Just because someone plays Beethoven badly doesn't mean Beethoven was a bad composer. Just because someone lives the Christian life poorly doesn't mean that Jesus isn't worth following. God doesn't ask you to be like Christians. He asks you to be like Jesus Christ....
Compassion and justice are the primary ethical fruits of the Christian life. from The Heart of Christianity
Healing prayer is part of the normal Christian life. It should not be elevated above any other ministry in the community of faith, nor should it be undervalued; rather it should be kept in proper balance. It is simply a normal aspect of what it means to live under the...
We shouldn’t limit ourselves to major key songs! The Psalms reveal that much of the Christian life might be spent in a minor key, and it’s time that the church became honest about this reality as well. The church needs to be able to lament together, and minor key...
The offering is the pinnacle act in worship. Likewise, all of worship is an offering. The self-emptying of Jesus is the model. Unless a person offers the total self to God, true worship does not occur. Actions devoid of self-giving do not qualify as the worship of God...
Christian life, then, is a matter of becoming who we already are. from Radical Grace
I used to say that if I ever wrote a book, its title would be Nothing Truly Radical Happens After Age Six, Except Grace. Grace, that experience of unconditional love, breaks through the whole system and can change anything. All of Christian life could be described as...
I no longer see the Christian life as being primarily about believing. The Christian life is about entering into a relationship with that to which the Christian points, which may be spoken of as God, the risen living Christ, or the Spirit. And a Christian is one who...
And yet waiting is an essential part of the Christian life. …This is the mystery of our faith, that we are always waiting for Christ to come to us even though we believe that he has already come and that he is coming to us right now in word and sacrament. Is his...