Have you ever stood on an ocean beach and felt an electric charge as another world brushed against your skin? Or stood in a forest and felt the thinness of reality, knowing there was something so much more hovering just out of view? Have you ever walked down the street or through the mall at Christmas time, taken in the …
God’s Glory in a Seashell
Deep in the twilight realms of the ocean glides a mysterious, marvelous monstrosity. Up to 43 feet long (though lengths of up to 59 feet have been reported) with eyes the size of dinner plates, its bouquet of pulsing, writhing tentacles contains hundreds of suction cup suckers through which it tastes its prey. Its only known enemy is the sperm whale, …
The Boundless Mercy of God
Pope Francis once said that, “God forgives not with a decree but with a caress. … Jesus too goes beyond the law and forgives by caressing the wounds of our sins.”(1) That creates quite an image, doesn’t it? The perfect, holy God of the universe, creator of galaxies and gluons, sees the wounds you have inflicted on yourself, the pain …
Where is God When We Suffer?
I want to make a very special announcement to you today. If you ever follow my Facebook page, you probably know what I’m going to say. But otherwise, this could potentially come as a complete surprise because I have done a terrible job of getting the news out. Either way, here it is. =) Now. Drum roll please. Starting today …
We Are All Left Behind
I heard recently that the world is about to end. I bet you did, too. Our culture today is obsessed with the end of the world. Whether religious or secular, we know all about being Left Behind™ or being the last humans standing surrounded by The Walking Dead™. Many Christians chant, “Come, Lord Jesus!” And when they say this, what …
Awash in the River
Does the greatest impact from the story of Adam and Eve come from that it happened, or that it does happen? Is it just a story, or is it our story? Not in some esoteric, genes-and-blood-and-destiny sense, but in the dense, concrete truth that we have all violated our world, our fellow men and women, and the very God to …
Embracing the Mystery
I’m a fan of a line I’ve heard the evangelist Mario Murillo use: “I love sacred cows. They taste delicious.” Today we’re going to serve up some sacred cows and see if he’s right. Speaking of which, have you noticed that we are all so sure that we’re right? We have spent so many years building our worldview that, when …
A Wonderful World
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how beautiful the world around us is. In fact, many of us have. We are often so consumed with hate one for another, or fear for the future, or stress about work and family and life. We are so overwhelmed with the tragic, grungy particulars screaming for our attention that we completely miss the gorgeous, …
Behind Our Masks
You walk into the party. The lights are low and dusky, but you can still easily see them: your fellow party-goers. They mill about, talking, laughing, and you join them. You’ve spent so much time with them that you know them by name at this point. They’re your friends. Your family. And they are all wearing their masks. Some of …
Why Do You Believe That?
I recently had a very interesting conversation with a young man. We met because he had mocked a belief that I and many others share, so I invited him to talk to me about what his beliefs were on that subject and others. As we talked I learned that he believed that the entire Bible hadn’t happened yet and was …
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