Enjoy
It can all be so exhausting: life, livelihood, striving, even spirituality with its laundry list of how to be. Maybe that’s why Psalm 130 is one of my favorites. The poet seems to want one thing, to enjoy God! When last did you just enjoy God? The fact of God? The way...
Jesus but Not Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth was dispatched to us by God as God because loves the world. Because of that act, Jesus is peerless when it comes to name recognition. From the beginning, groups have used Jesus’ name with little allegiance to his Name. I call them Jesus but Not Jesus...
Spirit Is…
The Holy Spirit is: life-giver, gift, helper, indweller, fire, wind-like, teacher, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, power, freedom, truth, hope, belonging, giver of favor, fellowship increaser, healer, reconciler, hovering creator, forever friend,...
Blessed
Being blessed isn’t a magical idea. In large part, it’s about tapping into the power grid that God has graciously arranged for all of us to enjoy. Nowhere is this clearer than in the poetry of Psalm 1. There the poet introduces some to and refreshes others with...
Friends
To be a servant of God and neighbor is what Jesus holds up for us, until today. According to Jesus, “…servants don’t know what the Master is doing.” But now, “I have told you everything,” Jesus says. That means we are now his “friends.” Being friends with Jesus...
Breaking News!
“Breaking news: Jesus speaks life from the garden.” That would be the headline if the Gospel read like The New York Times or The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sometimes Rabbi, sometimes wonder-worker, Jesus of Nazareth convenes a small gathering of day laborers and...
Valley
Easter isn’t the absence of valleys in life, it’s the presence of hope despite the “shadow of death” in the valley. We get this reminder over and over again in the Bible because weariness and despair hunt us in the valleys of life. And because soul-strengthening faith...
Between
The first thing Jesus does when he’s raised from the dead, is find his friends behind locked doors in fear and offer “Peace.” Peace, not the absence of hardship, but the presence of liberation. He shows his wounds to his friends. What a defiant act. He bears no shame...