Reflections on the presence and power of the grace of God.
I’m a melancholy. This means I often wade out into each day half-cocked, one foot in and one foot out, anticipating morning misgivings and wishing my work space was a mattress-lined, dimly-lit den, and that my work was simply to wake up and go back to sleep five times a day. My mood grabs...
Read more →In this season of drought and dearth in my life, today’s reading in Genesis (chapters 22-24) brought home a point that I reckon I need to hear: God asks us to obey Him, and God provides. In His time, according to His will, He provides. In chapter 22, after giving Abraham and Sarah a...
Read more →“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” ~ Cicero Tonight I met my friend Jenise for dinner, and we took some time to catch up about life over Christmas break. After sharing about how the week blew by, and talking about what we each did, we turned to talk...
Read more →Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” ~ Genesis 4:6-7 After...
Read more →“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15 My friend Wendy said she...
Read more →“Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Acts 7:25 Yesterday, while reading in Acts 7 about Stephen speaking to the Sanhedrin, I was impressed with Stephen’s summary about Moses’ life, and specifically with the reminder that if we truly live seeking...
Read more →“Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:11 Last week I wrote about a foray I took into the literature on my bookshelves related to shame. The topic remains at the...
Read more →For much of my adult life, I have wrestled with the power of shame, and its significance in the making and breaking of the self, and of relationships. I have struggled with its subversive destructiveness all of my life, and as a result thought as a younger man I would take some time one...
Read more →“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” ~ I Cor. 16:13-14 Inevitably, I begin most mornings by waking up, and some care or concern floods my mind. I don’t have an overly complicated life, so my concerns are usually basic- they are...
Read more →Several months ago, a friend and I went through a book study because we had a talk one evening and we both realized that we didn’t feel our faith was making an impact in our lives. I had been given a copy of Dan Stone’s “The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel...
Read more →Brennan Manning has been one of my favorite authors for a number of years now. A former Catholic priest, Manning graduated years ago with a journalism degree from Northwestern which, in my mind, simply makes him a great writer. Brennan also jokes (but seriously) in one of his books that he is one of...
Read more →“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ~John 4:29 When Jesus meets the woman at the well in Sychar, he shares with her about the water he has to give which springs eternal. She is perplexed by this foreigner. A Jew, he shouldn’t be friendly...
Read more →In reply, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Yes, the term “born again” is popularly used to describe evangelicals who emerged out of the 60’s and 70’s as those who pressed for the necessity of a rebirth experience as part...
Read more →“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” John 2:19 When Jesus visits the Temple courts and sees men selling items and animals for use in sacrifices and offerings, he is incensed and drives everyone out of the courts. When the town constables come and ask him by what authority...
Read more →16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. In this competitive and comparative world, it is easy to lose a right perspective about who we are and how valuable we really are in God’s economy. With every website seemingly built around the cult of celebrity, screaming about...
Read more →This morning I started reading in John again, starting in chapter 1. we read that in the beginning was “the “Word”, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through Him all things were made. And this Word came into the world so that human beings might from Him, He who...
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