The Church as a Consumer Enterprise
“The great American innovation in congregation is to turn it into a consumer enterprise. If we have a nation of consumers, obviously the quicker and most effective way to get them into our...
View ArticleMusings on the Last Issue of Newsweek
Maybe it’s because I’m getting older (way older!), but I’ve been struck recently by endings. http://magazine-directory.com/Newsweek.htm A few weeks ago, I read the last print issue of Newsweek...
View ArticleThe Wonder of Creation
LIVING IN WONDER DEVOTIONAL This devotional first appeared in the July, August, September 2013 issue of Words of Hope. It is reprinted with permission. (You can find others in the category Living in...
View ArticleYard Sale – A Container For Grace
LIVING AS APPRENTICES Eugene Peterson encourages us to expect every job we get or every task we are assigned to be “a container for grace.” Yesterday the grace overflowed the container. Our...
View ArticleGoing Deeper with God – Luke 15: 25-32
Eugene Peterson’s book Eat this Book teaches us to chew on a passage of scripture, digest it, and then put it to use in practical ways. Our early Christian fathers and mothers called this process...
View Article“A Life Well Lived for Christ”
When my parents and I appeared on a now long-defunct TV show, (so defunct I cannot remember the name of the show ) in New York City, the host was quite amused at having a nine-year-old from Michigan in...
View ArticleSomething about Grace
“What if God is not mad at you?” This question from James Bryan Smith in The Good and Beautiful God sets up the psychological dilemma of today’s world. Many raging conflicts between races and between...
View ArticleFrom My Reading – Grace and Gratitude
Grace is God giving us everything we need (and even what we don’t know we need) without expectations. This grace is the foundation of God’s relationship with each of us. Grace is a gift. We cannot earn...
View ArticleThe Mark of a Great Disciple
“The mark of a great ship handler is never getting in a situation that requires great ship handling skills” (Retired Admiral James Stavridis in his new book Sea Power). I heard this gem during an...
View ArticleLiving in Darkness
For me, 2017 has been a year of heaviness and darkness. I am not depressed or guilt-ridden; I just feel the weight of the world’s chaos and pain. Perhaps I have been gifted by the Holy Spirit with a...
View ArticleLiving with Mystery
“Mystery, for [the apostle] Paul, is not what is left over after we have done our best to reason things out. It is inherent in the very nature of God and his works” (Eugene Peterson in As Kingfishers...
View ArticleNew Psalm 23 Blessing
One of the benefits of growing older is that our understanding of scripture passages can deepen. Psalm 23 has always been one of my favorite passages. I have written often about its meaning to me on...
View ArticleSpiritual Dawdling
“The opposite of seek is dawdle. To live aimlessly and listlessly. (Eugene Peterson in As Kingfishers Catch Fire, p. 137). Picture a three-year-old captivated by the world around her. Her eyes follow...
View ArticleEmbracing Revolution
“[Why] is preaching important? It develops an imagination adequate to embrace revolution” (Eugene Peterson in As Kingfishers Catch Fire, p 52). Does this Eugene Peterson quote fire your imagination?...
View ArticleGoing Deeper –“Give it One More Year” (Luke 13: 6-9)
In Eat this Book, Eugene Peterson teaches us to chew on a passage of scripture, digest it, and then put it to use in practical ways. Our early Christian fathers and mothers called this process Lectio...
View ArticleGoing Deeper with God: “Training Up” Disciples (Proverbs 22: 6)
In Eat this Book, Eugene Peterson teaches us to chew on a passage of scripture, digest it, and then put it to use in practical ways. Our early Christian fathers and mothers called this process Lectio...
View ArticleTransformed Lives Transforming the World in 2019 – Introduction
When I became the first Director of Spiritual Formation for my church, my goal was to teach and motivate people to strive to “be like Jesus.” When a new pastor arrived not long afterwards, the staff...
View ArticleFrom My Reading
“Miracle. It is badly identified when it is thought to mean that which we don’t understand. That’s the popular way the word is used, but it’s not the Christian way. . . Miracle, through the biblical...
View ArticleFrom My Reading
“Living a spiritual life requires a change of heart, a conversion. Such a conversion may be marked by a sudden inner change, or it can take place through a long, quiet process of transformation. But it...
View ArticlePraying a Penitential Psalm
“The Psalms express everything we are capable of experiencing: exuberant praise and reverent meditation, but also questioning, doubt, victimization, lament, pain, penitence, and repentance. Most of...
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