But the whole question of course is not "What attracts and would help me?" but "Where can I serve God best?"--and usually the answer to to that is, "Where He has put me." from Letters--------------------------------------Gender-neutral version: But the whole question...
01185 – What I Learn at the Eucharist
The experiment with faith is the work of a lifetime, a continual openness to change, a permanent quest. What I learned serving at the altar was not which Eucharistic theology was "right." What I learned, and must always be learning and relearning, is who Jesus is, and...
01183 – Service when the Limelight Disappears?
You know, Lord, how I serve you with great emotional fervor in the limelight. You know how eagerly I speak for you at a Women's Club. You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study. But how would I react, I wonder, if you pointed to a basin of water and asked me to...
00950 – The Generosity of Believers in Christ
The generosity of a believer is a response to Jesus Christ and never merely a “human” virtue. The gospel is about the generosity of God: God owed us nothing, and yet out of sheer enthusiasm for us and desire of our well-being, God sent Jesus Christ… Through the...
00941 – Surrender is the Most Christian Prayer
Surrender—putting one’s life at God’s disposal—is the most truly Christian prayer. It is the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane—”Not my will, but thine.” It is the heart of the prayer Jesus taught the apostles—”Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth...
00819 – Jesus and “the Other”
Jesus doesn’t dominate the other, avoid the other, colonize the other, intimidate the other, demonize the other, or marginalize the other. He incarnates into the other, joins the other in solidarity, protects the other, listens to the other, serves the other, even...
00798 – Released from Darkness to Worship and Serve
By the mercies of God, this new covenant community has been released from the darkness and foolishness of illicit worship to serve the living God in spirit and truth. In a very real sense this is the goal of the process of redemption, just as it was in the Old...
00714 – Finding Joy in the Ordinary
What if [instead of just the “wow” moments in worship] we actively pursue the joy of the ordinary? What if in this season of Lent, when we verbalize our “ashes to ashes” condition , we give God glory for the profound nature of His handiwork without feeling that we...
00694 – Worship is Often Misunderstood
We do not always think of repentance as worship, but it can be much easier to sing a rousing hymn than to turn away from our favorite sin. A sinful act involves worship of the wrong kind, submitting ourselves at that moment to serve the appetites of our pride or lust,...
00284 – A Few Clear Images of God
I do not feel the need to see all of God at once, to comprehend God, as if I even could. It is enough for me to have a few clear images of how God is. So long as they resonate with Scripture and with my experience and so long as they produce in me the fruits of the...