InterVarsity Press is giving away one free e-book on racial justice (with the JUST20 code at check-out), while also promising to continue giving full royalties to the authors. This is a great opportunity for many of us to learn how our faith speaks into racial justice and against systemic forms of oppression. Go check it … Continue reading Let’s keep learning →

Unless it's unavoidable, we humans are really good at ignoring things that make us uncomfortable. Near the beginning of the pandemic, I swore off network news as it was providing 24 hours of scary data and uncomfortable stories. I found myself numbly scrolling through social media, saddened by the state of the world. My anxiety … Continue reading Some Uncomfortable Scripture →

After taking a week off from blogging to focus on a virtual preaching conference, I took another week off because, well, I kind of forgot about it because the rhythm of writing here had been interrupted. And, goodness, look at what a couple weeks can bring. The coronavirus pandemic reached a new tragic milestone in … Continue reading Sunday into Monday: Breath →

In light of last week's blog series on rest, combined with attending a virtual preaching conference this week, I will be taking the week off from blog writing. I will not be coming into the church office, and I will be resting from some other weekly tasks. I'm thankful that our church allows me to … Continue reading Off Week →

We're morphing #ThinkAheadThursday with the blog series on rest. The sermon this Sunday will focus on the most exhaustive exhortation on resurrection in Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15. As I studied this passage, our exploration of rest continued to pop into my mind. This is not a passage on rest, and yet I found it restful. … Continue reading Let’s talk about rest: Resurrection →

Words often have interesting roots that we take for granted. For example, in English, think of denim jeans. Have you ever wondered the origin? I just found this out: the first denim in the world was produced in Genoa, Italy and Nimes, France. The French word for Genoa is Gênes ...  and when that is English-ized, … Continue reading Let’s talk about rest: Stop! →

I shared this a few weeks ago, but it's worth revisiting. Here's a way to learn about and practice the spiritual discipline of Sabbath. From Adele Ahlberg Calhoun's Handbook on Spiritual Disciplines: Sabbath Desire: to set apart one day a week for rest and worship of God Definition: Sabbath is God's gift of repetitive and regular rest. … Continue reading Let’s talk about rest: Sabbath →

I usually post on here by noon on M-Th, and some Fridays. But, boy, I'm tired today. I think it's important to share that. Not to complain, not to get sympathy, but to be transparent with you all and stand in solidarity with you. Because I bet you're tired, too. Tired from the emotional energy … Continue reading Let’s talk about rest: I’m tired, y’all →

The life of the beloved, of Christians, is not and was never meant to be a private affair. Yes, there are many private aspects. Being chosen, blessed, and broken often require the spiritual and private work of cultivating an awareness of God's presence, though there are corporate parts of this cultivation. But we are chosen, … Continue reading Life of the Beloved: Given →

The Life of the Beloved is a life of being chosen, blessed, broken, and given. Today we consider he most difficult of those four: brokenness. Of all the quotes attributed the Scripture that aren't actually in Scripture, like "God helps those who help themselves" or "God works in mysterious ways," here's one that is close to … Continue reading Life of the Beloved: Broken →