Blessed are the Peacemakers
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9 NIV) The first reading in Immerse: Kingdoms, Joshua 1-10, was hard for me. Amidst the inspirational verses about being strong and courageous because the Lord is with us are some brutal directives to destroy whole cities, “leaving no survivors.” Our small group members all agreed that it wasn’t a directive for personal conduct; even at the time, the Israelites were instructed not to murder. But we grappled with various explanations and justifications, acknowledging that God was punishing sinners by way of the...
Read MoreGod with Us
“‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” (Matthew 1:23 NIV) From our modern perspective, our familiarity with the Christmas story and the thousands of years of intervening history, it’s hard to imagine what Mary was thinking and feeling on the night she gave birth to the Son of God. Yet we instinctively want to—many songs remind us every December. It seems we all agree that it couldn’t have been easy on her. Besides the discomfort of being pregnant and giving birth—no doubt rather exacerbated by having traveled for...
Read MoreIf You Love One Another
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35 NIV) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV) When I was in college, a friend of mine was on the receiving end of an extremely hurtful action by our church leadership, born of an obviously inaccurate interpretation of a few Bible verses. All our friends were utterly appalled and tried to communicate to the...
Read MoreAll Hallows’ Eve
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17b-19 NIV 1984) In almost all Christian traditions, followers of Christ in heaven are called “saints.” While some traditions further canonize specific departed believers, earning them the title “Saint” (capital S), they acknowledge that there are many in heaven whose names are no longer known on...
Read MoreNeeding God
Therefore, my dear friends… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13 NIV) My small group in college used to joke that it hadn’t really been a Bible study if someone hadn’t said a little bit of heresy (to be corrected, of course). The one I remember most vividly was the time I said, “It’s so frustrating that no matter what I do, my [at the time totally hypothetical] kids are still going to need God!” I hardly know where to start unpacking all the wrong beliefs in...
Read MoreWorking Toward Glory
(I originally wrote this article while I was planning my wedding in 2008. I can’t believe it’s already been that long!) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV) Today, I was ready to elope. It took three months, or approximately 60% of the time we had to plan our wedding, but I finally reached the point where I seriously questioned whether all this work was worth it. Eloping would be cheaper, faster and less stressful. Yes, this is me taking back everything I said about how I would love to...
Read MoreIt’s Not the End of the World—but I Feel Fine
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3b-4 NIV) A lot of people are afraid of the end of the world, but I feared it differently. People thought that human beings could somehow bring about the end, through nuclear war and its ensuing winter, or by unleashing a deadly plague, or now, through the slow but...
Read MoreWhy I Write
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe… (Psalm 107:2 NIV) Several people have asked me recently, “How’s the writing going?” It’s a totally reasonable question, but I feel unnecessarily embarrassed answering it, because I haven’t had as much success as I would like. It’s now been almost three years since I quit my job to write full time, and I expected I’d at least have a book contract by now. (Many authors would laugh kindly at that expectation.) In publishing, there’s only so much I can control. Namely, I can control how good my book is and...
Read MoreBy the Unlearning of Your Mind
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2 NIV) When I first took up ballroom dancing, I danced five to six hours a week over two evenings of lessons and open dance. It’s a great workout and a fun social activity, but the learning curve at the beginning was quite steep. I was fortunate to find a group very open to dancing with and teaching beginners, and I therefore attempted to learn as much as I could, so that dancing would become more fun. Once I reached the point where I knew enough dance styles to have fun, I...
Read MoreCollective Responsibility
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God… (Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NIV) I wrote recently about the collective accountability that is clear in the early books of the Bible. Though it’s uncomfortable to modern American sensibilities, God doesn’t shy away from holding Israel answerable as a community for their general faithfulness to him. The blessings of Deuteronomy 28 are wondrous and impressive,...
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