Category: Be Still

Jeffrey Epstein (or better yet: the ghost of him) is in the headlines again, or maybe he never left. There are new revelations coming to light and yet no one is really sure what they are. The ambiguous “files” tell you everything and yet nothing. Everyone is somehow guilty and innocent. There is talk of … Continue reading God, I Thank You That I Am Not Like Jeffrey Epstein

Is it the weight of history that pulls on our souls? Or is it the weight of our personal, often private, inclinations that stand massive and monolithic between each of us and each of our peace? But what is peace? Is it a problem solved or the absence of a problem? Is it a person … Continue reading Maybe you should stay

I have come to understand the many paradoxes of life so that I can rightly assign the works of God. If you peer long enough and find enough stillness, you will see the living word brooding over the ruins of fortresses. You will feel it in your bones like when Joseph felt the exodus before … Continue reading Clear and Open

In some ways our age is arbitrary, not that the past years are for naught or the future ones are futile, but arbitrary in the sense that a measurement of time is not the sole indicator of progress or purpose. It has taken me over forty years to realize how fragile my perception can really … Continue reading Psalm 23 Revisited

At first glance, James’ opening to his (book) seems like a formality: “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.“ James‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NASB. But like many things in scripture, context is critical. ‬‬He declares his authorship and greets the diaspora (both the historical … Continue reading Put away your resume and start running

I watched an insect labor across the kitchen rug tonight, somehow possessing more drive than what my own actions have revealed of recent. In an instant I crushed it, but that is not real power. I have stood in the light and in the shadow—I have stood on both sides of the crucifix. Real power … Continue reading Solomon’s Ant

Roughly twelve years ago my wife and I took over our church’s 7th-12th grade program (in which we named Youth Group Live). We were not young believers, but we were young. And I have no qualms in saying now: we really had no idea how to run a youth program. However, that ended up being … Continue reading To all our past and current Youth Group Live students…

I have always held the opinion that most successful movies (and movie series) tap into at least one of the following elements: 1. Time travel, time manipulation, or the multiverse theory 2. Apocalyptic events, large scale crisis, etc. 3. Origin story and ancestry—specifically paternal dynamics In short, our storytelling is almost always centered around either … Continue reading Talk to me dad…

Marvel itself will not move me forward. It may keep me high for a season, but it will not sustain me. Only agape can arrest and properly arrange the entire human frame: spiritually alive, emotionally anew, and physically alert. To be clear, marvel, or the sense of wonder, is a powerful impression upon an individual. … Continue reading Marvel