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…
Tag: faith
Emil and the Wiz-Bomb
My grandfather Emil was a medic in a battalion that entered the Argonne Forest, France in World War I. Months later, only 13 walked out whole, he among them. It was a ghostly and gangly squad of survivors of a hellish encounter with the enemy. Whether it was gas, or mortars, or hand to hand…
Hard-Wired for Joy
God has hard-wired us for joy. This fruit of God’s Spirit sits ready to surprise and even overwhelm us, and is a sure sign of God’s presence. If we work at plumbing deeper depths of intimacy with God. If we fuel that ambition with love, with our hearts open to another shore. If we boldly…
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…
The Weight of God’s Affection
I recently discovered a unique journal packed away in a box during our move to Austin. I had created it during a season I can only describe as a very dark night. On a sketch pad I had written words, then colored them in, creating a poster each night I spent with the Lord. One…
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…
On Leaving and Coming Home
The Gospel invites us to walk out the will of God. We can do that because of Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will, to be the perfect Lamb Sacrifice. His obedience categorically crushed our disobedience. Not that we won’t on occasion slip, stub a toe, stumble, or fall, as we try to stay in step….
Old Words To Young Hearts
Julian of Norwich, an anchoress and prophetic voice to her generation said, “We are Christ’s bliss.” Think for a moment how deeply loved you are, more than any text would suggest, or theology argues. With this bliss from the right hand of God, we labor without thought of whether we have enough to go the…
The Three Who Stayed
The phrase, ‘the twenty who stayed’ keeps scrolling across my memory, those students who loitered in the presence of God at the end of the Asbury University chapel service, unable to do anything else. One said, she thought it was twenty minutes, but it turned into three hours. Worship, prayer, songs of deliverance, freedom for…
The Quester-A Poem
The Quester finds a home By grinding out the plea The Face he seeks is meek Bent toward human need. Seated by deep waters Meadow sun-drenched spring, The offering He offers Sifted shadows bring. Down and under hear him sing The way feels hard and steep. In misery, He comes for me To a place…
