I’ve been thinking about the end, or purpose, of the Christian life and think it can be summed up as being with Jesus, knowing Jesus and doing what Jesus does. Over the next few weeks, I want to look at each of these starting with being with Jesus. Jesus died to save...
In one of my devotions this week I read this line: “Through silence, solitude and stillness, the sediment of life is settling down, and things are getting clearer.” (Peter Greig, Lectio 365, June 20 morning). Add to this that the practices of silence and solitude were...
Easter isn’t over. According to the Church calendar, Easter Sunday actually began a whole 50-day season of Easter. Just as for the 40 days of Lent we mourned, repented and fasted, for the season of Easter we are supposed to rejoice, celebrate and feast. You would...
“Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?" This line, spoken by the Hobbit Sam in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King, so captures Easter Weekend. On Good Friday...
So, I’ve been at the ECO National Gathering this week with eight others from our congregation (including Pastor Scott and Karen!) and around 1,300 others from our denomination. It has been wonderful to catch up with friends, network, learn and worship. Naturally there...
I’ve been thinking about why we pray in Jesus’ name and the difference it makes in our prayer. The why of praying in Jesus’ name is straightforward: Jesus tells us to. “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” This also speaks to the difference...
It is said that how you addresses God is a reflection of your conception of God. Scripture models a number of ways to address God, but Jesus encouraged us to address God as “Our Father in Heaven.” Doing so highlights three things worth remembering when talking to God....
I hit this year running and am already tired, so I’ve been thinking about how to refresh and recharge. Ideas like time on a trout stream come to mind, but I’m learning to distrust my thinking and to lean into God’s word instead. And God’s word offers a surprising...
For Christmas, one of you very thoughtfully gifted me a collection of prayers from the early church, and I’ve chosen to work through it as one of my daily spiritual disciplines in 2023. It is already proving to be a rich experience, but also a convicting one. You see,...
Immanuel means God with us. In the birth of Jesus, God proved that He is indeed with us—but I’ve been thinking about where and how we experience God with us. God is omnipresent, so we can experience His presence anywhere, but I want to highlight three places He is...