Pastor Eve Mercie 
Trust is the one thing you cannot demand back after you have broken it. You can ask for forgiveness and receive it the same afternoon. You can confess, repent, and mean every word of it. The person across from you can genuinely choose to forgive you, and the trust can still be shattered at the … Read more
No marriage in the Bible was free of problems. Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife. Twice. Jacob was tricked into marrying the wrong woman. David’s household was a catalog of dysfunction from the adultery with Bathsheba forward. Even the idealized love poem of Song of Solomon includes a scene where the bride opens the … Read more
David had Saul pinned in a cave in 1 Samuel 24. The king who had been hunting him for years was right there, vulnerable, completely unaware. David’s men told him God had delivered the enemy into his hands. David crept forward, cut a corner off Saul’s robe, and then immediately felt convicted about it. He … Read more
Two people cannot occupy the same relationship for long without friction. Marriage produces it. Friendship produces it. Church life produces it. Even Paul and Barnabas, two men who planted churches together across hostile territory, had a disagreement sharp enough that they split up and went separate directions in Acts 15:39. The Bible does not pretend … Read more
The term emotional intelligence entered mainstream vocabulary in the 1990s through Daniel Goleman’s bestselling book. The concept, however, is embedded in Proverbs, the Psalms, and the letters of Paul in ways that predate the psychological framework by thousands of years. What Goleman organized into five competencies (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill), Solomon had … Read more
Love is patient sits at the front of the list in 1 Corinthians 13:4 for a reason Paul probably did not need to explain to the church in Corinth. They were fighting with each other. Factions had formed around competing leaders. Lawsuits between believers were happening in public courts. The love chapter was written into … Read more
The entire gospel is a reconciliation story. Two parties separated by a chasm one of them could not cross. God on one side. Humanity on the other. And the bridge was built entirely from God’s side using materials humanity did not supply. Second Corinthians 5:18 says all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled … Read more
When Jesus saw the crowds, Matthew 9:36 says he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. The Greek word used there is splanchnizomai, and it describes a visceral reaction, something felt in the gut before the brain processes it. Jesus did not observe the crowd’s condition from … Read more
Micah 6:8 lists three things God requires: Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly. The mercy is the one placed in the middle, flanked by justice on one side and humility on the other. It holds the center because without it the justice becomes cold and the humility becomes passive. Mercy gives both of them warmth. … Read more
Everyone has someone in their life who makes the command to love your neighbor feel like a personal test designed by God specifically for them. The coworker who takes credit for your ideas. The family member who weaponizes every conversation. The friend who only calls when they need something and disappears when you do. Matthew … Read more