Chaos is impatient. It's random. And above all it's selfish. It tears down everything just for the sake of change, feeding on itself in constant hunger. But chaos can also be appealing. It tempts you to believe that nothing matters except what you want. from The...
At the heart of each of us is a compelling hunger for ways to live and be in relationship that are genuine. Too often we choose ways that enslave rather than free us, and so it is with churches as well. What the world longs for are people and churches who have found...
We all need hope. No sparkling promises or wishes. No well laid intentions or plans. Hope. Four letters. Four letters that carry the weight of our whole world and all of our life hidden in the depth of their meaning. Whether we are waiting on a check to arrive, a door...
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...
Brothers and sisters, if we don’t believe that every crucifixion—war, poverty, torture, hunger—can somehow be redeemed, who of us would not be angry, cynical, hopeless? No wonder Western culture seems so skeptical today. It all doesn’t mean anything, it’s not going...
People are hungry for love. Are we aware of that? Do we know that? Do we see that? Do we have eyes to see? Quite often we look but we don't see. We are all just passing through this world. We need to open our eyes and see. Since we cannot see Christ, we cannot express...
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.
I am convinced that we all long for the presence of God with a deep, aching hunger, a hunger as sure as the hunger for food, but with this difference--we do not always know how to fill it. We do not always know what we are looking for. Saint Augustine observed that...
All over this magnificent world, God calls us to extend his kingdom of shalom-peace and wholeness—of justice, of goodness, of compassion, of caring, of sharing, of laughter, of joy, of reconciliation. God is transfiguring the world right this very moment through us...
Unless we are exchanging deeply committed levels of love with a few people, we will die slowly on the inside. This is precisely why so many people feel almost nothing at all. If we don’t learn to exchange love with family and friends, we will eventually grow numb and...