“Fear of the Lord” is one of those phrases from the Bible that needs to be unpacked, to be thought about more broadly than is usually done. So often it has been tied to our behavior around the Ten Commandments and other rules of life in the Bible. It has been linked to our “bad” […]

“Make haste slowly” has been reverberating in my ears the last three days as I’ve been working on sample table runners for my son’s wedding. Each time I try to start a part of this project, I hear within me to slow down. To not rush. To be relaxed. This is not the way I […]

I think that there is some misunderstanding about what our role is in the relationship with God. Over time as we seek to draw closer to God we realize that we are not “doing” anything. God is leading us, God is transforming us, God is revealing us to ourselves. Our job is to more and […]

Sometimes it’s a call from God. Or maybe you are embarrassed by what you’ve said or done and know that it was not said or done from love. It may come from an accumulation of evidence that something is wrong in your body or heart or mind. At one time for me it was a […]

Faith is not just a belief in God; it is a belief in God plus a relationship with God; it is belief plus faith plus a deep relationship with God, plus taking whatever action God inspires. Faith is an ever-growing commitment to put God first, to continually open oneself up to the Lord, to listen […]

If you allow God’s inspiration to come to you in its own good time, if you are listening deeply to the “still, small voice”[1 Kings 19] within you, if you then act on what is suggested, you will never violate who you are or do anything wrong or in the wrong timing. Living this way […]

If you want to know how to love people, first things first—listen to them deeply. Ask about their lives, what their hopes and dreams are, what it costs them to live as they live. Ask about their faith, if they have any. And when you have a real sense of the person before you, then […]

In the dream I am talking to a favorite minister of mine: “Your job is to inspire the congregation; mine is to connect the dots.” And there in my dream God showed me my purpose. For me connecting the dots means translating Jesus’ sayings in the Bible into living a life dedicated to him in […]

I am grateful to the Rev. Rob Fuquay, author of “The God We Can Know, Exploring the ‘I am’ Sayings of Jesus” for looking at the distinction between resuscitation and resurrection in our prayers. He offers this comparison: While Lazarus was resuscitated, Jesus was resurrected. Lazarus gained his life back only to die later; Jesus […]