Once and for All—Lauren Daigle

A couple weeks ago, the song, “Once and for All” by Lauren Daigle shuffled onto my i-Tunes playlist.  I have been unable to get it out of my head since.  It is a vulnerable song about resigning to the Lord.  Songs like this are always meaningful but I find it particularly relevant at this season…

Read More

#MeToo

Recently, I read about a sex scandal that detonated in a major evangelical church.  We are just beginning to feel the shockwaves.  Those closest to the blast were knocked flat.  But many who operated under this church’s umbrella or looked to it for inspiration will also be shaken. I have stopped counting sex scandals involving…

Read More

Trouble and Trumpets

Recently, I found myself rather sick of the world.  Sick of hearing sirens.  Sick of politics.  Sick of fires and famine.  Sick of systems that don’t really solve human problems.  Sick of it all.  And sick of whining about it 😉 The Lord brought John 16:33 to my heart like a balm.  And it got…

Read More

Fallen, We Divide

Recently, Facebook shut down pages disseminating disinformation.  The disinformation was about issues that Americans divide over.  The point of disinformation?  More division.  It is believed that Russian hackers are to blame.  It’s the old divide and conquer approach.  A divided America is a weaker America.  This makes sense.  Jesus said something about a divided house…

Read More

Staying Buried

In Genesis 34, Leah’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by Hivite Prince Shechem.  Infatuated, Shechem bargains with Jacob and his sons to make Dinah Shechem’s wife.  Jacob’s sons tell Shechem he can’t have Dinah unless he and their men are circumcised.  The Hivites agree. They will benefit by mingling with the Hebrews: flocks and possessions will…

Read More

This Is the Day…

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24). The verse above is famous.  I can’t count (even on my fingers and toes) how many times I’ve heard it quoted.  Most of us have heard the popular song as well (complete with echo: “This is the day, This…

Read More

The Back of Love’s Hand

Last night, my wife had dinner out with a friend.  I looked forward to spending the evening with my kids, doing something fun.  But one of my kids had a major behavioral malfunction. I had to discipline him.  It was the very opposite of fun.  Since then, I’ve been thinking about Hebrews 12:6, “the Lord…

Read More

Yeats and Modern Angst

Painting: “Nebuchadnezzar” by William Blake   “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are…

Read More

Seeker-Sensitive or Seeking to Save?

Recently, a friend sent me an article which criticized a high profile church.  Some of the church’s current and former members are celebrities.  The former celebrity members were interviewed in this bit of “investigative journalism.” (I use quotes because this was for some online rag.  Not exactly Woodward and Bernstein). Those interviewed complained that the…

Read More

Struggling and Prevailing (Part 2)

Please read part one before continuing… Jacob named the place he wrestled with God, “Face of God,” adding that he saw God’s face and was delivered (Gen. 32:30).  In a sense, seeing God’s face and dislocating his hip were of a piece.  Said another way, Jacob’s hip was dislocated because he saw God’s face. We…

Read More