From the category archives:

Thoughts on God

Dealing with the Mystery of Trinity

So, it’s the “day after” Trinity Sunday and I’m all caught up in the mystery!
Yesterday, my message at The Bridge Community was terribly short and shallow.  We were meeting outdoors and having a cookout and party afterward, so it just didn’t feel appropriate to plumb the depths of the mystery of the Godhead while sweating [...]

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The Boundaries of God’s Grace: Toward a Larger Vision of Truth

In preparing to speak this Sunday on Luke 4:22-30, I’m struck by the ways Jesus (then and now) challenges our boundaries and blows open the scope of his grace.
The Quaker author and activist, Parker Palmer, writes in The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America’s Public Life:
“At the heart of any authentic religious [...]

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An Open Letter to God, In the Wake of the Haiti Earthquake

Dear God,
I want to jump right in with the questions: Why? Where are you? How long?  But, first, let me say, “I trust you.”  At least, I want to.
In weeks like this last one, honestly, it’s harder to do.
This planet just doesn’t make sense sometimes.  I’ve gotten to see quite a few [...]

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Buechner On Glory

“Glory is to God what style is to an artist.” With these words, Frederick Buechner cracks open a fascinating definition of ‘glory’ in Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC.  He goes on:
A painting by Vermeer, a sonnet by Donne, a Mozart aria — each is so rich with the style of the one who made it [...]

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How Would You Introduce God?

Comedian Steve Harvey takes a shot at introducing Jesus in this video.  What about you, if you could introduce Jesus to an expectant audience, how would you do it?
Enjoy:

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The “Jealousy” of God

The idea that the God of the Bible is a “jealous” deity has always left me wandering.  On one hand, I kind of like that God is “jealous for me!”  It shows a passion and interest that is comforting (if not egocentric).  On the other hand, jealousy is not the most admirable emotion – it [...]

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A New Way of Thinking About Spiritual Disciplines

There is a destructive cycle of spirituality where we begin with “doing,” or self-effort.  Then we link our sense of significance with our achievements.  I wrote about this in a post called, “Cycle of Grace.”  Here is one of the illustrations from that post:

We have a choice in our lives.  We can begin with work [...]

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Cycle of Grace

A common approach to life seems to be the cycle from “work” to “significance” to “success” to (the hope for) “acceptance.”  Something like this:

The key is that, for so many of us, the cycle begins in the “work” quadrant.  We feel the intense need to achieve in life.  Our identity is, all too often, based [...]

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