BUSH + BONO = WRONG

In the beginning, God built a Garden where people could live at peace with God and each other and enjoy God’s protection and provision. There was no conflict, no hurt, no want. It was very good. (Genesis 1&2) Adam and Eve were created to be the “image of God”. They… Read More
Do faithful followers of God experience anxiety and depression? David did. I have. David models a way through mental illness in Psalm 42. •David got REAL David was honest with God and others about his thoughts and feelings. He admitted he was thirsty, panting, weeping, doubting, not eating, feeling alone… Read More
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And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 It’s Thursday. Rabbi Jesus and his students gathered to celebrate the Passover in the same way faithful Jews had for generations before.… Read More
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4,5 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?3 My tears have… Read More
Appointment is not approval. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders made headlines this week when she said, “I think that [God] wanted Donald Trump to become president.” Romans 13:1 says in part “there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” (NRSV)… Read More
“My husband was a Christian when we got married,” Anna began. It’s not the first time I’ve heard this story: An intelligent man, unable to square his faith with his logic, walks away from faith. I was like Anna’s husband once. I told Anna that in college I didn’t become… Read More
Twenty years I’ve been living in Nashville. And living here you learn something about talented humans that you just can’t learn many other places: The most admirable people are the ones who demand admiration the very least. The most gifted make themselves a gift to others. View Post
What does that word “justice” mean and what does the bible say about it? I was recently invited to speak about biblical justice at an event. And of course I said “yes.” And of course I had no idea what the word “justice” even meant. I knew it was in… Read More
Philippians 4:10-13 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is… Read More
Isaiah 58:11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah warned the people of Judah that their exile was coming. They were religious… Read More
Philippians 2:15b-18 …you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am… Read More
My oldest turns fourteen today. At the end of the month I’ll have a birthday too. Christmas birthdays are rough – everyone’s so busy that it’s hard to get a party together. But Jesus has it the worst doesn’t He? At his party everyone else gets all the presents. Sometimes… Read More
Only Jesus and poverty make me cry. But I came close that night, stuffing clothes into my suitcase. Again. The rule is – the RULE is – that after being gone five days I should have been home five days before leaving again. But we broke the rule. There was… Read More
Celebrate the birth of Jesus with traditional carols and modern folk originals. Take a listen to Christmas Vol.1 below. If you like what you hear, please use the resources on this page to share it with somebody today. Thank you and Merry Christmas! [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/59114343″ params=”auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false” width=”50%” height=”40%” iframe=”true” /]… Read More
We’ve all heard of the five stages of grief and many of us have even moved through them ourselves. Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance The typical responses to extreme poverty are very similar, in my experience. Many of us even seem to move through them sequentially. What’s your response right… Read More
I lift it gingerly from the store shelf and the shopkeeper rushes over to make the sell. Bethlehem loves American tourists. “Is it real gold?” It is. It’s Russian. From the 17th Century. An icon. The orthodox, he explains, consider icons to be “windows into heaven.” Not just depictions of… Read More
I’m on an airplane bound for New York, then on to Nova Scotia. My earplugs are in. My seatbelt is fastened and Ann’s book on Advent is open. I’m underlining words I’ll try to weave into Christmas music soon. “He gave up the heavens that were not even large enough… Read More
When King Saul and his sons fell in battle the rest of the Israelite troops fled for the mountains – thousands of them not able to outrun the enemy. The next day the Philistines walked the miles of corpses, stripping the bodies of valuables and weapons. When they came upon… Read More
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” -John 1:36 Soldiers drove wooden stakes into the crevices of walls throughout the city, lit them, and waited for the heat to burst the limestone bricks. Smoke rose from the hill for days as survivors from the massacre were dug from the rubble,… Read More
At age 49, Mr. X suffered a stroke that transformed his mind. Afterward, he quit his job to live a life of “excessive and persistent generosity.” He “gave liberally” to strangers – food and drink to children living on the streets of his hometown in Brazil, for instance. His wife worried… Read More
It was thirst that brought them out of hiding. Creeping from the bush, back to their village in search of water. At the hottest point of the day, in the hottest season of the year, Richard dabs the sweat from his forehead and tells the story. And I can see… Read More
In April of 1963 Martin Luther King Jr was jailed in Birmingham for his participation in a “nonviolent direct action” – a peaceful protest. White clergy responded by drafting a letter to King asserting that he was an “outsider” meddling in affairs that were none of his business. The implication… Read More
Just before our wedding an elderly woman who’d been married for many decades handed Becky a thin paperback: Men Read Newspapers Not Minds. Becky read it on the first flight of our honeymoon. The humor on its pages was a couple generations out of date but the wisdom of its… Read More