Jesus goes up to a mountain and sits down. Great crowds come to him and press in around him. Many were pushing and wrestling, wedging their way through the crowd. Inside of these great crowds were the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others. Those who had brought these people put them... Continue Reading →

The question: “what matters?” grabs hold of the deepest parts of our hearts and refuses to let go. It is such a direct question that it can be paralyzing. It does not swerve to the right or to the left, but gets right to the matter of first importance. Squaring up like a gunfighter at... Continue Reading →

To do all things in the name of Jesus--to do all things as if I were doing them for Jesus alone—yes, this would make all the difference. If every activity were done for Jesus instead of for ourselves, it would cause all of our activities to become holy acts of worship. Rather than selfish, they... Continue Reading →

I continue to wonder why it is difficult to get together with no agenda. Perhaps it is a symptom of our culture and the way we choose to live. I challenge you to try this: go ask someone to meet you for coffee and when they respond, “What’s up? What do you want to meet... Continue Reading →

" ... Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important -- wonderful. If you want to be recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be great -- wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. "-- Martin... Continue Reading →

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” --Helen Keller I watch two little boys ride their bikes down the hill in front of my house. One of them is older, perhaps eight years old, and the other looks to be six. The older boy rides down the hill fearlessly and with confidence. Fast. Steady.... Continue Reading →

Caring about what you are doing is considered either unimportant or taken for granted. On this trip I think we should notice it, explore it a little, to see if in that strange separation of what man is from what man does we may have some clues as to what the hell has gone wrong... Continue Reading →

"...whoever makes haste with his feet misses the way.” (King Solomon) In Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town, one of the characters, Emily, dies. Afterwards, Emily stands unseen in the cemetery among her deceased relatives and begs the Stage Manager to let her go back and live one more day. After much pleading, the Stage Manager... Continue Reading →

In the red circle of the desert, in the dark and secret place, the prophet discovers the obvious things. I do not say it merely as a sneer, for obvious things are very easily forgotten; and indeed every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things. (GK Chesterton) Some things that were never planned turn out... Continue Reading →

Michelangelo gave us one of his best when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Yet as a sculptor, the statue of David stands as a masterpiece. The marble statue of David stands seventeen feet tall and the shepherd who would turn king as he contemplates his upcoming battle with Goliath, the... Continue Reading →

I read these words by Henri Nouwen today. They are worth reading: "It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses. And people want... Continue Reading →

“Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God….”[1] That was all that was said about Enoch: he “walked with God.” I want to be known for that above all other things. I want others to think of me in that way rather than what I have accomplished or for what I have accumulated. My greatest... Continue Reading →

“Go and make a careful search for the child.” ---King Herod Although, these statements were made with evil intentions, they do have something to say to us. Those words are worth listening to. And I think they may even be more relevant to us today. “Go and make a careful search for the child.” The... Continue Reading →

Imagine that you are in a crowded place. Suddenly you realize your child isn’t with you anymore. Moments after realizing that your child is missing, you immediately and hastily scan every direction, hoping to catch a quick glimpse. You begin to shake. You are sweating. Words have no place here because you have lost your... Continue Reading →

On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, two brothers bumped into Jesus one day. When Jesus began to walk on, they followed him. Jesus noticed them following, turned to them, and asked them a simple question. The question opens the conversation up to shallowness and at the same time has the chance to cut... Continue Reading →

I have begun to think more deeply about my life. As I look back over previous years, I think I have taken too much for granted. I have often missed it (it-meaning a deeper life) because I spent my time doing what others expected me to do. I wasn't being truly who I was because... Continue Reading →

The summer I turned forty shook me up a bit. It may be due to idea that I always assumed I was invincible. My death and the end of my life was rarely a thought that took up much space in my mind. To me, at the time, life was long, and to think about... Continue Reading →

So much of our view of life, God, others, ourselves...is determined by HOW you see. WHAT you see is a result of HOW you see. “The man said, ‘Everything is blurry...the people look like trees walking around.’ Then Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes...and he saw everything clearly.”

There is a verse tucked away in Luke’s account of Jesus’ life that you’ll miss if you aren’t looking closely enough. The verse is sandwiched between two dramatic, action-filled events. In the first, Jesus meets a man possessed with an evil spirit. In the second, he is tracked down by a desperate father pleading with... Continue Reading →

In order to walk closely with Jesus I must make it a habit of looking for him, knowing where he is, and being aware of his movements. Paying attention allows me to see and hear more clearly. I must use every option I have to remove unnecessary distractions which keep the scales on my eyes.... Continue Reading →

I was in Montana this summer in some of the most beautiful places I had ever been in my life. Every view stopped me in my tracks and I often would find myself just standing there looking and being completely astonished at what I was seeing. I met a guy who moved there from Arizona.... Continue Reading →

(Excerpt from Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli) Episcopal priest Robert Capo named the first obstacle: “We are in a war between dullness and astonishment.” The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We... Continue Reading →