Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
I think it was Reggie McNeal who first said, “People…are not leaving the church because they have lost their faith. They are leaving to preserve their faith.” That statement may be shocking—even heretical—to some, but I suspect that for many it is enlightening, effectively explaining declining church attendance, albeit in a disconcerting and confronting manner. […]
Lately I’ve been meditating on the phrase “tree of life.” It occurs in only three books of the Bible: Genesis, Revelation, and Proverbs. In Genesis, we find the tree of life in the garden of Eden, while in Revelation the tree of life is mentioned in the book’s concluding chapter, which addresses the new heaven […]
The word meditate is a verb. Verbs are action words; they are doing words. To mediate means to reflect on; to contemplate; to think about something deeply (especially spiritual matters). I often meditate on what God tells me in the Bible and through his Spirit. The result of one such season of meditation culminated in […]
My typical day is divided between three activities: writing, job, and personal (which includes work around the house and leisure pursuits). To make matters more complicated, each of these three tasks takes place at home. Sometimes I am self-disciplined enough to attend to each undertaking in its apportioned time, but not always. I too often […]
Where is Church? Over the holidays I reconnected with a valued friend. Although our paths had diverged for a couple of years, we easily picked up where we left off. We talked about writing and family and faith—and eventually, church. He had taken a time-out from attending, only recently returning for the sake of his […]
Make This Year Different Than Last Christmas is (or at least, should be) a spiritual event. It is a grand celebration of Jesus. In my prior post, Reimagining Christmas, I encouraged a reclamation of the day’s true meaning and making it a spiritual experience. Now, seven days hence, another holiday is upon us: New Year’s […]
Like most people, I have expectations for Christmas: spending time with family and friends, giving gifts, reaching out to others, enjoying festive food at advent gatherings, and so forth. Much of my Christmas spirit is triggered by sights, sounds, and smells that conjure up happy memories of Christmases past. What if we were removed to […]
My wife once scored us great seats at a concert, front row and centered. I was elated. Not only would we have the closest possible view, but there would be no one standing in front of me, so I could remain comfortably seated the entire show. The Concert But when the concert began, everyone stood—and […]
Why is He Important? I recently happened upon an interesting understanding of time from Joachim of Fiore, of the past, present, and future. It identifies three major eras of the God who is revealed in the Bible. From the perspective of medieval Christendom—as exemplified by Joachim of Fiore—history is prophetically divided into three eras, each […]
An increasing number of people say that they are “spiritual but not religious.” For some this is merely a trendy thing to say, but beyond making them sound hip and appear insightful, it is an empty platitude. For others, claiming to be “spiritual but not religious” is an attempt to abdicate responsibility for their behavior […]