All Posts

For a long time I was told that Advent was about waiting. We waited for Christmas day with dinner and presents. We waited for the second coming of Christ. We waited for the full celebration of Jesus joining us in our lives. Advent was anticipation — calendars, candles, scriptures, carols — all building toward expectation. Hope itself was portrayed as expectancy. But the word Advent comes from the Latin advenire — “to come to,” “to arrive.” So what does “arriving” look like?

Did you ever go through a season of life, or even a day, or even an hour when you were sure that no one cared? That’s the nature of poverty. Poverty isn’t so much the lack of funds. It’s the lack of relationships. When there are people around you who recognize your need, who can hear your heartbreak, who wonder how you’re doing, who are willing to share what they have so that you can get through, you are far from impoverished. It’s an echo we find in the movie It’s a Wonderfu

Faith is about honesty, not ceremony. Pause with that for a moment. Say it aloud if you like. I often do, speaking to my own soul as David did in the Psalms: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me praise his holy name” or “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” Speaking truth aloud teaches the soul to listen. Faith is about coming clean in every area of life. It reveals the limits of our character through humility. It acknowledges the extent of our knowledge by a

Today we enter Advent – a season of examining God’s intrusion into our world. There are many who claim Jesus… nationalists, evangelicals, progressives… who all seem to be flattening Jesus onto a banner, into an image. To me, they all seem to be claiming Jesus as a mascot, rather than allowing Jesus to disrupt them, they are seeking to weaponize him for their own cause. They forget that Jesus wouldn’t allow even his own disciples to weaponize him or his movement.           Jes

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the US. I hope you’re having a day filled with joy. We have much to be thankful for as well. But something that’s been stirring in me lately has filtered my thankfulness in a new direction. There’s an old joke about a little kid coming out of church and looking worried and his mother asks what’s up. The kid looks around because he doesn’t want to be overheard and asks his Mom “Why does God think we’re butt dust?” He had listened to the pastor speakin

We are truly filling our minds with many things these days. It’s caused people to study boredom, allowing our minds to go blank and just to stare into space. Turns out, when we grow bored, when we do nothing, our brains go into a heightened experience of exploration. We make connections, come up with solutions, and create new ways of doing things… out of being bored. That is, when we allow ourselves to just be unfocused, when we allow our minds to relax, they actually begin m

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