As we near the end of July, some radio stations are getting their Christmas playlists ready to hit the airwaves. They seem to start playing these earlier every year.
With All Your Heart
June 15, 2022 by
Good counselors ask good questions. The counselor who helped me work through my season of depression once asked me a question that revealed a source of my pain and a path I needed to take toward healing. She asked, “Who knows your whole story?”
Crossroads: When We All Get to Heaven, All Saint’s Day
November 8, 2021 by
Isaiah reminds us that the Lord will prepare a feast for us, that God will swallow up death forever and wipe away our tears. And we will be able to say that we trusted in God and he saved us.
Connections 05.09.2021: All We Need
May 2, 2021 by
One of my generation’s anthems proclaimed, “All you need is love!” In case we didn’t get it the first time, it repeated the message in a slightly different order: “Love is all you need!”
Connections 01.17.2021: Leaving It All Behind
January 10, 2021 by
Have you ever left it all behind? I’ve come close a few times. The last few weeks of summer after senior year had me itching to go away. I was eighteen years old, a high school graduate, and accepted to my preferred university.
All Is Joy
January 15, 2020 by
My youngest children are just old enough to have developed a growing curiosity about Lent. They are asking more questions about why and how we Christians observe this liturgical season.
Crossroads: All Saints’ Day
November 4, 2019 by
It’s hard for me to believe that Sunday, October 29, makes two and a half years since my granddad died. Over the past two years, I’ve found myself remembering a lot of things about him: the way he smiled, how he smelled, and all of the memories of the things we did together.
Connections 06.09.2019: All Flesh
June 2, 2019 by
When the Holy Spirit fell on the gathered believers on the day of Pentecost, they began to speak in the languages of the people who had come to Jerusalem from many other countries for the festival.
A View from the Pew: Counting All the Blessings
April 17, 2018 by
Counting the money received in the offering each week is one of the myriad tasks of church life that falls into the “thankless job” category. You may not even know who does it at your church. It’s a behind-the-scenes job well suited for the kind of church member who avoids the spotlight and prefers to do their “good deeds in secret” (Matt 6:4).
Pray at All Hours
January 9, 2018 by
While we have come to expect a twenty-four-hour news cycle and, if we could, we’d stare at our social media feeds for just as long, the idea that God speaks at times and days other than at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings continues to be a stretch for many people.
Death and All of His Friends
July 25, 2017 by
Earlier today, the oldest and I were riding in a car to an appointment. He was having a rough morning of his own doing and I wanted him to get re-grounded before we set off on the day. So I plugged in my phone and I played the Coldplay song “Strawberry Swing.”
Connections 06.04.2017: The God of All People
May 28, 2017 by
This morning as I write, the screen is blurry through tears. I can’t stop thinking of an arena full of excited, joyful young concertgoers who had no idea of the horror that was about to unfold when their show ended. Last night (May 22) in Manchester, England, yet another terror attack claimed the lives of innocent people—this time following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande.
Connections 11.13.2016: It’s All About the Presence
November 6, 2016 by
On the day before Mother’s Day in 2004, my Good Wife and I purchased a slate sign about the size of an automobile license plate from a vendor at the Charleston (SC) City Market. We had two lines of text inscribed on it.
The Great Cloud
November 2, 2016 by
I have been thinking a lot about my spiritual journey recently. The truth of the matter is that whatever has been done to get me to the nebulous “here” of being ordained is not solely my doing. Not even close.
Connections 10.23.2016: Lord of All
October 16, 2016 by
These are tough times to be active on social media. Hurricanes. Floods. Racially motivated riots. Shootings. LGBTQ rights. A more-contentious-than-usual presidential race.
Formations 06.05.2016: All You Have to Change Is Everything You Are
May 29, 2016 by
Why are so many celebrities willing to sacrifice who they are in order to achieve success and fame? Jan Aitken, a life coach based in Dunedin, New Zealand, recently pondered this question after watching a documentary about Janis Joplin, a stellar blues singer.
Gotta Catch ‘em All
March 30, 2016 by
A major event came and went on February 27th on which the church as a whole was, as far as I could tell, troublingly silent on. Yes, I understand the issues inherent to suggesting some form of deep homogeneity to our religion.
All Quiet on the Sunday School Front
September 29, 2015 by
One of the Saturday night fears of Sunday morning small group leaders is having to face a crowd of learners resistant to joining discussion on the day’s lesson. Few teaching challenges are more daunting than finding fresh ways to draw in a reticent class.