God looks like Jesus. And that changes everything.
The third in a three-part series of reflections on gifts and lessons that come from seasons of darkness… The love of God is different from mine. The darkness taught me this. One of my chief priorities in life is sparing people pain—especially those...
The second in a three-part series of reflections on the gifts and lessons that come from seasons of darkness… What does it look like to honor God when you’re at the utter end of yourself? I thought about this question a lot during my last season of...
At least three times in my life, I’ve experienced seasons of particularly intense darkness. Two of these seasons were triggered by wrenching changes in circumstance. One fell seemingly without any external cause at all. I look back on these dark...
The book of Acts offers this provocative description of early Christian life: “All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every...
I used to dream of doing great things as a follower of Jesus—maybe even changing the world. It’s honestly pretty embarrassing, looking back on it, to realize how little I grasped the world’s complexity or the depth of my own weakness. I remember...
Few teachings of Jesus are more mysterious and difficult than his words about forgiveness: “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you won’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins”...
Like virtually everyone I know, I’ve been watching the news these last few weeks with shock and grief. There seems to be no limit to the horrors human beings will inflict on each other. The world is full of impossible pain. Of course, to be aware of...
To be perfectly honest, I don’t spend much time with the Big Ten (i.e. commandments) these days. I think long ago I just kind of mentally filed them under “basic,” together with first grade math and paint-by-number books. I mean, how hard is it...
A religious expert comes up to Jesus and asks what he must do to gain eternal life. “What do you think?” Jesus asks. The man replies, “I think you must love God with all you are and love your neighbor as yourself.” “You nailed it,” says Jesus. The...
Can I confess something? I’ve been feeling angry a lot lately. And I’m not the only one. As a pastor, I spend a lot of time my listening to people in all walks of life, religious and not. If I were asked to sum up in a phrase how we, collectively...
God looks like Jesus. And that changes everything.