Meeting Doubt With A Question And Not A Demand (via Winn Collier)
When Jesus encounters doubt in his disciples he asks why, so that the doubter can explore where their doubt is coming from, and return their focus to Jesus and the relationship they have with him. From...
View ArticleGuilt Based Deterrents Should Not Become Substitutes For The Self-Examination...
The Gospels contrast the disciples of Jesus who were not consistently clear about what they wanted with those at the margins (like blind Bartimaeus) who were completely focussed on their need. Jesus...
View ArticleWhen All We Can Pray Is “Live Through Me Because I Got Nuthin'” (via Rebecca...
Union with God in Jesus is a unique relationship. Though there are similarities with aspects of human relationships the complete non-dependence of God and the absolute dependence of we humans means all...
View ArticleA Joy That Walks Through The Valley Of Shadows (via Winn Collier)
It seems as if joy was in short supply during the season of joy. Winn Collier writes that real joy is not the product of circumstances, true joy is hard won in adverse circumstances. These are the...
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When Jesus Says “Do Not Fear,” He’s Not Like Humans Telling You Not To Worry...
Sometimes advice is given that we don’t trust because the person given the advice can’t understand why we feel the way we do. Rebecca Reynolds observes that Jesus is different. He tells us, and he...
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You Serve A God Who Isn’t Limited By Your Fear (via Rebecca Reynolds)
Following Jesus alongside others provides encouragement and the example of other believers in situations similar to our own. If encouragement gives way to comparison we can succumb to feelings of...
View ArticleJesus’ Prohibitions Are Not Exceptions To Love; They Flow From It (via...
It’s a tendency to see a prohibition as a limit on love. “I love you, but…” Michael Kelly points out that the prohibitions of God are not the limits of his love, but the expression of a care that flows...
View ArticleComing To The Place That Doesn’t Exhaust Us (via Sarah Condon)
It’s a worry if the church simply transfers the exhausting, life-draining, joy-sucking demands of the rest of life to its own agenda and programs. The Gospel demands that people need something very...
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A Christian’s Confidence Does Not Reside In “I’m Great” But In “Greatness...
The human goal of fulfilling ourselves demands that our efforts to do so are invested in that which we can achieve; but anything that we can achieve is not enough to satisfy our souls. The Christian...
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Loving Jesus, Without Knowing How Much We Need Jesus (via Rebecca Reynolds)
The path of self-righteousness is lined with knowledge of who Jesus is, but not knowing how much we personally need him. When we reach that point of need then we have a Saviour that we don’t just offer...
View ArticleSubversive Habits And Spiritual Growth (via Trevin Wax)
Spiritual life is a struggle between the true narrative of who we are in Christ and the lesser narratives that seek to impose themselves as our identity. We seek to nurture the true narrative, and we...
View ArticleA New Legalism – The Over-Application Of Biblical Ideas (via Stephen Kneale)
Conversations with pastors from a wide variety of contexts resonate with the theme explored in this article. There are structures in some aspects of contemporary church life that make imperatives out...
View ArticleAn Ode To Middle Age via James Parker at The Atlantic
Many Christians around the world have given thought to the truth, “Dust you are, and to dust you will return.” Of course, our return to dust is grounded in the expectation that our dust will one day...
View ArticleThe Problem With Earthly ‘Forever Homes’ (via Christina Fox)
Watching a few episodes of ‘House Hunter’ style tv shows and you’ll become familiar with the search criteria of the ‘forever home.’ That’s the place where you expect to live until you can’t live in a...
View ArticleMeeting Your Anxiety By Noticing Your Dwelling Places (via Zack Eswine)
The negative emotions we feel are meant to cause us to reflect on self and circumstance to consider changing what we are doing or where we are. The current cultural moment is amplifying emotions. That...
View ArticleThe Danger Of Catechising Our Souls To Despair (via Daniel Darling)
It strikes me that pastors who might have cautioned people about their levels of screen time and exposure to social media have instantly turned to those forms of media in this crisis, further deepening...
View ArticleKnowing The Answer, Working Out The Question
Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke about the minister who was giving a children’s talk in church one Sunday on the subject being prepared and decided to use squirrels as an example. He started out by...
View ArticleA Prolonged Sabbath In A Culture Of Productivity (via Laura Cerbus)
This post from Laura Cerbus plays around with thoughts that are floating through my mind and that I can’t nail down. If the current pandemic had occurred even fifteen years ago the current responses to...
View ArticleLearning How To Live With Uncertainty In A Season Of Unknowables (via Trevor...
Mockingbird have published this reflection by Trevor Almy, who has gone through seasons of intense chronic depression and who sees similarities in the way people are experiencing and reacting to the...
View ArticleYou Don’t Tremble Before An Idol – The Attraction Of Tame Gods (via Drew Dyck)
How could a people who have experienced the genuine power of God decide to worship idols. Drew Dyck thinks it was not because the people forgot, but because they wanted something safer, something they...
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