Now--here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God--that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help...
01488 – God is Like a Mother
Our situation of "knowing God" is thus similar to that of a baby being held by its mother. In her hands, the baby does not "understand" the mother but rather experiences being known by the mother. In the same way, the revelation of God we have received from God is not...
01483 – What Did Jesus Mean?
To read the gospels in the spirit with which they were written, it is not enough to ask what Jesus did or said. We must ask what Jesus meant by his strange deeds and words. He intended to reveal the Father to us, and to show that he is the only-begotten Son of the...
01470 – Preaching Both Comedy and Tragedy
Switching on the lectern light and clearing his throat, the preacher speaks both the word of tragedy and the word of comedy because they are both of them of the truth and because Jesus speaks them both, blessed be he. The preacher tells the truth by speaking of the...
01465 – Are Words Necessary?
Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.
01435 – A Friend Sings Your Song to You
A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
01393 – Words, Not Voice
Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
01379 – Interpreting “God’s Word”
The issue should not be oversimplified into whether people will live by God's word or mere human teaching. Given this choice, all religious people will choose "God's word." But for all sides of the debate, God's word is not available directly, only through human...
01378 – The Second Step to Holy Obedience
Once having the vision [of a God-intoxicated life], the second step to holy obedience is this: Begin where you are. Obey now. Use what little obedience you are capable of, even if it be like a grain of mustard seed. Live this present moment...as you now sit in your...
01321 – God IS Love!
To love is to know God precisely because God is love. The emerging community, at its best, can teach us again that love must be the first word on our lips and also the last, and that we must seek to incarnate that sacred word in the world. I recently heard a...