I would like to approach joy beginning with some of the words people confuse with joy and see how joy is different from these spiritual counterfeits. Perhaps backing into joy this way will allow us to gain a fresh understanding and useful appreciation of what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin called “the most unmistakable sign of the presence of God.” Continue reading
Those who think the direction of the gospel is from earth to heaven have one thing in common with those who are obsessed with when the Lord will return. They are about as useful as a square wheel when it comes to living the gospel. Continue reading
The Bible constantly surprises and even at times shocks anyone who reads it with an open mind and a receptive heart. Among the biggest surprises is the number of times in the Hebrew Scriptures God negotiates with God’s people and even drastically changes the Divine Mind. Such a God does… Continue reading
That day on the Mount of Olives marks a pivotal transition in the life of the church. Luke is the only Gospel writer to report this ascension. We don’t do much with the ascension in our theology. In fact, some people are embarrassed by the way Luke presents it. Is… Continue reading
The only way I know to address the selfishness and greed of our society is to question some of the assumptions held closest and dearest to our hearts. And seldom does any culture do that voluntarily. Almost always such a change comes only through catastrophe. Continue reading
Do not follow where the path may lead. Follow God, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. I came across this quote many years ago. I have no idea who is responsible for the pithy manner in which this wisdom has been expressed, but it struck me… Continue reading
According to a Jewish folktale, there were once two brothers who farmed together and split their profits right down the middle – half to one brother and half to the other. Each brother had his own granary. One brother was married and had a large family while the other remained… Continue reading
Imagine if you will that you are a teenage boy some 2600 years ago in the Kingdom of Judah and God’s word comes to you in a powerful and unmistakable way. God says, “You are to be my prophet to the nations.” Like Jeremiah you would probably protest–“I am too… Continue reading
(14 minutes) In a scene from N. Richard Nash’s play called The Rainmaker, two people have a conversation in a rural area during the drought-stricken Great Depression. Starbuck, the dreamer of dreams that almost never come true, complains to Lizzy about a world in which reality falls far short of… Continue reading
I am writing this article during the week before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January of 2019. In the midst of all the deceit and demagoguery coming from the White House and the President’s flunkies, the blatant racist words and deeds in so many arenas, and the cowardice of… Continue reading
