Who does—and who does not—get to heaven is a tender subject, or should be. Who is heading for heaven or hell should be approached with gentle love because the “Who is in—and who is not in?” conversation can certainly be divisive. Regardless of where you are on the theological spectrum,...

On the day Jesus died, two criminals were hanging next to him, one on either side. One mocked Jesus. The other, recognizing divinity, would see his Savior in paradise. “The salvation of the thief on a cross gives hope to every sinner,” writes Trevin Wax in his March 6, 2018...

On Good Friday, Christians remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). Good Friday is followed by Easter Sunday, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death...

Well-known author and speaker Tullian Tchividjian recently tweeted, “Those who struggle with believing that they are weak will also struggle with believing that God is strong.” Tchividjian is right. If we don’t think we need a god, we certainly won’t be seeking one. And that makes this next week on...

In this Sunday’s lectionary scripture, Jeremiah speaks to a people far from home and bereft of hope. Into their situation, the prophet speaks words of a covenant radically unlike the one handed to them through Moses. This covenant is not written on stone tablets but on the hearts of those...

The four-letter f*** word I grew up with was not to be said by a kid, at least not in front of an adult. There’s a new four-letter f*** word. Actually, it’s not a new word, but like the f-bomb mindful society banned when I was growing up, this word...

In the almost ten years I’ve been a fulltime pastor, at least one person a year has shared with unflinching candor that the end of the world is near. I get why these words spill. Too many heartless or crushing tragedies in such succession are overwhelming. Underneath these hard knocks...

Maybe your prayer wasn’t supposed to change something or someone in this world as you intended. Instead, maybe you’re the one who needed the change, the awareness, or the new perspective. As promised, this week we look at how prayer changes the one who is praying. To begin, consider what...

  We’ve been stuck in road construction and pray to make our meeting, reservation, or party. To avoid being even later to an event, we’ve even prayed for the upcoming traffic light change in our favor. Simple prayers. And God didn’t answer them. We’ve had other prayers, too. Prayers born...

Too often we call rituals antiquated or meaningless before we give them a chance. And Ash Wednesday? Walking around with ashes on the forehead? That’s weird, right? These ashes, and the ancient ritual itself, are weird — uncomfortable, different. They are supposed to be. They are also humbling, grounding. Ash...