I like to know exactly what is expected of me. If someone asks me to do something, I ask questions to make sure I know what I’m supposed to do.
Connections 07.24.2022: What God Gives
July 17, 2022 by
They say, “God only gives you what you can handle.” “They” like to say this when people around them are struggling.
Connections 05.29.2022: What We Mean by Freedom
May 22, 2022 by
It’s hard to write on days (weeks, months, years) like this, when the heaviness of current events makes any attempt at meaningful words feel futile. I know it’s hard to teach and to preach at times like this, to offer both condolence and challenge where each is needed.
A View from the Pew: What Did You Learn at Children’s Church?
June 22, 2021 by
What a church does with children says a lot about its focus and its future. I’ve seen a variety of approaches to the faith formation of children. All methods have their strong and weak points, defenders and detractors.
Crossroads: What Just Happened?
April 5, 2021 by
I cannot tell you the number of times that I have said, “Wait. What just happened?”
What Makes for Peace
March 30, 2021 by
They are having so much fun as Jesus enters Jerusalem. The mood is celebratory. Then all of a sudden, everything changes.
A View from the Pew: Upsetting the Congregation: What to do Next
March 24, 2021 by
Last month I laid out six circumstances when it’s okay to upset your congregation. This month, we’ll look at what to do at such a time.
Crossroads: What We Do Matters to God
February 15, 2021 by
I tend to give up soda every year for Lent. Part of it is because there’s a ton of sugar in soda and it’s not good to drink it every day. But part of it is also because soda is my crutch.
What Am I Saying?
December 9, 2020 by
There is no formula for prayer. There is no right or wrong way to talk to God. Sure, address God with reverence even when yelling at the Divine. “My God!”
Connections 11.22.2020: What You Don’t (and Do) Know
November 15, 2020 by
We have a saying: “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” As with many sayings, that one expresses only a partial truth. On one hand, it’s true that not knowing someone’s negative opinion of me can’t hurt me.
Formations 11.08.2020: What Now?
November 1, 2020 by
One of my ministry colleagues was once doing a research project on worship practices in American Baptist Churches in Indiana. He loved to tell the story of a particular service he attended with his grown children and his young granddaughter.
What Can I Say?
October 7, 2020 by
I’m going down. Praying hands up, I am sinking into despair though you would never know. Hands up, I volunteer for this and that and this. “Sure.” “Of course.” “No problem.” “Absolutely.” “Got it!”
Formations 10.04.2020: What Is God Worth?
September 27, 2020 by
Worth has to do with what one is willing to give in exchange for something else. If would be stupid to pay $20 for a soda at the fast food place: It’s only worth a couple of dollars.
Connections 09.27.2020: What’s In a Name?
September 20, 2020 by
An etiology is a story that explains the origin of a name or a custom. The writers of the Pentateuch skillfully wove etiologies into their narratives.
Connections 09.20.2020: What Is It?
September 13, 2020 by
God had brought the people out of Egypt and across the sea. They had begun their journey toward Mount Sinai. Now they needed food.
What Makes You Cry
July 15, 2020 by
It was summertime, sometime in the late 1960s. I was, as many children did (and I hope still do), participating in the public library’s summer reading program. I was reading Fred Gipson’s 1942 novel Old Yeller.
What I Wish the Evangelical Church Would Believe About Me
July 1, 2020 by
Here is what I wish my friends in the evangelical church would believe about me (for that’s the only person I can speak of) as someone who has gone outside the doors of that brand of Christianity: It was never about leaving Christ.
Connections 04.26.2020: What Things?
April 19, 2020 by
Cleopas and his companion know what has happened. They know the facts. They are talking about those facts as they trudge the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Formations 02.16.2020: What God Thinks of Injustice
February 9, 2020 by
Some of us have had our fill of biblical stories in which God uses divine power to punish humans.
Say What?
August 7, 2019 by
When God knows it all and none of it makes sense to you, what do you pray? How do you respond when the posture of prayer doesn’t feel right?
Worship: What and Why?
August 6, 2019 by
Throughout its years of use, “worship” has garnered many experiential definitions depending on the culture of the community, the denomination, and the purpose of the gathering.
Formations 08.04.2019: What Is the Problem?
July 28, 2019 by
Nehemiah continues the themes that thread through Joshua. Where earlier Israelites had rejoiced at the failure of Gilead’s walls, these exiles returning to Jerusalem mourn at the sight of the city’s walls in ruin.
What to Say When You Don’t Want to Open Your Mouth
July 9, 2019 by
At one time or another, I’ve said all of these things or some naïve but well-meaning version of them to family members and friends, church members and complete strangers. Forgive me.
What Do You Thirst For?
May 1, 2019 by
You see a water glass being filled on the Reflections cover. What do you think?
Why doesn’t my glass of water look that artistic?
Does anyone use coasters anymore?
Formations 10.07.2018: What Is Money Worth? Why?
September 30, 2018 by
Why is money worth anything? In modern economies where currency is not backed by precious metals, money is worth what some central authority says it does—no more and no less. This system has worked generations.
Connections 12.10.2017: What Would John the Baptist Say?
December 3, 2017 by
The other morning I got out of bed before my wife did. When she came into the den a few minutes later, she found me eating my oatmeal and watching the CBS Morning News. The first thing she said was, “Good morning!” The second thing she said was, “Has there been another one yet today?”
Formations 11.12.2017: What We Stand For
November 5, 2017 by
Alexander Hamilton, at least as played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, asks Aaron Burr early in their relationship, “If you stand for nothing, Burr, what will you fall for?” This tension between principle and calculated ambition defines Hamilton and Burr’s relationship through the remainder of Hamilton.
Connections 08.27.2017: What about Me?
August 20, 2017 by
I write to you today after yet another harrowing time in our nation—a time when any progress we have made in race relations takes a few giant steps backwards. Once again we are reminded that the loud voices of a relatively small group are occasionally more powerful than the quiet voices of the many.
God Only Makes What God Loves
July 4, 2017 by
Most of us struggle to believe that God fully loves us (and others) since we do not measure up to God’s law. We hear the constant refrain of “I am not good enough.” Or we wrestle with the “woulda’, coulda’, shoulda’s” of our lives. “God loves us, warts and all,” we say, but that theology falls short.
Connections 03.19.2017: What Is and What Will Be
March 12, 2017 by
There was a time when I wanted everything to make sense. It didn’t want to, so I tried to force it. It didn’t go well. Somewhere along the way, I gave up on that project. Life’s been better since I did. But folks do try to explain things, don’t they? One of the things we hear well-intentioned Christians say is, “Life’s tough; then you die.”
What Does it Really Mean to Support our Troops?
November 11, 2016 by
Another Veterans Day is upon us. If you’re like me, this is one holiday that doesn’t conjure up nostalgic childhood memories or necessitate family get-togethers. In fact, this will only be my 10th Veterans Day that I remember ever caring about.
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.
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.
Uniform 07.19.2015: What God Requires
July 12, 2015 by
Over my years as an assistant editor for Smyth & Helwys, I have read countless Scripture verses, dozens of Bible commentaries, and thousands of words by people like you and me who are doing their best to follow God’s way.