One of the many revolutionary aspects of the message of Jesus was the immediacy of friendship with God. Until Jesus’ arrival, the thought of being in a one-to-one relationship with…
There is no bait-and-switch in Jesus’ presentation of what life would be like for those who followed him. He bluntly told his disciples they would be hated and rejected and…
Given the vast and gaping ‘in-Adam’ limitations of our fallenness, it wouldn’t be surprising that our response to God’s ways would be something like, “You’ve got to be kidding!” From…
The disciples had no vocabulary for their experience of this thing: Grace. Nothing in their upbringing had prepared them for the shock of having their lives Grace-gifted. And with such…
One startling new reality for the disciples-become-apostles was the abundance of the gift of grace which continually energized, motivated, filled, blessed, sweetened, their day in day out lives. The writers…
The antidote to the bedlam of our day is purposefully chosen stillness. A place where the din of malevolent voices is barricaded from our wearied souls. A place where non-anxious…
More than a baby. More than a redeemer. More than a friend. More than a suffering servant. More. Always more. Always beyond. Always intimate. Always ridiculously, unwaveringly, unstoppably, in love…
Ask a child to describe air. Ask a fish to describe water. These essential elements are pure gifts, vital carriers of life: air to us, water to fish. Awareness of…
Like the gifts of Hope and Peace, Joy is a current reality, percolating in us, mightily operational. Unlike those first two, joy is not just powerful. It is loud, jubilant,…
