The Bible does not limit God to masculine images. God as Father is not the only image in Scripture. Faithfulness to the complete biblical revelation leads us to include other images. Opening our minds to new ideas can be scary at first. Growing up I learned that God...
There is no need to doubt the literal nature of Christ’s ascension, so long as we realize its purpose. It was not necessary as a mode of departure for “going to the Father” did not involve a journey in space and presumably he could simply have vanished as on previous...
Our prayers offered when we do not feel like it are more acceptable than prayers offered at other times. When we pray because we feel like it, we are pleasing ourselves. By praying when we do not feel like it, we bring God not only the content of our prayer, but a...
If God forgives us instantly and completely, then who are we to sulk in despair over our failures? If God finds no pleasure in condemning, then we have no right to find some sort of sadistic pleasure in self-contempt. To allow the sins of yesterday, or even an hour...
I personally know a family whose most meaningful Christmas truly embraced its spirit. [In 1986 this family thought of a needy family in their congregation that was struggling just to survive.] The parents and their two children discussed together how to help this...
…as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches… So although the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent this continued decay of true religion? We ought not prevent people from...
You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. …And you refuse to do it because you want to live longer… You’re afraid that you...
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Perhaps we are more attentive when life is hard. When we are open and vulnerable, the Spirit can more easily lead us forth to fuller expressions of wisdom, compassion, and love—to the heart of our humanity, the imago dei, the image of God.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did...