Let’s come back to Zacchaeus and the town harlot who crashed the party to weep at Jesus’ feet. They were, both of them, very keenly aware of their failures. They knew they had fallen way short of God’s goodness. And not only did they know it, but...
READ MOREA good king brings order to the realm. God brings order out of chaos at the beginning of creation, and then he hands the project over to Adam to rule in the same way. Not as a tyrant or micro-manager, but offering his strength to bring order to...
READ MOREAfter God fashioned this dazzling earth, he gave it to us. Which is a bit like giving your fifteen year old the keys to a Maserati. But, he has his ways of doing things. When God gave us the earth he also gave us all the adventures that lay ahead...
READ MOREGod and Satan each have a design, a battle plan, to capture our heart's devotion. The intimacy, beauty, and adventure of the Sacred Romance are placed and nurtured in the deepest longings of our heart by God himself. God's grand strategy, birthed...
READ MORESo I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in...
READ MOREThe book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face.
[Sam] You know, I was really good at thinking only about myself pre-marriage, but sacrificing...
READ MOREEvery mythic story shouts to us that in this desperate hour we have a crucial role to play. This is an Eternal Truth, and it happens to be the one we most desperately need if we are ever to understand our days. For most of his...
READ MOREIf you learned about Eden in Sunday school, with poster board and flannel graphs, you missed something. Imagine the most beautiful scenes you have ever known on this earth — rain forests, the prairie in full bloom, storm clouds over the African...
READ MOREOur need for attachment, mother-love, and the assurance of abundance opens up for us new levels of joyful experience, even in passages that have been familiar to us for years: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you...
READ MOREI’ll tip my hand to one assumption I am making. I assume that an intimate, conversational walk with God is available, and is meant to be normal. I’ll push that a step further. I assume that if you don’t find that kind of relationship...
READ MOREChurch is not a building. Church is not an event that takes place on Sundays. I know, it's how we think of it. "I go to First Baptist." "We are members of St. Luke's." "Is it time to go to church?" Much to our surprise, that is not how the Bible...
READ MOREIf you wanted to learn how to heal the blind and you thought that following Christ around and watching how he did it would make things clear, you'd wind up pretty frustrated. He never does it the same way twice. He spits on one guy; for another,...
READ MOREThis moment is yours, as sure and certain as God himself. Sure as the renewal of heaven and earth. How else could we enjoy the fierce beauty of a renewed creation unless we, too, are renewed and made strong, stronger than we ever were here? How...
READ MOREThink about it — what daily radiance is showered upon us, what immense golden goodness. Every single day, over so much of the planet. It saturates our world, warming the earth, raising the crops in the fields by silent resurrection, unfolding...
READ MOREA sower went out to sow some seed ...
A man fell into the hands of robbers ...
Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one ...
There were ten virgins with ten lamps ...
Think of it. You are the Son...
Learning to recognize the voice of God is something we learn and grow into over a lifetime. But we are trying to be frank and realistic about our situation in the world, and so this needs to be said as clearly and honestly as can be:
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READ MOREGod wants to come to us and restore our lives. He really does. But if our soul is not well, it’s almost impossible to receive him. Dry, scorched ground can’t absorb the very rain it needs.
As C. S. Lewis explained, “The soul is...
READ MOREHaving abandoned desire, we have lost hope. C. S. Lewis summed it up: "We can only hope for what we desire." No desire, no hope. Now, desire doesn't always translate into hope. There are many things I desire that I have little hope for. I desire...
READ MOREThere is just enough goodness to rouse our hearts with expectation, and plenty enough sadness to cut us back down. When the cutting down exceeds the rising up, you wonder if you shouldn’t just stay down. “I wept when I was borne,” wrote the...
READ MOREThis will open up wonders for you about the personality of Jesus — look at his works of art.
I was sitting out back yesterday morning sipping coffee, watching the young chipmunks chase one another at breakneck speeds across the deck. One...
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