Bethany McIlrath

First and Second: Perspective On What Matters Most (Matthew 22:36-40)

  • A Tale of Two Men (And Their Riches)

    A Tale of Two Men (And Their Riches)

    Two men, many years apart in history, were blessed with abundance. With more riches than they could enjoy at the time of harvest, the men stored up the excess in granaries. They heaped up God’s provision and saved it for another time. There was a significant difference between the two, though. One man was generous…

  • Why The Best Route Isn’t Up For Debate

    Why The Best Route Isn’t Up For Debate

    God was looking out for my safety the day Google Maps was invented. Before I could ask Siri to give me a detailed real time play-by-play of how to get anyplace (kinda) new I was a regular gas-station-direction-beggar. Attendants in too-many states probably still have scratch marks in their countertops from tracing and retracing directions…

  • Connecting God’s Power to Our Anchor in Christ

    Connecting God’s Power to Our Anchor in Christ

    To me, Jesus walking on water isn’t the craziest part of the story recorded in Matthew 14. Peter’s response is. What would inspire a man to say “IF it’s you, Jesus, command me to walk on water too?” If I was skeptical that the guy defying physics was actually Jesus, I still would’ve settled for…

  • Where Love and Freedom Meet

    Where Love and Freedom Meet

    Love and freedom are inextricably connected. That’s the way God designed it, and the implications are many:  Because He loved us, we are free “The truth will set you free.” But what is the truth? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall…

  • Growing in the Body of Christ: Review of The Unexplainable Church Bible Study

    Growing in the Body of Christ: Review of The Unexplainable Church Bible Study

    Some things are better shared. When I received a copy of The Unexplainable Church for review, I expected to squeeze it in amongst other Bible studies and books. Day One stopped me. I haven’t completed this study, answering questions or looking up passages of Scripture. I’ve only read the content and the questions to be…

  • You May Build It, They May Not Come

    You May Build It, They May Not Come

    There’s a popular saying is based off of a quote from the movie Field of Dreams:  “If you build it, they will come.” We hear it often, usually in connection with ministries, programs, or facilities that are launching or expanding. However, the whole concept is a myth. Unfortunately, many people actually believe it is a…

  • When Resumes Don’t Match Dreams

    When Resumes Don’t Match Dreams

    Call me weird, but I love helping people with their resumes. It reminds me of those fun matching worksheets we’d fill out in school. Maybe you remember them too? One column might list dates. The other would outline events. We would draw a line between those that matched. Similarly, good resumes tend to align with…

  • A Time to Search: Cease Striving, Start Seeking

    A Time to Search: Cease Striving, Start Seeking

    Reconciling the Biblical call to cease striving with the command to continually seek is tricky when you’re in the midst of searching out God’s will for your life. You know that sitting on your hands doing nothing isn’t what God asks of any one. At the same time, you know that moving ahead without his…

  • Jesus’ I AM Statements and Your Identity

    Jesus’ I AM Statements and Your Identity

    The unchanging character of God is such an assurance. It seems like everything is always changing- which means there is always something new to adapt to, to embrace, to struggle with. But when we know the great I AM, we have someone to rely on always. What a gift that the unchanging, completely trustworthy, everlasting…

  • Starting Well Means Growing In Grace

    Starting Well Means Growing In Grace

    When we got married one of our premarital counseling activities was sitting down with my in-laws to ask a few prescribed questions. One question went something like “what’s something you learned when you started out that has been valuable?” My mother-in-law answered: “It was actually about parenting. Someone told me to never punish a child…