He was left all alone. For centuries these haunting words have filled the space between human extremity and divine encounters.
All in Discipleship
The Things that Make for Peace: Making Friends with Your Emotions
My anger is less likely to seek to destroy someone else than it is to seek to destroy me. That’s one of the things I’m learning about my anger as I get to know it better.
Passing on Faith
Teaching our children to follow God is one of the most profound tasks we are given; indeed, it is our primary mission field.
Spiritual Direction, Patience, and A Man Called Ove
Like fiction where the author tells us what each nod or smile means, it is a lovely image! Except, I haven’t experienced it to be true.
Is It Too Late to Turn Back? Reflections on the Difficulties of Change
You brace yourself for the change, you rally the forces, you organize every detail, and you convince yourself that you have created a foolproof plan for a perfect and seamless transition.
Saved from Myself
God uses truly “beautiful” people from time to time, to hold up the mirror, show us our own ugliness, and save us from ourselves. Thank you, Lord.
Who’s the Boss?
Our freedom is found not in being without a master, but in the identity of our master. Because there will always be a boss, it very much matters who that boss will be.
Yet - from Balkan Voices
What is the difference between reasoned encouragement that penetrates the soul and glib phrases that skate off our skin?
Pocket Phrases
When you decide to reach out to someone in the wake of a divorce, death, cancer, addiction, or even if they have skipped a few Sundays, there is a risk that you might say the wrong thing.
The Things that Make for Peace: Saying “I’m Sorry”
If the apology becomes about us receiving forgiveness, we’ve lost our focus on the welfare of the other and are just trying to make ourselves feel good.
I Remember - from Rusty Tugman (on His Son's Birthday)
How could I forget the one who made known to me a kind of love that runs so deep it cannot be explained?
Foundations for Worship: Jewish Feasts
Foundations provide support for structures, but that does not mean that the structures will look like the foundation. A house does not look like a basement.
Shabbat and Learning to Let Go
God, creator of the universe, stopped to rest. Not because he had to but because he chose to. God took a day off, then he called it holy!
The Heart of the Matter
When your heart hurts, to whom will you turn? When this isn’t working anymore (whatever this is), to whom will your heart lead you?
The Blessing of Challenge
What opportunities has God put in front of you that would allow you to get outside of your own set of norms, to be challenged in what you think to be true or best?
Haters Gonna Hate
Exploring what the Gospel has to say about the world has caused me to rethink how I view the world, what I expect from the world, and what I should see as my purpose in the world.
Making Disciples Is Not Like Selling Ads, But Still ...
I talk to everybody about Jesus. So sometimes I talk to people who are not interested. But I notice that the more people I share Jesus with, the more disciples I make.
Chronic Pain and Unmitigated Joy (or "we just sold our house")
A day will come when the burden will be lifted. In a flash the situation will improve, and I will feel joy. Or perhaps the situation will improve gradually, and I will feel my steps growing lighter and easier.
Let's Try That at Home
When an organization faces the normal shifts and changes that accompany any living body, both task and relational efforts are critical.
Living the Spiritual Life in Real Life
What does it mean to live in the space between when we first come to know God at salvation and today? In other words, what does it mean to live the spiritual life in real life?