Gods looks like Jesus. And that changes everything.
“He came to serve, not be served” (Matthew 20:28, in The Message) It would not be an exaggeration to say that this sentence is changing my life. I make my living preaching and teaching the Bible. It is my passion. I love exploring its mysteries and...
I hate waiting. My skin crawled with impatience in the coffee line this morning, even though there was nowhere I needed to be. Sometimes this feeling is what keeps me from praying. It’s not God’s wise “no” to my prayers that I dread most. It’s that...
If you were to pinpoint the sin—the bad habit or hang-up, if you prefer—that is costing you the most, what would it be? I’ve begun to suspect that the truest answer for most of us is one that rarely crosses our minds. I’ve been reading...
There is probably no teaching of Jesus more universally beloved than this little gem: “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And...
There’s a story Jesus tells about a man who goes on an extended journey and leaves a sum of money for each of three servants to tend in his absence. Two of the servants double the investment. The third sticks the money in a hole—the ancient...
There’s a story told in 1 Kings 17 about a prophet named Elijah who delivers bad news to a person in power and is forced to hide out in the wilderness. When famine hits and the local food and water sources dry up, God tells Elijah to go to a town...
Recently praying about a decision I needed to make, I kept having a strange experience. During prayer I would reach a point of seeming clarity about the best action to take. But an hour or two later, the clarity would vanish. This happened again and...
I’ve been slowly making my way through Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren. If you haven’t read it, the book is about how the small things we do everyday form us and how we can better show up to the presence of God at work within them...
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...
Gods looks like Jesus. And that changes everything.