Rebecca Hein's Page

The voice of Christ frees us from bondage to rules. Focusing on the immediate, direct teaching of our Shepherd simplifies our task, because all we need to do is wait for guidance. With God’s voice comes the power to obey, something a focus on rules, even the right rules, can never provide.

However, reading Scripture, especially the New Testament, can tempt us into focusing on Jesus’s precepts for living. This in turn siphons our…

We all need a refuge from stress and severe distraction; a retreat where we can withdraw for a time from life’s problems, so that when we return, they feel more manageable. This is God’s intent for the Sabbath.

Rest, in the Old Covenant, meant a special day when people were supposed to pause in their outward work. But how do we pause in our duel with the stresses of daily life?

The visitation of God, directly to the soul, in the person of Jesus Christ, is our…

The early Quaker experience shows that unity is possible among those who are listening to Christ. George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement in seventeenth century England, saw that God speaks to all with one voice, and therefore does not contradict himself.

When differing points of view on important matters emerged in a Quaker meeting, all present waited for God to show them who was right. Sometimes the task fell to one person to turn the whole group in the right direction,…

Almost all Christians incorporate the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer into their worship services. After all, Jesus said, “This is how you should pray,” before speaking the words every believer knows so well. (Matt. 6: 9-13 NIV)

However, the preceding passage in Matthew illustrates the reason the Lord’s Prayer is necessary: “[W]hen you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matt. 6:7) This admonition goes to…