Angela Mackey

Rethinking Christian Life

Delight: The Mark of a Godly Life

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 ESV…

Searching for Light in Darkness

Growing up I was afraid of the dark. I forced my parents to leave the hall light on outside my bedroom so I could settle down and sleep. And if I ever woke up in the middle of the night my eyes would long for light. We lived on the corner of a busy street and…

Fighting Fear

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:3-4 ESV It’s like a black hole that crawls inside my soul. This illogical fear short circuits my brain as my heartbeat runs wild. The…

How to be Brave in Adversity

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12 ESV Foolish. Many folks look at those who believe in God and think…

How to be Brave in Uncertain Times

I held a pen in my right-hand as I read the small gray card. It stated, “Any time, Any where, Any way, I will follow God.” At the bottom was a single line awaiting my signature to seal a contract to follow God where ever He would lead. It was a physical reminder of what it meant…

Truth and Love: Navigating Sticky Situations

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” Ephesians 4:15 ESV All of us are drowning in sin. Whether we are drowning in ten feet of sin or 1,000 feet, we are all in need of a Savior. The truth is that humans are…

How to Stand Firm When Life Smacks You in the Face

Some news shakes us and seems to tip the Earth off its axis. News like: You have cancer. Your business is in trouble. Your best friend is moving away. Your mom died. News that changes the direction of our lives, slaps us in the face, and wakes us from living on auto-pilot. While the sting of the slap…

Strength, Weakness, and Wrestling

Often life feels like a wrestling match. A grind it out, clinging, pushing, flipping, never-letting-go battle that only ends in sleep and then begins the next day. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.…

Love and Obedience: Do We Really Love God?

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments…” John 14:15 ESV When madly in love a man will bend over backwards to do what pleases his woman. He will write poetry, buy flowers, and even watch NCAA basketball for a whole day even though basketball is not his thing (thanks honey!). In fact when…

The Responsibility of Knowing: Doing Good or Choosing Sin

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17 ESV Taking care of the less than, the widow, the orphan, the have-nots has always been part of the DNA of God’s people. Part of God’s moral law included not reaping the edges of their…

Will the Dawn Bring Light?

Will the Dawn Bring Light? By Angela Mackey What violence done? What beauty trampled? …in the darkness …repeated in the dark Hope had bloomed But darkness brought violence Night snuffed the light Would day return? What would be left shame? destruction? Would the light make them see? Could they see …the violence? …the brokenness? …the…