Weekend Wisdom / How to read the Bible when you know too much.

The Bible is a vital tool for learning about Jesus and building a relationship with God. Yet, many people have a difficult relationship with the Bible. A variety of hurdles keep them from experiencing the Bible in a life-giving way. This summer, to help with this problem, I’m teaching a series called, “How to read […]

Weekend Wisdom / Walking in the In-Between Moment

Are you living in an in-between moment? Something in your life is unresolved? You’ve prayed about it, and it seems like no answer has come? How do we live in this in-between space? Chapter 4 of John’s gospel ends with a miracle story, but buried in the middle of the story is one of these […]

An Open Letter to Christians on the Internet

Dear Christians who spend time online, Isn’t the internet amazing! So much information just a click away. New ways to learn and communicate. New opportunities to interact. It’s great, right? Well… I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it seems like we are not so good at being Christian online. I don’t mean that we’re not […]

Quote – Jesus is God’s Guarantee

Another solid reminder from Richard Rohr: “Jesus is our guarantee of God’s promise.” Rohr is a Catholic priest, pastor, writer, thinker and counselor. He comes from a different tradition of the Christian family than I do, and he’s on the extreme edges for some. But his clear and compassionate writing has been life-saving for me. […]

Quote – Justice & Neighborliness

The Christian community is having a significant resurgence thinking about what is meant by justice. It’s important because justice and righteousness are the same greek word. The church has been really clear about our call to righteousness. We meant being holy. But the word is the same as justice. What does that mean? Rick Mckinley […]

Weekend Wisdom / Tell Your Jesus Story

Evangelism. Some Christians love it. Some hate it. The problem isn’t with Jesus. It’s with the expectations and methods that we’ve been taught. In Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well, we learn from the first recorded evangelist. What we see is rather different than what we’ve often been taught. If you’d prefer to […]

Quote – Christian spirituality can be deadly.

Another gut punch from Pete Scazzero. The disconnect between discipleship and emotional maturity has left a church full of people who hurt each other. We’re in denial about our junk. We pretend to be OK. We avoid talking about our pain and grief. The result is dishonest, inauthentic relationships. If you haven’t read Scazzero, you […]

When the Bible’s been used to bash, clobber, or hurt you.

I was in my church office. A woman, sitting in the chair across from me, was crying. My heart was breaking for her. She had just confessed to me—apparently embarrassed and ashamed—that she felt enormous anger about the Bible. There were parts she couldn’t even bring herself to read! Hearing her story, I wondered how […]

Quote – Don’t Be Afraid

This is just truth, and framed in Buechner’s famous wordsmithery: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” God doesn’t make life shiny and perfect. We are not protected from every possible bad thing. The world is complicated. Great and horrible. But we are not alone. Great work from Buechner: […]

Quote – Turning Toward our Pain

We do great damage to ourselves and others when we don’t deal with our grief. The only way to healing is through it. Jesus gave us that example. Pete Scazerro put it this way: “Turning toward our pain is counterintuitive but the heart of Christianity is that the way to life is through death.” Pete […]

Quote – Vocation & Passion

What should I do when I grow up? What is my calling? Buechner nails it: “Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need.” What an insightful way to think about what matters most to us! Frederich Buechner is a creative writer, pastor and theologian. He’s an exceptional thinker and writer. If you […]

Quote – Jesus Entered our Drama

There is no part of your life that wasn’t taken up into Christ. All of our experience! This, from Jesus: A Theography: “Jesus entered the drama of human existence and experienced the whole gamut of humanity so He could transform it.” Len Sweet and Frank Viola wrote a deep and powerful book called Jesus: A […]

Quote – Don’t Take it Personally

Seriously, this is one of the most important and freeing things you can learn about life, from the writer D.M. Ruiz. “Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.” The more personally we take other people’s reactions, the more we get distracted […]

Weekend Wisdom / Spirit & Truth Right Now.

Jesus’ conversation with the outsider woman at the well in Samaria, starts to go personal. At that moment the woman brings up a long-standing theological debate. “Where are we supposed to worship?” This question is about more than geography. It’s a question about truth. Who has it?  Jesus’ answer is surprising. He talks about worshiping in […]

Quote – God’s Patience with the Pious

I read this and thought, “I know, right?!” George MacDonald was always one for insightful and scathing quips. “I understand God’s patience with the wicked, but I do wonder how He can be so patient with the pious.” George MacDonald was a Scottish preacher. Widely influential (Known as an influence of Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis, […]