In today’s text, the Spirit comes attended by astounding supernatural phenomena that capture the attention of the pilgrims in Jerusalem. These phenomena do not automatically inspire faith, however; some onlookers wrote the whole thing off as the disciples simply being drunk.
Formations 04.17.2016: What a Kingdom Looks Like
April 10, 2016 by
Jeff Bezos is a technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the reason you can get almost anything shipped to your door—dog food, a soldering gun, a flat screen TV—within two days of clicking a button.
Connections 04.17.2016: Coming and Going
April 10, 2016 by
There’s a lot of coming and going in this story. Jesus comes by boat to the land of the Gerasenes. As soon as he steps ashore, a demon-afflicted man comes to him.
Formations 04.10.2016: Places of Worship
April 3, 2016 by
Do you have fond memories of a particular place of worship? Maybe it’s the sanctuary were you were baptized, where you were married, or where your parents or grandparents were bid farewell.
Connections 04.10.2016: A Fool for You
April 3, 2016 by
In my reading today, one line that Jesus says stands out to me: “Simon, I have something to say to you” (Lk 7:40). That Pharisee named Simon, who had invited Jesus into his home but showed him little hospitality, watched a woman’s extravagant love for Jesus and muttered to himself.
Formations 03.27.2016: Risen Offers a Unique Perspective on Easter
March 20, 2016 by
Easter is a story Christians tell year after year—whether or not Hollywood finds the story marketable, and whether or not Hollywood retellings of the story are “rotten” or “certified fresh.”
Connections 03.27.2016: The First to Know
March 20, 2016 by
When I was seventeen, my church put on an Easter play that one of our members wrote, paraphrasing directly from various Scripture accounts of Jesus’ last week, his death, and his resurrection.
Formations 03.20.2016: Justice, Mercy, and the Crucifixion
March 13, 2016 by
It wasn’t until I found myself reading a book about mercy and hoping for a person to be punished that I realized I’ve been way too comfortable with the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Formations 03.13.2016: Learning from Failure
March 6, 2016 by
Is our success-oriented, results-driven culture setting us up for a life of disappointment? In a recent column in the Independent, Gerard Gilbert wonders if this might be the case.
Connections 03.13.2016: Safety versus Sacrifice
March 6, 2016 by
We draw ever closer to Good Friday—the day when we honor the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, who gave up everything for all the people of the world.
Formations 03.06.2016: What’s Your Comfort Food?
February 28, 2016 by
My grandparents kept a painting of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper hanging, fittingly, above their dining room table. We shared meals at that table on almost every major holiday, or birthday, or whenever relatives came to visit.
Connections 03.06.2016: Powerful Faith
February 28, 2016 by
I’ve kept a prayer journal for years. Somewhere along the way, I started writing down the Jesus Prayer as the first line of my daily entry: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Formations 02.28.2016: Renewing Our Vows
February 21, 2016 by
Two weeks ago, hundreds of married couples gathered at Fountain Hills Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona to renew their wedding vows. The fourth-annual event was one of the world’s largest vow renewal ceremonies.
Connections 02.28.2016: The Feast of Booths
February 21, 2016 by
I am not a camper. I like the idea of communing with nature, gazing at the stars, sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows, and falling asleep to the sounds of the night.
Formations 02.21.2016: The Ten Excuses
February 14, 2016 by
A few months ago, an employment website called Career Builder polled users to see how many employees had come up with an excuse to avoid going in to work in 2015.
Connections 02.21.2016: Day of Atonement
February 14, 2016 by
We all know what a “cover-up” is. We also know it’s not a good thing. How many times have we learned of a crime only after the cover-up falls apart?
Formations 02.14.2016: The Lenten Fast
February 7, 2016 by
The message that church conveyed—sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly—was that Lent and many other traditions of the wider church were nothing but empty ceremonialism that “real” Christians were better off avoiding.
Connections 02.14.2016: The Feast of Weeks
February 7, 2016 by
Have you ever planted a seed and watched it grow into food? Sadly, I haven’t yet undertaken that experience—hindered by fear of failure and, to be honest, resistance to such a level of responsibility.
Formations 02.07.2016: Accepting the Promise of Freedom
January 31, 2016 by
For nearly 34 years, Gregory Diatchenko knew that he would die in prison after he was found guilty of committing murder at the age of 17. Sent to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole, he had to resign himself to the fact that he would never be free.
Connections 02.07.2016: Passover
January 31, 2016 by
The story of the institution of Passover is about the present, the future, and the past. The narrative opens with “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt . . .” (v. 1). God then proceeds to give them instructions for the Passover observance.
Formations 01.31.2016: Creation from Catastrophe
January 24, 2016 by
This September marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. Among those commemorating the event is the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba), which has already opened an exhibition.
Connections 01.31.2016: When Death Comes
January 24, 2016 by
Death came into my life during the night when I was around ten years old, taking with it a beautiful white dog named Princess. A few more dogs followed over the years, one of which I raised from a tiny puppy.
Formations 01.24.2016: Making a Murderer: A Controversy That Hits Close to Home
January 17, 2016 by
In the last month, I have received a recommendation from almost every single one of my friends to watch the Netflix true crime documentary series Making a Murderer. (Don’t worry—no spoilers here!)
Connections 01.24.2016: A Wedding in Cana
January 17, 2016 by
Jesus didn’t make it a regular practice, so far as we know, to protect people from party disasters. Still, John viewed this miracle as so important that he put it right up front in his story of Jesus and went out of his way to point out that it was Jesus’ first miracle.
Formations 01.17.2016: Being a Better Wedding Guest
January 10, 2016 by
Danielle Rothweiler is a celebrity wedding and event planner. In a recent article, she comments that going to a wedding ought to be easy. Unfortunately, wedding guests often provoke the greatest stress in the engaged couple.
Connections 01.17.2016: The Story of Forgiveness
January 10, 2016 by
I’ll be honest. I was kind of hoping this was Mike Ruffin’s week to write. A bride worth waiting for and the most beautiful bride were surely easier topics than this week’s unfaithful bride.
Formations 01.10.2016: Refreshing Traditions
January 3, 2016 by
The New Year is our chance to start over in every aspect of our lives. People want to begin the year knowing that they can hope for good health, prosperity, happiness, and success for the next twelve months.
Connections 01.10.2016: The Most Beautiful Bride
January 3, 2016 by
I imagine you’ve heard of a hopeless romantic. I’m not one of those. I’m a hopeful romantic. I believe that hope leads to love and that love leads to hope. I believe that love changes the way we see those we love.
Formations 01.03.2016: Baby Names of 2015
December 27, 2015 by
Jackson and Sophia are the most popular baby names of 2015, but there are some interesting trends further down the list. According to a USA Today report, the gender-neutral name Royalty is up 90% this year.
Connections 01.03.2016: The Story of Love
December 27, 2015 by
I grew up on Disney princess movies, many of which had this plot: A girl lives with her father (or horrific stepmother) because her mother suffered some fatal accident or succumbed to sickness.
Formations 12.27.2015: Only the Beginning
December 20, 2015 by
This December, we reach the 150-year anniversary of when the United States officially ratified and adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Uniform 12.27.2015: A Generous Gift
December 20, 2015 by
I have a confession to make. There was a time when I thought Christmas was about me. Now, don’t think I was worse than I was. I knew that Christmas was really about the birth of Jesus.
Uniform 12.20.2015: What Can I Bring?
December 13, 2015 by
Our unit title is “What We Bring to God.” Have you ever thought about that? Often, we focus on what God gives to us. The list is both lengthy and weighty: salvation, grace, a Savior who identifies with us, a Scripture text for guidance, the Earth with all its provisions.
Formations 12.20.2015: A Disturbing Story of Peace
December 13, 2015 by
It was a Wednesday-night Bible study in December. I was walking my parishioners through the Christmas story in Luke, making a point of how Jesus entered our world in lowly, unassuming, even harsh surroundings.
Formations 12.13.2015: Freedom to Hope
December 6, 2015 by
Zechariah’s song leads us through the second week of Advent in celebration and hope. But in this Scripture text, Zechariah’s song is almost as important as his months of silence leading up to it.
Uniform 12.13.2015: Acceptable Offerings
December 6, 2015 by
I was the young new pastor at the church. As I walked around the offices, I noticed that every room had a different color carpet, that a lot of it was ugly, and that none of it was what you’d call “nice.”
Formations 12.06.2015: The Cost of Poverty
November 29, 2015 by
About forty workshop participants recently learned valuable lessons about the realities of poverty by taking part in a simulation called The Cost of Poverty (or COPE). In the simulation, participants are matched together at random and given roles based on real-life poverty scenarios.
Uniform 12.06.2015: A True Sabbath
November 29, 2015 by
Before you read further, stop and name everything on your to-do list—all the little everyday concerns that add up to create a relatively smooth life for you and those in your care.
Formations 11.29.2015: Only Light
November 22, 2015 by
On November 12, a crowded marketplace in the Bourg al-Baragneh neighborhood in Beirut was bombed, leaving hundreds dead and injured in the worst attack Beirut has seen in years.
Uniform 11.29.2015: Teaching God’s Word
November 22, 2015 by
When Paul’s missionary partners Timothy and Silas arrived in Corinth, they found him “occupied with the word” (v. 5; NRSV supplies “proclaiming,” which is not in the Greek text). What was he doing with the word with which he was occupied?
Formations 11.22.2015: The Greatest Commandment
November 15, 2015 by
“What is the greatest commandment?” the legal expert asked. It was the perfect opening. If Jesus had wanted to say something like “All Scripture is equally important,” there was his chance. But he didn’t take it, because he didn’t believe that was true.
Uniform 11.22.2015: A Pathway for Sharing Christ
November 15, 2015 by
Derbe. Philippi. Thessalonica. Beroea. Athens. And on and on the journey goes. Paul and others made the trip without jets or cars—and probably even without horses.
Formations 11.15.2015: Make Mistakes!
November 8, 2015 by
“Girls can’t be doctors. Girls are nurses, and boys are doctors.” I was used to my students saying weird and silly things, but this one made me spin around fast. My student, E, was confidently explaining to K why she couldn’t be a doctor when she grew up.
Uniform 11.15.2015: From Derbe to Philippi
November 8, 2015 by
The late comedian Mitch Hedberg talked about people who helped their friends move. “I like to help my friends stay,” he deadpanned. I think that one of the basic questions of the Christian life, not to mention of human existence, is whether we should go or stay.
Formations 11.08.2015: “My Feet Are a Big Fabric”
November 1, 2015 by
The Universal Translator is a staple of the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It is a device that instantly translates speech from one language to another, allowing Captain Kirk and his crew to communicate easily.
Uniform 11.08.2015: A Fence around the Kingdom
November 1, 2015 by
Women deacons weren’t widespread at the time, but the church my mother attended had made the change to their constitution, ruling that the office of deacon was open to qualified “people” rather than just “men.”
Formations 11.01.2015: Fragile Things
October 25, 2015 by
Think about strong, permanent things. What are they made of? How big are they? I think of stone structures that stand for centuries. When we want to build something that lasts forever, we consider materials even stronger than stone and wood.
Uniform 11.01.16: God Releases the Captive
October 25, 2015 by
Peter was in jail, bound by chains, surrounded by guards, and in danger of being executed. He was in those dire circumstances because of his faithfulness to Christ. Many Christians around the world experience persecution because of their faith.