Yesterday morning, I read a report that Pope Francis had passed away at 88 years old. I am not Catholic, but I feel great fealty and respect for Catholicism. And yet, I felt a good amount of sadness through the […]
This is a picture of former Trappist monk turned psychotherapist Jim Finley, who was once mentored by the (in)famous Thomas Merton. He is standing in front of Merton’s hermitage at the Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, Kentucky. Merton […]
This past Saturday, I was driving to work at REI when up ahead I saw flashing red and blue lights and several police cars. As I got closer I discovered that they were moderating traffic for a “Hands Off” protest […]
Saw a discussion on Reddit. It said to summarize a book of the Bible in one sentence, I did a few and just kept going… Enjoy! – Genesis: It goes off the rails real quick. Exodus: Let my people go. […]
The early Church was utterly romanced by the Good News that in Christ God’s primary goals were the restoration, reconciliation, renewal, redemption, repair, recovery, and rescue of all. For our sake and the current moment, the word “restore” can be […]
One rainy day I was thinking about the word “integrity.” I had just finished reading something about some ancient Christian hermit or desert dweller and their inspiring integrity. Someone already defined integrity for me as, “when you act the same […]
“Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Jesus says this rather early in the Sermon on the Mount. The Greek word used for “perfect” is τελειοι (teleioi) and is a derivative of τελος (telos). Telos is […]
In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” When some translations of the Scripture say, “Have it to the full,” I take […]
A static mindset is not a Christian mindset. A static mindset says, “Nothing can change or should change.” However, to be a Christian means always being open to changing one’s mind about things. Not necessarily because our views could […]
Christianity Today recently wrote an article about Pastor John MacArthur, highlighting a history of dismissing accusations and requests to investigate potential abuse. You can read about it here. Rather than to investigate and to take these accusations as potentially of […]