For me this year, the miracle of Pentecost is not just that the apostles spoke in tongues, it is that so many different people from across the known world with vastly different world views and spoken languages heard the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and understood.

When I am feeling overwhelmed by, well, everything today as a pastor who is concerned about the moral dimensions of what is going on in our society, I can cling to the idea of doing the next right thing.

Healing and belief go hand in hand.

The three sisters seem like a chaotic sprawl of differing plants growing on top of one another, but they are truly an amazing dance of reciprocity and abundance.

Our hospitality cannot be a bait and switch—we have to be willing to welcome in people we weren’t expecting.

Talking about love is kind of frustrating for me.

Hope is something we think we can cultivate by simply being about the work God calls us to do. But it can also be enlivened in our acceptance of this story of hope we embrace in light of Easter’s miracle.

Easter is no idle tale. This is something that can animate us if we allow it. This is something that can revitalize our hope in the future.

Sometimes, the realities of the present bring up echoes and memories of the past. Just as Jesus’ theatre elicted memories of the past, and his words rhymed with the prophets’ warnings, I find myself thinking of stones today, too.

The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament. But I think that the meals we share together are “sacramental.”

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have a lot in common, and one thing in particular we have in common this week to focus on is the spiritual importance of fasting.

We can’t be Christians by ourselves! Christian conferencing is a means of grace because it brings us together to practice our faith together.

At the end of the day, scripture is not an owner’s manual. It simply will not answer every single question we have about life.

I had the honor of sharing the opening prayer for the house session on March 5 and I just wanted to share that prayer with you.

What might be possible if we had the courage to unveil ourselves and proclaim the completely frank hope we have in Jesus Christ?

As Christians, we don’t have the luxury of hating other people without being hypocrites.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the Kingdom of God.” How, exactly will the poor inherit the kingdom?

When I’ve heard the story of the disciples dropping their nets and following Jesus in Luke 5 after he enacted a miracle of abundance before their very eyes, it always seemed courageous to me how willing they were to completely leave their business as fishermen to become disciples.

Scripture becomes easier to understand and interpret when we connect what is happening in scripture to what is happening in our very midst.

I believe that it is the hardships, the way we as Christians shouldn’t have the luxury of looking away from suffering or staying silent when spiritual forces of wickedness are at work in the world, that give us our purpose and remind us constantly why we are people of faith.