There is a human tendency to veer away from vulnerability. We tend to want to make ourselves look just a bit better than reality. The idea of exposing our failures and shortcomings isn’t terribly attractive. Too often we hide the real us from one another and live too much the lie. How refreshing it is […]

Paul calls for the early Christians to live their lives as “living sacrifices,” not that they are to be perfect, but to be whom God intended them to be. It’s interesting. In the sacrificial system, the lamb not only represented Christ but also innocence. Now when we think of innocence many words come to mind; […]

The Bible is the greatest love story ever told. Admittedly, some of it is a bit difficult to understand. However, at its core, it is a love letter. From cover to cover, it is the ongoing story of an unconditional, patient, and gentle Lover seeking to win the hearts of reluctant, wandering, unfaithful people like […]

We live in a self-focused, self-elevating, self-seeking world. One thing all humans have in common is that we love to get our own way. It is nearly unfathomable for most people to think about having the opportunity to get their way and then voluntarily passing that opportunity by. However, the call of Christ is a […]

There are echoes of meditation in the discipline of solitude. In our world we are focused on hurry and people, and even in the church on fellowship and being together. But like Jesus, we need time away from the crowd, just to be alone. With practice, this won’t demand a trip to the wilderness, but […]

“God made man simple: man’s complex problems are of his own devising.” Ecclesiastes 7:30. My Dad used to say, “You don’t possess things; things possess you.” In this sense, simplicity is freedom. We will consider the simplicity of Jesus’ life, and we will notice that scripture condemns both materialism and asceticism. Life centered on having […]