No matter what communication skill I’m helping people with, I always teach people the pleasantly interested news anchor face. It’s the smallest investment with the biggest return. If you just think about what you want the other person to know, make sure your face matches that truth. You won’t look like a big clown, or Pollyanna, or anything other than that you are listening.
Intergenerational moments go beyond this mere sharing of the same physical space. These experiences occur when the pews turn into circles, allowing different generations to engage deeply with each other in meaningful ways. Instead of simply co-existing in location, there are opportunities for real connection, conversation, and contribution from every age group.
Our callings are unique because God has made each of us uniquely. Fearfully and wonderfully made can extend to the very things that we bring into the world for God’s pleasure.
When we forget this truth, we begin the process that can topple the next domino in the row, so to speak. Through all the uncertainties and disappointments of life, we must remember that Jesus will not be removed from that throne.
Although these are only a few summer community-building ideas, the possibilities are unlimited. As you are thinking and praying about what you might want to plan, listen to the needs of the community, then brainstorm about how you might be able to meet those needs.
When I felt the nudge to check in earlier, all I wanted to do was see how they were doing. I didn’t have a list of action items or suggestions for the girls. I just wanted this mom to know that I cared, but my silence communicated just the opposite. The silent treatment is always the worst communication plan.
Jesus not only explains in the parables of the kingdom the causes of this rejection, but also instills in his disciples hope and optimism. Not all the effort of preaching will be in vain! In the end, there will be a bountiful harvest, the weeds will be burned, the mustard seed will become a huge tree, and the yeast will make the flour grow.
Is it possible that I resist treating anything as sacred because to do so would encroach on my freedom, my own self-assertion? I don’t want anything or anyone telling me, “No.” How dare anyone tell me how to sit or dress, or where I can or cannot go?! But it seems to me that the sacred can only exist where there is a boundary. Where something is off-limits. Where guardrails are in place that prevent us from desecrating the holy.
Part of the responsibility we have as God’s co-creators is that we help our flock create the kinds of connection that God desires to have with them by modeling it for each other. If we truly believe that God’s best for us is to be fully in His presence in right relationship with Him, then we must take seriously the responsibility to unleash that presence on earth as it is in heaven through our roles as royal priests who make God known, especially to the neighbor you turn to greet.
I can honestly say that I am very blessed right now, even in the midst of all the grief. Why am I blessed, despite my mourning? It’s because I am being comforted in my mourning by fellow believers. Would I call myself “fortunate,” at least in the ways the world outside uses the term? Probably not. But I am most certainly blessed, in that good biblical sense of “the state in which everyone has exactly what they need right now, thanks to God’s good work in their lives”
Once you understand that your identity is grounded in God’s love, you are free to take risks, to grow and learn from your mistakes, and to try and fail because the outcome will not affect your identity in Him.
Living for the kingdom of God is the antithesis of living selfishly. It means being rich “toward God,” that is, investing in the kingdom of God, “enjoying this world, as though we had no enjoyment, for the form of this world is passing away’.
The road to the fullest possible joy is a path of obedience containing opportunities to follow that are contrary to human nature and turns opposite of which people often imagine themselves taking.
As you are planning events for the spring, general seasonal-themed events or ones focusing on local interests or holidays are good to consider. Bridge events create community on multiple levels: within our own churches by giving an opportunity for new members to get to know people as well as building bridges between our congregation and the community.
In the hustle of hospital corridors, amidst the beeping of monitors and the steady flow of patients and staff, chaplains often encounter God in ways that defy conventional expectations. As microcosms of human diversity, hospitals present unique opportunities to witness God. Here, individuals face their most vulnerable selves, whether due to illness, loss, or fear. In these moments, God is encountered in profound, unfiltered ways. It is not always within the walls of a church or in the company of believers that we most powerfully experience the divine. Instead, God’s presence often reveals itself in the faces and lives of those we least expect—those who may never speak the language of faith yet embody the very heart of divine compassion. These encounters reveal that the image of God—the imago Dei—dwells in everyone (Genesis 1:26-27).
Victor’s room looks out on a small courtyard. From his bed, he can see other buildings and a sliver of sky – just enough to be able to tell whether it’s clear or cloudy, rainy or fair. This limited view is as much as he has seen of the outside world since he was admitted to the hospital for a surgical operation that was supposed to be routine but instead was followed by serious complications.
My father is a professional artist, and when I was five years old, our local church commissioned him to paint a mural of St. John of God. John was born in Portugal in 1495 and was a soldier before he had a personal encounter with God. After this radical encounter, he believed his vocation was to serve the sick and poor, and he was often found cleaning the wounds of lepers. My father's painting depicted the leper whose feet St. John was washing, as the leper miraculously transformed into Christ. That powerful image impacted me as a child, has remained with me, and has become a part of my pastoral identity as a hospital chaplain.
We live in a time and a culture that seems especially tempted to see the unfairness and brutality of human existence as good reason to let go of God. And if we are honest, there are probably times when it feels like holding on is pointless, when we wonder if our struggle to keep our faith is even worth it. And to that experience, this story offers us a gift: May we be as stubborn as Jacob: refusing to let go, until we get a blessing.
We never really grow the Kingdom of God. God does that. However, burying the Kingdom not only hides it from others, but from ourselves. Consequently, we stunt our own spiritual formation out of fear of not growing the Kingdom, but when we boldly go into our world with the good news of a Kingdom built on love and grace with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, growth will take place.
It’s common knowledge that marriage is a risky business. If you’re strictly looking at it from a success rate, you might have better results investing in real estate. Sadly, too many modern marriages just don’t survive. Yet, even with high divorce rates, cohabitation soaring, and marriage rates falling, people are still taking the risk. And for most, I daresay, they don’t go into marriage expecting it to end. They, instead, are drawn to the hope of a love story that will have a happy ending.
