Most things are awkward at the start.  Prayer is no different.  You were made for prayer, for your life to become prayer, but in almost all of us, those muscle are atrophied. Prayer is not any sort of practice of thinking – positive or negative.  Prayer is relating.  Relating to

I wrote this paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) for use in our small group Bible studies. I hope it can be a blessing in your life and ministry. God, you are our maker and King and we give all that we are to you. May we never take

Prayer changes things.  Making requests of God changes how things are and will be. This is the consistent claim of scripture and a concept that we see Jesus attempting to get across to his followers on nearly every page of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – the parts

One of the most common messages of God to people throughout scripture is “Remember.”  Over and over again God tells people, “Remember me.  Remember me.  Don’t forget what I’ve done for you.  Don’t forget what I’ve taught you.  Don’t forget who I am to you.  Don’t forget me. Don’t forget

Here is a confession – I get pretty frustrated about prayer sometimes and angry and frustrated with the ONE I am praying to. I know I’m not supposed to. After all, I’m a pastor and a longtime Christian.  I think the expectation is that I’m supposed to have unwaveringly serene

Orthodox priest, professor, and author, Alexander Schmemann, has a wonderful book called “For the Life of the World.”  I would encourage anyone to read it, especially any Western Christian who is less familiar with the Eastern half of the family of Christianity. There is so much to share from this

British ethics professor and writer for the UK’s Independent, Paul Vallely says, “Most people in the West would be surprised by the answer to the question: who are the most persecuted people in the world? According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38

Relationships with other people can be some of the very best parts of life, but they can also be some of the worst. A difficult co-worker or boss can turn a really great job into an incredible pain. One obnoxious relative can turn an otherwise enjoyable family get-together into something

The angels declared almost two thousand years ago that God had broken into our world in a special way, that the savior of the world had come. Peace on earth was declared and it was foretold that this baby would save his people from their sins – save them from

In the last post I briefly explained Bernard of Clairvaux’s four degrees of love. I love this model, not just because it expresses how Christians grow in faith and love, but more so how God meets us where we are and leads us toward being more free, alive, and mature