Truth telling seems pretty easy. We learn early in life that our parents just have a sixth sense about when their children bend the truth. But the reality is, even when our intentions are good, exaggerations, gossip, and the bending of truth can very easily slip into our dialogue. In...
He is risen. He is risen indeed. Today is Easter. It is the day we celebrate this unending mystery of resurrection and life. We cannot understand how life reenters the dead, but we cling to this story we have been handed and will share with our children. Although we will never fully grasp this...
Since we are currently in the season of Lent, it is appropriate to share some thoughts about the spiritual discipline of fasting. Lent is the 40 days (not counting Sundays) that lead up to Easter Sunday in which many Christians throughout the centuries have modeled Jesus’ example of...
Scripture is a significant way that we learn about and engage with God, through the Holy Spirit. It reveals to us something about who God is, how God has been working in the world, and how we are invited to participate in the Mission of God. Within scripture, we find stories of our spiritual...
January is the season of newness. Here in the midst of the dead of winter we find new beginnings - not just because we are still marking the 12 days of Christmas, but because we flip our calendars to a new year. As we begin to count this 2018th trip around the sun since the birth of our Lord, we...
O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This is the season of anticipation. Despite our culture’s best effort to convince us that this time of the year is all about immediate gratification and consumerism, as believers, we know this is when we rehearse the part of God’s story where he breaks into...
This post is two days late. Why? Because it’s fall. Fall is when the pace of my own life becomes frantic. The rhythm of my ministry picks up during this season as we continue with the normal activity of the year and add on preparation for 2018. Basketball season begins which means coaching...
Earlier this summer, when I was visiting Israel, I had the amazing opportunity to be at the Western Wall as Shabbat (Sabbath) was coming in. As we arrived, the heat of the day was quickly dissipating and a palpable energy was humming in the air. The arrival of Shabbat was announced over a...
“And let us be wise, so that we do not wed another’s madness and then make them in debt to us for the deep gash their helpless, raging lance will cause.” This statement by Francis of Assisi is a motive that draws me to silence and solitude. When I am surrounded by noise and...
My grandparents had 40 acres they farmed when I was a kid. Some of my most favorite childhood memories are being out in the field trying to feed the cows by hand, or running full speed through the garden between the towering walls of corn rows, or climbing on the hay bales stacked in the barn. I...