsh judge, critiquing my actions against His standards of holiness at a distance and then issuing corresponding commendations or chastisements. Above all, God is a patient teacher who comes alongside to help me notice areas of weakness and brokenness in my life in order for me to know where best to focus my energy and attention as an active participant in the learning process.

Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

(1)Wil Hernandez, Henri Nouwen: A Spirituality of Imperfection (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006), Chapter Five.

About the Author

Loving Our Enemies Within | Leaning into Healing

Jessie Carter August 15, 2025

A friend recently sent me a video of a discussion between Christian counselors. They brought up the idea that used to be the conventional wisdom in many churches: once we’re saved, we don’t have to worry about our past. It’s all under the blood. No reason to revisit it. But these counselors believe that’s not quite true. It is forgiven by the blood, but not forgotten by our subconscious minds.

Most of us need to revisit our past, at least informally with a trusted friend or advisor if not in actual therapy, in order to process and figure out why we have the struggles that we do. Salvation doesn’t mean we are suddenly perfect. Many of us have had trauma or shame hidden deep within that has impacted the way we deal/interact with the world. These counselors talked about the need to deal with things from our past in order to overcome the subconscious consequences of them.

I can attest to this. As a young child, I prayed for salvation, and as a youth rededicated my life to God and was baptized. I had a relationship with Jesus. Sure, everything was “covered under the blood.” But as an adult, I still had to work through things (with the help of friends, advisors, and counselors) including trauma, grief, and shame in order to love myself fully and thus be able to love others fully.

Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love our enemies. How can we love our neighbors or our enemies as ourselves if we don’t love parts of ourselves due to shame? Yes, His blood covers all when we come to know Him. But He also walks with us as we work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12), and provides people in our lives that can help us with that process.

In my last Salt Blog post, I listed some books that a counselor had me read that were pivotal in my life. One of them, When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd, taught me how to love all the parts of myself, even the ones that are difficult to love.

My takeaway from her book was to uproot the dark, shameful, shadowy parts of ourselves that we don’t love, present them to the light of day and love of God, and integrate them back into ourselves so we can love our whole selves. It’s an abstract concept. But thanks to God’s guidance, therapy, and friends, I was able to work it out over time.

Friends, if you’re having a hard time loving yourself, please don’t be afraid to seek help. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate Counselor. But God created us to be in community with Him and others and to help each other. There is nothing weak or shameful about needing help. He loves you and me and all the dark parts of ourselves.

About the Author

Loving Our Enemies Within | Personal Prayer of Psalm 139

Mollie Havens August 1, 2025

**Psalm 139 (NLT) For the choir director: A psalm of David, and a prayer of Mollie**

The following is Psalm 139 with Mollie’s own prayer woven in. It invites the reader to consider how personal the Scriptures can be.

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
Lord, You know every detail about my life, even the parts that I don’t see or don’t want to. You know every motive of my heart and every thought of my mind. You perceive my emotions and make sense of my behaviors. What can I hide from you and what would I want to?

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
Even before I think, a thought, you know it full well. Your thoughts are too high for me, too lofty for me to attain. Yet, you transform me, sanctify, and make me holy.

3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
O Lord, where can I hide from you? You know when I am exhausted and when I am full of zeal. You foreknew every step and make straight the path before me. In every valley or mountain high, you will guide me through it all. You are in control of my coming out and my lying down.

4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
Even before I think the thoughts to create the words I say, you perceive them and understand them. You know every intent of every word and I commit them all to you.

5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
May your favor rest upon me. May you anoint each step as I do my best to follow you. Take me by the hand and guide me. Go before and behind me. Be my ever present help in trouble and victory in freedom.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
It is beyond me to understand your thoughts and your ways. Yet, through your gift of the Holy Spirit within me, you reveal to me the loftiness of your reasonings. Though I may not understand all your ways. I am learning to trust you more each day.

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
I am grateful that no matter where I am you are there. Even when I want to be alone in my shame, you remind me that You want to be there too.

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
No matter where my brokenness leads me, even there, you will meet me with a warm embrace. I can lean on and depend upon your strength to satisfy and uphold me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Even when my sin weighs me down and I am ashamed, you make my night illuminate like the day. You say to me, “there is nothing to hide. I love you through and through, and I forgive every part of you.”

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
At times I question if I am indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. I look at my faults and weaknesses and am not filled with wonder. Instead I experience shame, guilt and doubt. Other times I think, how does a good God make me to be like this? Why do the dark parts of me exist? How can I control them? Alas, I cannot. Lord, you teach me that it is only through the submission to the Holy Spirit and His fruits that I can fully become all You have intended for me to become.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
I may not understand every facet of me, but you do. You call me wonderful and marvelous. Help me to embrace myself like you do. Grant me your eyes to see me how you see me.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
You fully know every detail of my past and future. Let me be caught up in the present moments with you. Fully trusting you with every part of my life.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
At times, it is hard to believe that one can have precious thoughts about me. Lord, help me to view myself as you view me. I am holy and worthy in your eyes.

19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
LORD, I am grateful that my life is protected with you eternally. Help me to pray for those that are different from me or those that live their lives contrary to your plan.

20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name,
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
Yet you are a God of love. Yes, you are a jealous God, but you also give freedom of choice. Help me to understand more of how you see the world and love as you love.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
LORD, I surrender every thought, word and action to you. Show me the ways in me that you want to change and grant me the serenity to do so.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Show me the way to heaven and let me walk in those ways currently and forever more. Reveal to me all that you have for me and for you children. LORD, I want to know you more. I long to spend eternity with you. Come quickly, LORD, please come. Let my heart cry be, “MARANATHA” COME LORD COME!

About the Author

Mollie is married to her wonderful husband Dustin. She is a Wound Care RN at McKenzie Willamette Hospital. She enjoys being creative, getting outdoors and spending time with friends and family.

Loving Our Enemies Within | God’s Grace is Our Superpower

John Rice July 18, 2025

Imagine yourself as a beautiful, unique clay bowl when you were born. You were one of a kind. Your shape, your color, your size were all very special and you were deeply loved, appreciated and cared for by your parents. As you started to grow older you noticed that you were different from all the other kids. A few of those kids didn’t like your different qualities and they seemed jealous or afraid of you, so they called you names and excluded you from their games. This hurt. You might have started to think that they had good reason to not like you, like maybe you were unworthy of their admiration. This all had the effect of knocking a chip out of the beautiful pottery bowl that was yourself.

Sometime later, you were frustrated because you needed something that you couldn’t afford, but someone you knew had this thing and you figured that they didn’t really need it like you needed it. So you stole it. Your conscience felt a little bad about it, but you were able to push those thoughts down in your mind…at least mostly. You noticed something like a small crack in the side of your bowl.

Then someone you loved moved far away or even died. This was like a big crack in your bowl, so big that a part of your bowl broke off and shattered. Because of this loss, you felt so bad that you tried taking drugs to ease the pain and before you knew it, you felt you couldn’t live without these drugs. You were addicted and your life really started falling apart. There were more and more cracks in the beautiful bowl that once seemed so perfect. If you believed in God, you were pretty sure God had allowed all these things to happen to you because you weren’t the good person God wanted you to be. This life, and these cracks, were punishment for your imperfections and your failings. Your clay bowl was so cracked that you thought it was useless and ready for the junk pile.

But God apparently had a different plan. Rather than judge and punish you for your bad choices and painful experiences, He began to fill in all those cracks and shattered pieces, mending them so that your bowl was restored, still useful and possibly even more beautiful than before! And not only did He repair the gaps and missing pieces, He did it with the costliest materials.

This image of you as a once perfect, then broken, and finally restored clay pot is a spiritual dynamic found in the Bible…it’s called grace.

Japanese craftsmen employ an ancient technique called “Kintsugi” to repair broken clay pots and bowls. It fits with their philosophy that just because something breaks, it shouldn't be thrown away but rather restored. This is honoring the original by giving it new life. And the new bowl or pot has an extra special dimension, having been restored with precious materials like gold or silver.

The kintsugi technique reminds me of God’s working to restore us by His grace. Grace is defined as undeserved favor. We can’t restore ourselves by our willpower and strength alone. It’s a gift of God’s grace, as Paul mentions in his letter to the believers in Ephesus:

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to do.

How amazing that God saves us! He restores us! He transforms us! And it not only benefits ourselves…it’s for the purpose of blessing others and to make the world a better place, “to do good works which He prepared beforehand for us to do.”

Here are some pictures of bowls restored with the Kintsugi process:

Be blessed! The only thing required to have this beautiful and valuable restorative process take place in your life is to receive the grace God is pouring into you. Look for it!

About the Author

Loving Our Enemies Within | Everything Belongs

Terry Sheldon July 4, 2025

We’ve all likely heard the instruction to love your enemy, but how often do we apply that to some of the more unlikeable parts of ourselves? There are aspects of ourselves that will inevitably cause us frustration, shame, disgust, or confusion. Is there an opportunity to act lovingly to those parts, rather than ignore them or hide them? How does God invite us to love ourselves as he does?

Our bible has many references for enemies - in the Old Testament especially. It helps us to understand it all within the backdrop of ancient Hebrew culture, one of a forceful foreign occupation and struggle, with the resulting violence. The many stories understandably contain human outrages and laments with the injustice of it all. Then New Testament Jesus brought a stark contrast with the divine goal of a radical, forgiving love. In our times, enemies can be people in our world and in our lives, while at the same time a relational cancer that preys on us all.

It’s the enemy within.

Yes, we all hear the deceiver’s lies, and we cringe as we observe the evil and suffering in the world around us. Our tender hearts seem to frequently be under attack. And haven’t we all heard about the get-tough language of waging spiritual warfare and “kicking out the devil?” I am certainly for standing up to evil and the evil one, but maybe we’re missing something. So yes, go bold.

But also softer, gentler and more intuitive.

We all know that surrounding our many manifestations of feeling human - guilt, fear, shame, grieving, showing emotion, etcetera - are cultural assumptions and even rules about how we are to behave. Yeah, those stigmas that we think we should all be over with by now, are still lurking deep. Harmful thoughts and feelings may be newly imagined, or latent and smoldering over time, from past wounds. They stop us.

An African proverb goes like this:

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” A great concept, but what do we do with the enemy within, toss it out with a choice scripture?

Or a more nuanced approach.

Abraham Lincoln said:

“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”

Hmm, now we’re on to something. I love the idea that everything belongs in our lives. The good and the not so good. The sweet times and the struggling. God uses it all. ALL of it. He speaks to us in it all and changes us through it. He redeems it.

Instead of being so hard on ourselves, how about this attitude: Our spiritual lives are an adventure, and our overriding task should be the seeking and knocking. That takes curiosity and an open mind. And courage (but great reward)! Beyond stigmas, let’s give ourselves permission to FEEL the hurt, maybe identify the whys, and lean into the change.

Let's press in harder to get to know the heart of Father God, and ourselves better. The softer and gentler approach seeks understanding of our own insecurities and triggers, but without the shame and those tired, cultural expectations.

The end goal of our relationship with God is seeking our (and His) deepest desires - simply put, learning how to love and learning how to be loved.

Luke 6:27 The Message
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.”

About the Author

He finds all of this fascinating and sees that it has encouraged the growth of something crucial in his Christian development: empathy and compassion toward his brothers and sisters on this planet.

Last week we finished our blog theme, Beyond the Binary. In 2 weeks we start our new series, Words to Live By. In the interim, please enjoy a thoughtful seasonally appropriate post from Chris Carter.

Psalm 139 (NLT) For the choir director: A psalm of David, and a prayer of Mollie

The following is Psalm 139 with Mollie’s own prayer woven in. It invites the reader to consider how personal the Scriptures can be.

CitySalt Church

Celebrate Goodness

**Psalm 139 (NLT) For the choir director: A psalm of David, and a prayer of Mollie**