Hate is about controlling others, while love is about becoming vulnerable to them. Vulnerability opens us up to suffering because people will inevitably hurt us.
All in Discipleship
Your Silence Will Not Protect You
When are you keeping quiet when you suspect something isn’t working, and why?
Monday to Saturday Faith
This conviction – that God is already in our homes, our Zoom calls, our neighborhoods and parks – offers us a vibrant and hopeful invitation.
You Can’t Teach Confidence, Right?
When you are thrown off balance by a comment, a criticism, a conflict, a failure, a judgement, or a surprise topic at an elders’ meeting, do you have a verbal recovery plan?
Discernment Is God’s Gift to the Church, Not to an Individual
I fear Christians are doing decision-making the wrong way. We are not lone wolves who must discern the will of God on our own. Spiritual gifts like discernment are given for the common good.
Serenity in the Savage
Next time you feel the savage overcoming the serene, try taking a moment to experience some element of nature.
Pomegranates, Protestants, and Pictures
But are pomegranates and icons really on par with one another? After all, it is not like pomegranates were put in the temple to represent the image of God like Rublev’s icon of the hospitality of Abraham depicts the Trinity.
You Are Loved
I now know (with all my heart) that I am deeply loved. Not because I have minimized my sin and helped others manage theirs, but simply because I exist.
A Lesson in Hermeneutics
Readers of Scripture are inherently also interpreters of Scripture, and if we are not careful with our interpretation, or if we are ignorant of how we interpret, then we can dangerously warp and misuse Scripture.
The Emptiness of Outrage and the Possibilities of Humility
Too many Christians today are trying to be like traditional fishermen, more obsessed with killing than with catching people alive.
Breathing Lessons
Although the app I was using intended this breath practice to inspire self confidence, it triggered my memory of the practice of breath prayers.
Led by the Word
We must desire to feast on God’s living word daily so that we can truly find nourishment and growth. Without it, we will surely die of malnutrition.
Seeking Jesus
While the wise men sought to find Jesus, I watched a man yelling at police officers at the U.S. Capitol building while holding a flag with a Christian fish and the name of Jesus.
An Extra Candle
Special days and seasons tend to have a polarizing effect on our emotions and spiritual lives. Do you feel this every year too?
Where Christmas Starts
The first lesson of Christmas is to keep showing up even when your miracle hasn’t.
The Miracle of Gratitude
Ingratitude doesn’t just cause you to miss the miracle; it also takes you further away from all that is good.
Follow That Van: A Lesson in Following Jesus
Concluding that our children had jumped the gun, deserted the plan, and were now heading away from us, we set out in hot pursuit.
Why Read “The Cost of Discipleship”?
This is a book I have read many times over by now. I still continue to gain new insights into what it means to live grace.
Got Peace?
Peace is not the absence of conflict; it’s living in the presence of God in a restored relationship with him through Jesus Christ.
A Christian Yogi Preacher
I believe that God is present and at work in the church, the yoga studio, drug-infested neighborhoods, and anywhere else.