A while ago I got my hands on a very old copy of Moby Dick. Published in 1930, it contained breath-taking charcoal sketches. Quite unexpectedly, I grew more deeply in love with God with each turn of the page. You may ask, why? How? Isn’t it just a great work of literature about an obsessed…
Tag: Courage
“…the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
The lantern of Love shines a brilliance Untested, unknown, unraveling and clear, Shines before the children of God To show that darkness never owns them. There will be seasons when light is dim There will be times of suffering There will be moments of doubt and fear There will be angels, dark and dangerous. Yet,…
The Violin-A Christmas Story
Place: New York City. A final Bible study before Christmas break. A group of young men who seem to really be tracking and growing, consistent…some of them straight off the streets, clawing their way up and out of some heavy stuff. Yet, Ace is missing, in fact for two weeks straight. The next day I…
Why?
Don’t be afraid to enter the ‘why?’ The great why question began with Jesus, when from the cross he asked God, “My God, my God, WHY have you forsaken me?” These why questions are too lofty to understand, and so we must sit and wait and contemplate, to see how the Lord will answer them. …
A Prayer For Those With Cancer
Abba, Tear Catcher and Boo-Boo-Made-Better- can we talk? Your friend is sick. An anomaly was found in the glare of an ex-ray image. That signals only one thing, you are about to move through time, not into it, but through it, as eternity cannot cohabitate with minutes and hours. In that movement, please carry their…
The Donut Hole
The rocks began to fall without warning. I was just able to clear myself from being crushed by a boulder, my legs taking a glancing impact, causing cuts and bruises. The hike was turning into something none of us had anticipated. Earlier that day we had set out to find the Donut Hole, a waterfall…
The Contagion of Joy
Of all the leaders I have ever known, Dr. Bill Bright, the founder and president of Cru, was the easiest for me to follow. I think it’s because I love to follow joy! Whenever I ever heard him speak, two things became apparent and found their way straight to my heart. His continuous call for…
What’s In Your Tank?
The movie Chariots of Fire was not primarily about Eric Liddell, the winsome missionary/sprinter who ran “to feel the pleasure of God.” Rather, it was about the other guy, a Jewish man, Harold Abrahams, fighting to sit on equal terms with the most noble among men. For Eric, love drove him to the finish line…
The Hands of God
*In Rembrandt’s painting of the prodigal son, he uses light to draw our eyes upon the hands of the old man who has placed them on the back of his youngest son. The prodigal has returned, and is kneeling in broken apology, waiting for punishment for an unspeakable crime. The younger son’s request for his…
Purple Rain on the F Train
In the early days of our stint in NYC, I met a youth pastor named Dario who had a fantastic church facility, but few students to fill it. We got talking one day about what Cru did well, and how he wanted his church to serve his neighborhood in Jamaica, Queens. So, I asked a…
On Weddings & Funerals
This week I attended a wedding and a funeral. The wedding was a ruckus affair, young hearts aflame with hope and inspiration, high fives and dance moves, a melding of different cultural and spirited expressions. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The memorial for my friend’s wife’s mother was subdued, respectful, fitting for…
Laura’s story
The doctors had signed the paperwork. Officially, she was gone. My younger sister Laura had come to the hospital with a burst kidney, and during surgery her heart had stopped. This is Laura speaking: “I found myself kneeling before a figure wearing sandals, and I knew it was Jesus. In that moment I felt a…
To Sir, with love 