All Posts

I had the honor of serving as the plenary speaker  for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church’s Pastors Symposium  this past weekend, where the theme was both urgent and hopeful: Rebuilding . (Yes, if you’re keeping track, that meant they flew me back from Ireland to meet with them in Chattanooga, TN.) This included the delightful experience of working alongside my friend, Curt Cloninger , a Christian actor who brought dramatic illustrations to my talks. In a season marked by a 3

With all the turmoil that is produced every day, I feel called repeatedly to encourage peace in those around me. There seems to be gentle despair that catches my attention. It comes from people who aren’t called into marches or demonstrations and from those who leave demonstrations wondering if that is all there is. It’s, sort of, a mixture of expressing “What can I do, as small as I am,” and “What else can I do with all this anger I feel,” at the same time.   The peace that

There are three things that I believe go into becoming wise, things I'm working on... ·       Shutting Up ·       Opening Up ·      ...

Reading Twain, Wrestling with Truth, and Living Faithfully in a Loud World Packing Up the Library For some reason, A Connecticut Yankee...

“When there are many words, sin never stops, but a person who restrains his lips acts wisely.” — Proverbs 10:19 “Shooting yourself in...

Somewhere in the days before I was heading off to college, my dad slipped in a piece of advice so casually I almost missed it. He said,...

The invitation to stay           I’m watching and listening to movers moving. Surrounding me is the sound of laughter, talk, directions,...

The Difference           I’m writing a newsletter connected to this site as well as a blog. I think I should offer a statement of the...

I’ve been learning a lot about forgiveness recently.  It’s one of the active ingredients of resilience, that gift of healing that God has...

We’re spending the month packing the house and divesting ourselves of tangible memories. It’s a hard thing to do, when you sit down with...

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When I was a youth director in Pennsylvania, I decided that I was going to hike the portion of the Appalachian Trail that goes through that state. Without saying this to anyone I arranged for a number of hikes with my youth group. The first one started at the border of PA and Maryland &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2024/11/06/watching-the-storm/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader

<p>Pursuing Truth &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “True curiosity is the pursuit of truth, the exploration of God’s creation and will for the world.” (The Curious Christian – Barnabus Piper) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We’ve been given the chance to prepare for heaven and it’s not about being good. It’s about being curious. Have you ever thought of heaven as the place &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2024/08/28/pursu

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; C. S. Lewis, the Christian author and apologist, famous for “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” wrote in a letter about an incident where his brother heard a woman on a bus say, as the bus passed a church with a crib outside it &#8230; ‘They bring religion into everything. Look, they’re dragging &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2023/12/18/the-core/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-

<p>Mark is not the gospel most people turn to at Christmas&#8230; where&#8217;s the Christmas story in Mark? But as it says from verse one&#8230; The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God&#8230; When we start looking for Jesus we start at the very beginning (a very good place to &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2023/12/12/its-beginning/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">It&#8217;s Beginning&#8230;</span

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One the of things revealed in our Gospel, our Good News, is the importance of the individual. We have so many stories that name or otherwise identify people. Crowds are mentioned, but there are more stories about individuals. Jesus, famously, keeps telling people not to talk about him, but to share the work of &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2022/09/26/its-never-how-many/" class="more-link">Conti

<p>We went to visit our son, Sam, and his husband, Jarrett, at the end of July and beginning of August. It was a great trip to North Carolina and it was great to be in the mountains and all the GREEN. Boone isn’t far away from where Sam and Jarrett live and that’s where Sam &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2022/08/09/lost-and-not/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Lost and&#8230; not</span></a></p>

<p>Being right, especially in an argument, is a great thing. It provides fuel to the fire, energy to make our points, to clarify the other person’s misunderstandings or lack of reason, and to drive home our conclusion. It is an excellent feeling and leaves us, somehow, feeling full… as if we’ve just eaten a meal. &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2022/07/08/being-right/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Being Right</span></a></p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There was a time when our faith was irresistible. That’s the title of a book my friend, Dave, just sent me… Irresistible. He tells me it changed his life. I haven’t read it yet, but the title catches my heart because I know it is true. There was a time when our faith, following &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2022/06/29/influence/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Influence

<p>The Holy Spirit is the constant companion of the world. Each person in the world is vitally important to God and so God knows when each of us falls, knows the hairs on our head, knows what drives us. As we heal, through the work of the Spirit in our lives, we are led into &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2021/03/08/a-passionate-baseline/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">A Passionate Baseline</span></a></p>

<p>It’s been a year since the COVID-19 shut down began and we’ve lost about a person a minute during that time. I know of a hospital that will hold a Memorial service this week, honoring those who died within their patient rooms and ICUs and conference rooms (once the ICUs got full) and hallways (once &hellip; <a href="https://seekinglife.blog/2021/02/22/a-person-a-minute-a-serious-set-of-seconds/" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">A Person&#