Jesus was never "prone to wander" or "prone to leave the God he loved." He came to earth to settle that issue once and for all. He came to set us free, that we too might be transformed from "prone to wander" to "prone to love."
The word “scapegoating” originated from an ingenious ritual described in Leviticus 16. According to Jewish law, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid hands on an “escaping” goat, placing all the sins of the Jewish people from the previous year onto the animal....
In the preface to Margaret Guenther's Holy Listening, Alan Jones notes that spirituality deals with the "unfixable" aspects of our lives. His words remind us that darkness also has a light of its own. Within the darkness, the seedling grows. Within the womb, a new...
While an adventurous spirituality does not claim to provide scientific data that proves God's ever-transforming power throughout the universe, the vision of God's holy adventure boldly asserts that God is continually working in our personal, planetary, and cosmic...
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That's why Jesus says, "Love Your enemies." Because if you hate your...
If you think being religious, being Christian, being spiritual is getting ready for the next world, you've missed the message of Jesus. Jesus didn't come here to get you ready for the next world; he came into this world to transform you into people through whom he...
The metaphor of rebirth, being born of the Spirit, is an image of radical transformation. An old life has been left behind, and a new life has begun. It has a number of metaphorical equivalents in the New Testament. In Paul, dying and rising with Christ, being...
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of...
When we believe our church's purpose is to please us and make us happy, then we will withhold our money and withdraw our participation when we are displeased with our church. When we believe our church's purpose is to make us more like Jesus, we expect discomfort in...
Sin is our only hope, because the recognition that something is wrong is the first step toward setting it right again. There is no help for those who admit no need of help. There is no repair for those who insist that nothing is broken, and there is no hope of...