Christianity can be confusing, but the way of Jesus was pretty clear. Move toward the poorEmpower the womanCreate space at the tableThrow partiesWiden the family boundariesPoke holes in oppressive systemsDon't retaliate with violenceForgive your enemyDon't store up...
If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.
When Jesus was taken to be executed on the cross, 11 of the 12 men abandoned him, but the women stayed. When Jesus’ body was buried, the women were the first ones at his grave. When Jesus rose from the dead, the men were hiding, so the women announced his...
For God so loved the world that God made us for love. For God so loved the world that God incarnated love itself in the person of Jesus.For God so loved the world that God empowered us to love even our enemies, even the worst person on Twitter, even those who seem...
The prodigal stayed away from his Father's house and endured pigpen poverty because he feared his actions had changed his identity from son to slave, only to return and find his fears had no basis in reality. Fear keeps us in a slave mentality and robs us of our very...
Gratitude is, perhaps, the most immediate and most primal of all spiritual affections--that which makes every human being a priest. Feeling grateful empowers the soul.
I reject the version of Jesus who would have told the rich young ruler, “you are blessed” instead of, “give everything to the poor and follow me.” Who would have pushed women to the fringes of the narrative, instead of empowering Mary to be the first preacher of...
Throughout his Gospel, Luke shows us Jesus praying. Jesus prays before he calls his disciples, before asking them who he is, at the time of his transfiguration, before teaching his disciples how to pray, on the night of his arrest, and at his death. For Luke, what is...
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...
Your calling is going to crush you. If you’re called to mend the brokenhearted, you’re going to wrestle with broken-heartedness. If you’re called to prophesy, you’re going to struggle to control your mouth. If you’re called to lay hands, you will battle spiritual...