IBC Blog
Formed
Formed: IBC Blog
Formed is a platform that gives people a place to wrestle with topics they may tend to avoid and to grow and learn from one another. A tool used to help believers make their faith their own by providing different perspectives and stories while pointing to the gospel and the mission and vision of Irving Bible Church.
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Formed
Gardening
Is this a perennial or annual? How much sun is needed? Oh, what about our dogs… is this one of the poisonous plants?
These questions have been part of springtime conversation at the Barnett home as my wife, Amber, and I envision new gardens for our front and back landscape. Before I was pastor, I worked for a landscape crew in Denver, Colorado that specialized in fine gardening. Now, I’m no Master Gardener, but since that time I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and in the yard.
Formed
Suffering and Glory
Three weeks ago my wife and I put down our sweet Border Collie, Maverick.
It has been the darkest day of my life thus far and it was the hardest decision I have ever made. Putting him down reminded me of the sting of death. I hate death.
Like me, maybe you’ve been acquainted with death of a loved one. Maybe you’ve experienced some type of suffering because of the broken world we live in, because of your own sin, or because of the sins of others.
Formed
Judgment & Persecution
About two years ago I was able to have a conversation with a cancer survivor. What she shared with me was new to my understanding. Having cancer alone was not painful to her at all. The pain came when the treatment began. She expressed the agony of chemo and its effects on her body as the doctors were seeking to heal her from her sickness. Her testimony is that she was able to endure the treatments and be rid of the cancer. However, she could have made the decision to avoid the pain and skip the treatment. But the result would have been fatal.
Hope & Healing
Realistic Optimism
I used to think I could define myself by what our pastor Barry would call a “realistic optimist.” I think those of us who are believers really should live in that space; seeing things as they really are yet being optimistic that God is at work and we have hope. It took walking through some particularly dark times to realize that I’d been living according to the wrong definition of this term my entire life.
Formed
Revelation 7
It was the summer of 2020 when I discovered a group of people out of Atlanta that I never knew I needed. Like a lot of you, being quarantined at home as a family brought new rhythms and routines in our everyday life. If every screen time rule we had in the Harris house was going to be broken, let’s at least break it with something beneficial. Enter live worship sets on YouTube.
Max volume. Living room cleared out. Let’s worship.