Show Up For Prayer
Ronald Rolheiser, my favorite contemporary spiritual writer, advises us to “show up for prayer, and show up regularly.” Take the leap. Dip your toe. Close your eyes. Hold your breath….
Why Jesus Spoke in Memes
My friend Ben is good about reminding me that we don’t need to acknowledge every caveat about every issue every time we address it. That’s good advice for a recovering…
Emotion, Intellect, and Imagination
Christianity has always courted great imagination. In the earliest days of our faith, that creative capacity manifested in parables and fables and apocryphal legends designed to illustrate godly behavior. As…
The Rock
One of the most inspiring stories of our time is that of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. From troubled delinquent to college football player, then pro wrestler turned media superstar and…
New Voices
The church of the future will generate opportunities for their up and coming preachers using alternative liturgies and innovative service orders. New preachers need new opportunities, but the problem is…
Love Where You Are
One of the most common temptations for Christian people is to hate where, and when, they live. We love to decry that we’re “living in the End Times,” or that…
Kavod
Moses received ten words on the mountain, surrounded by glory. Kavod is the Hebrew word for glory, and it shows up on Sinai like a lightning cloud, like a fiery…
Over- and Under-Communicating
The number one problem in most relationships is communication, and there’s a breakdown between us and God. But the problem isn’t God. It’s us. If anything, God has over-communicated—he speaks…
10 things I learned doing the Murph for a Month
In 2017, every day from Memorial Day to Independence Day, I prayed for a specific veteran or active duty serviceman while performing the “Murph.” Named in honor of Lt. Michael…
Prayer and the Tricliniums
My understanding of prayer changed dramatically once I learned about tricliniums. Triclinium comes from two Greek words meaning “three” (tri) “couches” (kline), and it refers both to the furniture and…
Reality Isn’t Enough
God is calling us all to fight reality. Why? Because “reality” is not the whole story. If you only look with your eyes, you won’t see any of the deeper…
Channel Your Passion
The work in which we now engage has a holy longing at the center. We yearn for the future. We anticipate the creative work we will soon enjoy with God….