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I’m writing my blog posts from Ireland and Wales just now. We’re living in Ireland for several months, and we’ve taken a few days this season to travel over to Wales. It’s been a delightful experience. Since we've been here, I’ve had a helping of Christmas pudding at two different places — and they tasted the same. (And BTW, I had read about Christmas pudding, but this was my first chance to try it authentically.) It was delicious. I learned about all the flavors mixed into t

The thing that moistens what’s dry, that fills what’s empty, and that binds together what would otherwise remain separate in the meal is the gravy. And in our Advent feast, the gravy is the sustaining essential of Faith. Now faith is not a thing of quantity. Faith isn’t a ladleful to be measured. It’s not about how much you have, but how deeply you know the One in whom you have faith. Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…” not because the seed is large, b

When we talk about the main course of a meal, one of its simplest aspects is often forgotten: the spice. Think about that. A small addition — a pinch of something fragrant or fiery — can be one of the most powerful elements in a dish. It doesn’t just add something distinctive or even intrusive. A good spice, the right spice, enhances the depth of taste already present. It makes the meal memorable, enjoyable, and rich. In Advent, we are both remembering and anticipating. We s

I’m going to touch on a sensitive subject in this post… wine. For some, it is a delightful addition to a meal, adding flavor and even a sense of occasion. For others, it is a dangerous substance that creates an unyielding demand capable of controlling their lives. And yet Scripture recognizes wine as part of ordinary life. In fact, in biblical times it was one of the ways people avoided illness from unsafe water. Wine then was weaker, diluted, and woven into daily life — a ge

Vegetables do a wondrous thing for our bodies when we eat them early in a meal. They create a protective coating inside us that slows down the absorption of sugar, preventing spikes and helping regulate insulin. They stabilize energy levels, curb cravings, and promote fullness, keeping us from overindulging. They even improve how our bodies digest everything else. What plays a similar role in our spiritual systems? I suggest it is community and mutual support. The core of Jes

One of my favorite experiences is cooking. I find it both satisfying and rejuvenating. When I come home from a day at work and set about creating a meal, it’s a deeply enjoyable transition—from demands and organization into a creative phase of pleasure. I want to make someone smile. I want them to forget manners a bit and enjoy eating with some abandonment. One evening, when Beckie was away, I had three guys over. I cooked a meal they cleared—empty serving dishes at the end.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:24-25 Imagine sitting down to a meal, a meal that’s taken time and care to prepare and to present, and after saying a word of thanks, everyone reaches for something before them. Right then, someone at the table says, “OH! The bread is still warm!” Not rolls that were sitting in

It’s Advent. It’s time to come to the table. Taste disruption and honesty, be nourished by hope and presence, be surprised by joy and mystery, and celebrate the sweetness of God’s love. We’ve finished the appetizers. Six days of disruption, honesty, care, arrival, emotion, and presence have awakened our spiritual palate. Advent has begun with sharp flavors and grounding tastes, preparing us for the feast ahead. Now, you are invited to the main course—to sit down and dig int

If you had to produce something vitally important, where would you put your efforts? Wouldn’t you shift toward what helps most—the thing needed in that moment? Advent opens up to us when we recognize how God sees what is necessary. Advent is when we take the time to recognize what must be. That’s what happens in the Christmas story. Again and again we hear, “this happened to fulfill…” Obedience, hospitality, worship—each response rises to the top because it was necessary. Ma

Does Christmas make you cry? I’m not talking about tying the season to grief. I’m talking about the real experience of thinking of God joining us in our existence here. Does it make you cry? I’m thinking about that because I’m thinking about the depth of emotion we might experience within our celebrations. Is it poignant enough, whatever part it is that hits your sensitivity, to warm your eyes, to make them fill and spill over? Maybe not a lot. Certainly, not into s

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...