Life Lived Coram Deo
I didn’t take Latin in school, but I’ve always been fascinated with the language. In fact, I remember an old chain email from back in the day with a list of Latin phrases that I worked hard to memorize. As with most things I work hard to memorize, I promptly forgot it...
Do you know the meaning of Prodigal?
Pop quiz: what does the word prodigal mean? If you’re like me, the only context you have for that word is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15. At the end of the story, after the son wastes his inheritance on reckless living, comes to his senses, and...
He is Worthy of our Worship
“The heavens declare the glory of God,” sings David in Psalm 19, “and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” In other words, there is nothing in all of creation that does not continually cry out in...
Are You Telling Your Story?
Poet Muriel Rukeyser said, “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” Nothing moves us so deeply and communally as a story, the story of who we are and where we come from, the story of good triumphing over evil, the story of an underdog up against impossible...
Called to Show Justice, Love Kindness, and Walk Humbly
Martin Luther King Jr. famously wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club...
Look Up, Child
During community group last week, we were commenting on how long we’ve been coping with this stay-at-home situation and how it feels sometimes like it’s been years. “It’s been fifty-five days,” piped up one group member. “But who’s counting?” For many of us, these...
Why We Must Humble Ourselves
God is pretty clear in his scriptures about his thoughts on pridefulness and humility; he leaves no room for the former but he loves and graciously provides the latter for his children. Psalm 138 says: “Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the...
This Is The Real Work
Wendell Berry is one of my favorite authors and poets. His poem “The Real Work” struck me recently as particularly wise for our time. It reads in its entirety: It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer...
A Deeper Look At The Heart
I have been thinking a lot about the heart lately. Not the four-chambered muscle working around the clock to keep us alive, but the heart in the biblical sense, as the seat of our emotions and desires. Our truest selves. The youest you. The Bible has a lot to say...
Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled
Let not your hearts be troubled. Jesus tells his disciples this as he is preparing for his painful, ignominious death. He has such a short time to tell them everything they will need to know when he is gone. There is still so much to teach them! How could he be so...