Your Inverted Frown
When you say something is ugly, I know you've seen beauty. When you use the word 'broken,' I know you have a concept of 'whole.' When you say something is evil, you're weighing the thing against goodness. And to hear you judge something false is also to hear that truth exists and can be known. Your longings and groanings tell me, "This is not right!"
Coming to Know
When we think about knowing in terms of relationship rather than fact-gathering, we see that all knowing is coming to know. Knowing is an open-ended journey rich with discovery. Maybe this is why Eugene Peterson said, "There are no experts in the company of Jesus. We are all beginners." People who are coming to know are curious. They listen and observe and consider. They do so trusting there is more treasure to be mined.
Love is a Gift
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. — 2 Cor. 9:7
Love is the gift of self. A gift must be given. Like mercy and forgiveness, it cannot be demanded, pressured, manipulated, or extorted. Even God wants a cheerful (gracious, ungrudging) giver. Maybe the gift will be appreciated. Maybe not. Still, love has been added to the world.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.