In Psalm 105, we read: O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Not only here in the […]
In some of his parables, Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is like a seed scattered on the ground. It is small, inconspicuous. For the people who heard this in Jesus’ day, these parables would have sounded nothing like what they expected. It was believed that when God’s kingdom came, it would be […]
I recently heard an interview with the poet and author Ross Gay. I was particularly intrigued by his book Inciting Joy.Ross made a practice of noticing one thing every day—one moment when he experienced delight—and then wrote about it. He did this every day for a year! He said at first it was hard, finding […]
A few years ago, the Stewardship Mission Team at our church encouraged us to think about stewardship from a wide variety of perspectives. We reflected on how we might be better stewards—or caretakers—of the various gifts entrusted to us: our health, the earth we live on, our time, our talents, our faith, and even our […]
At a very difficult moment in my life, my friend Do In Kim gave me a beautiful gift. Do In was leading a new church development that had been nesting within our church. Over the course of the previous year, we shared some real celebrations and some real disappointments together. And through all of this, […]
In an On Being interview with Krista Tippett, the Irish poet and peacemaker Pádraig Ó Tuama commented: “I do love praying. Like ‘prier’ from French, ‘to ask.’ What I love about that word is it doesn’t require belief. It just requires recognition of need. And I think the recognition of need is something that brings […]
The Apostle Paul consistently opens his letters with these words: Grace and peace to you. Grace comes from the Greek word charis, meaning gift. Sometime back, my friend Bob Smith shared with me that his spiritual mentor defined grace as God’s unmerited, un-discourageable love. Other scholars tell us the word can be translated: joy, gift, […]
The great author Robert Louis Stevenson once told the story of a ship tossed in a storm. The sea was rough, and the rocky coast extremely dangerous. In a moment of panic, one distraught sailor working below deck rushed to the control room to see for himself what was going on. He stood frozen in […]
Several years ago, a local church in Jacksonville ran a newspaper ad that read: We welcome everyone! We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay or just not sure, filthy rich, dirt poor, no habla inglés. And a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, […]
Psalm 29 is a hymn of praise. I invite you to take a few moments today to read it. Reflecting on this psalm, scholar Eugene Peterson wrote: “…the imagination of this praying poet takes off: the voice of the Lord splits huge trees into kindling for bonfires and turns immense mountains into a carnival of […]
