On walking the Way

I am the father of four boys. They are all men now, but before they were men, they were teenagers. Anyone who has raised teenagers knows it is hard to raise teenagers without raising your voice. I’m sure people have done it, but I will freely confess I was not one of them. Along the way, I said things I regret to this day, but one day I blurted out something in the heat of the moment that immediat...

This podcast was born during the COVID-19 lockdown. I wanted to find a way to serve and encourage people while I was locked in my house and unable to minister in the way I usually do as a missionary teacher. It was an ugly time for missionaries since travel was nearly impossible and our schools were all shut down. I considered many titles and themes for this podcast, but finally settled on Walking...

We have all heard the beatitudes, or at least some of them, at various times in our lives. Some of them, like “Blessed are the meek” or “Blessed are the peacemakers,” have become so well known that they are enshrined in our culture and used as cliches. But let’s reread them today and examine these blessings once again. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." “Blessed...

The spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day once asked him which commandment was the most important, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment great...

I love the psalms; I think I have always loved them. Some of my earliest memories are sitting on the end of a pipe organ bench as my mom practiced or wandering through the choir during rehearsals. My mom was the organist and choir director for our church, so we practically lived in the choir loft. We were up there so much that it sometimes felt weird when we sat down below with the rest of the con...

When I was young, there were a few years when I was just the right age to be a fishing partner with my Grandpa. I was old enough to help him and keep him company, but not old enough to be absorbed by jobs and girls—and whatever else a boy might be distracted by. Those years contain some of my best memories of childnood. I spent a lot of time with my Grandpa preparing to fish, fiddling with the boa...

The Pharisees tried to build a wall around the law to ensure they never broke it, and created lawyers. Jesus said I am the way, follow me,and created disciples. Imagine you’re a fisherman in 27AD. You’re working with your brother and your father, much like he worked with his father before him. But you’ve been hearing things about a teacher, and this one sounded different than all the rest. One day...

Christianity grows like a seed from the inside, bearing fruit on the outside. Other religions and worldviews believe that the solution can be found by changing outward behaviors, thereby gradually changing the inside. This, in a nutshell, is what makes Christianity unique. Both systems produce changed behavior, but the causes of that change are radically different. This week, I would like to explo...

The noise and demands of this world grind our souls and saturate our minds until life begins to feel like an endless stream of pointless events. We crave peace and quiet, but when we try to quiet ourselves, the noise inside is as loud as the noise outside. So we find a way to ease our minds and keep going. We find ways to numb that voice inside that we know we should listen to, but are afraid of,...

Last week, we discussed a life focused on the kingdom of God and how a life so focused is a life free of anxiety. This week, I would like to dive back into that theme and talk about the busyness of our modern lives. Why do we feel like we are running every day instead of living every day? Why is it so hard to leave a gap in our schedule—anywhere? What are we striving for? Why do we think it is so...

On Sunday, when church is over and I am finally home, sitting in my chair, I find myself wondering, “What just happened? Where did the last week go? What, if anything, did I accomplish?” Over the years, I have bemoaned this experience with a variety of different folks. From what I can tell, it turns out to be a very common experience, almost universal. Most people, myself included, generally shrug...

There is a story of an old man and a traveler. According to ChatGPT, this is an ancient story, and some version of it can be found in many cultures around the world. I don’t remember when I first heard this story, but it has stuck with me ever since. I'd like to begin today with my version of this classic parable. A young man was traveling in search of a new home. Late in the afternoon, after a lo...

I have heard it said that evil is not a thing; it is the lack of a thing. Like dark is a lack of light, and cold is a lack of heat, evil is a lack of goodness — a lack of God. Joy, on the other hand, is a thing, and its source is a person. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 [ESV] Happiness is a...

For many centuries, we have all been educated and entertained via media, primarily through books and print, until the 20th century. Ask any avid reader, and they will be quick to tell you about the magic of the printed word and how books guide you into worlds you have never known. But, there is one very important thing to remember about those worlds, and it is troubling: they disappear when you cl...

Easter is a time to reflect on the significance of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not a philosophical or theological point to be argued, nor is it a simply a symbol. But rather, it stands as the single fact on which all Christian belief depends. And when I say fact I do not mean a firmly held opinion, I am referring to a historical fact, a thing which actually happened. If the resu...

Many of us have believed in Jesus for many years. Some of us were raised in the faith. But if we are honest with ourselves, it is easy to understand how we can spend years as Christians without really thinking about who we are with. Philip found himself in just such a place in this story. He was an early follower of Jesus and had stayed with him from the beginning, but at this crucial moment, it b...

We were made to worship. It is in us, and it is always looking for an outlet of expression. When we worship our creator with a pure heart, everything in us springs to life like a bird suddenly released from a cage. In true worship, we find the joy of being what we were created to be, images and reflections of God to the rest of His creation. However, much like the physical world, where misdirected...

Not one of us will wake up tomorrow. Every time we wake up, it will be today. It is always now, it is never later. We can’t do anything later; we can only do things now. The question is not who you were or who you hope to be, but who are you now? Life can only be lived now, not tomorrow, or yesterday. Yesterday and tomorrow are hiding places. We only live now, we only love now (or not), we only fo...

I have misread my circumstances many times in my life. I have read God’s pleasure or displeasure into things that were not directly connected to either one of those things. When things go wrong, I tend to ask, “What am I doing wrong?” Is God angry at me? Is He punishing me, or is He trying to get my attention? While this set of questions might sound childish or simplistic, blaming ourselves for ou...

When we think about calling, we generally think about what we are good at, what “our heart” desires, or perhaps the saying I have truly come to hate, “follow our passion.” But what does calling really refer to when we put it into the context of the gospels? From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two...

Academia has been a gift to the body of Christ. I am thankful every day for the gift of 2000 years of scholarly study into the scriptures and all the time and energy so many give to record these discoveries and insights for the benefit of all. Without this effort, we would not even have a Bible to study in our native language, much less all the study materials that help us understand it. But over...

We live in an angry world. It’s a vengeful and unforgiving world. A world where people are constantly at war, if not with bombs, guns, knives, and clubs, with commerce, and if not with commerce, with slander, defamation, and character assassination. But one thing we are all certain of — is that it is the other guy’s fault. It must be their fault. After all, we are the injured party. So, we have a...

We are bombarded with information and stories every day. Some are served up with a smile, and others with anger and a side of fear. These stories affect us, even the ones we hate and reject. Many, if not most, of these stories are impossible for us to fully verify, so, in the end, we pick and choose what we want to believe for any number of reasons. The truth begins to sound like a muffled voice l...

We don’t often think much about the way we understand the world. The short answer is that we know and understand the world through stories, and we share these stories through language. This seems obvious when we think about it. After all, if you ask someone to introduce themselves, they will do it by telling a story about themselves. Stories are the core of culture. Culture is built on a collectio...

Ever since I was young, the book of Proverbs has fascinated me. There was just something about it—all those short little sayings that you could read in a couple of seconds but end up thinking about for the rest of the day. Now that I am an old man, I have come to realize that the proverbs are not designed to answer questions; they are designed to cultivate wisdom. I think this was brought home to...