Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
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 […]
People who pray on a regular basis, at some point, are likely to end up in a rut—a prayer rut. (Conversely, people who don’t pray on a regular basis may also be in a prayer rut of sorts, albeit a different kind.) A prayer rut may be likened to trying to extricate a stuck car: […]
In the United States, the presidential race is well underway, with the election not until next November, almost a year away. Most people who follow such things—and frankly, it is hard to ignore—have polarized positions about who should be our next president, rather it is to re-elect the incumbent or to elect anyone but the […]
I’m weary hearing about the top 1 percent, the wealthiest people in the USA. While too much has already been said about this from a political, social, and philosophical standpoint, I see it as a spiritual issue. For most of us in the US, the bottom 99 percent, we need to guard against a spirit […]