[This is adapted from part of a sermon I preached a while back, but I think it bears repeating.] I can only assume that there are people sitting here today who don’t believe any of this, about the Great Epic – beginning, middle or end – or people who are

I am a results-oriented individual.  Around most New Year’s I put a lot of thought and time into the things that I will be resolute in accomplishing in the coming year.  Many times this takes the form of lists of stepped-out smaller goals for reaching larger goals that are best

Singing in the dark has been a central and distinctive habit of the Christian life from the beginning.  People of other faith traditions sing for sure, but Christians have the habit of singing loud and long and joyfully, triumphantly no matter the circumstances.  We sing our songs all the more

“Love” is used in so many ways by so many different people it would seem like it can mean almost anything. If it can mean almost anything depending on who is using it and how they are using it, then does it really mean anything? Is such an important word

What is it to you? This is a question that Jesus asked one of his disciples and it is one of the most important questions, I believe, for all of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus had been challenging Peter to follow him (Jesus) out of love for him (Jesus). Jesus also made

[This is a two-part series. Check out the first part HERE.] How do you teach children compassion while protecting them from harm? Suffering often enhances our ability to have sympathy and compassion for others. I want those qualities for my children. I want them to be sympathetic people, but I

Twelfth century monk, Bernard of Clairvaux developed a helpful model for expressing how Christians (can) mature in their faith – the four degrees of love. Loving yourself for your own sake (Selfish Love) Loving God for your own sake (Dependence Love) Loving God for God’s sake (Intimacy Love) Loving Yourself

Christians are people whose ultimate ambition is to embody the life and teachings of Jesus – a high aspiration for sure. The loftiness of this goal means that the Christian life, in this life anyway, will never be about arriving, but about journey and progress. Sometimes along this journey we

Although Chutzpah is a Yiddish word – not one of the Biblical languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic – it is an important word for understanding the Biblical concept of faith. Chutzpah is a word that means audacity, gall, nerve, fierce determination, refusing to quit or let go even when you

I remember a friend of mine who I think a lot of, telling me out of the blue, “Nathan, I don’t know that I feel comfortable calling myself a Christian anymore.” All of a sudden, I was really listening. He went on to say: You know, the word Christian, it