Every December, one of my favorite things happens. “Top 20” booklists come out, numerous book reviews are published, and lists from what various people read during the year also dot the internet. These lists and book reviews provide material for my own reading in the coming year or challenge me to read books I wouldn’t … Continue reading What I Read In 2019
Writings
On Lent and Grace
For many years now, I have followed and loved the practice of giving up something for Lent, in order to more deeply pursue Jesus during those 40 days. While many people simply give up something for the season, I wholeheartedly believe that what one gives up should cost us in some way. I do not … Continue reading On Lent and Grace
Glory Thieves: The Story Is Not About Us
At the bottom of a broken marriage, a shattered family, or a forsaken friendship you will always find stolen glory. We crave glory that does not belong to us, and we step on one another to get it. Rather than glorifying God by using the things he has given us to love other people, we … Continue reading Glory Thieves: The Story Is Not About Us
Jesus, You Are the One We Wait For
Following the last words being spoken, the heavy curtains rolled across the stage. Silence fell heavy like snow. Darkness deep as night. People walked away. There was nothing more to see here. There was no encore to the drama. Nothing. There would be no more words for four hundred years. God is Working in our … Continue reading Jesus, You Are the One We Wait For
If Home is Where the Heart is…
As I look back on moving to the cities a month ago, the question that has often passed through my thoughts is, what truly makes a place home? Is a place home simply because we physically live there? Is a place home because we were born in a particular town? What about the place our … Continue reading If Home is Where the Heart is…
When the Church Hurts the Ones We Love
“When I was 17-years-old, I realized the church was full of hypocrites.” “The [denomination of churches] are a crock.” “After my church experiences, I wanted my children to grow up believing in God or in the universe or whatever they wanted to believe in. I didn’t take them to church.” “The man who was teaching … Continue reading When the Church Hurts the Ones We Love
Reflections on Leaving: Farewells, Dead Fathers, and Following Jesus
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury … Continue reading Reflections on Leaving: Farewells, Dead Fathers, and Following Jesus
