The church has allowed itself to get so swept up in political issues that it plays by the rules of power, which are rules of ungrace
Make it so the poor are no longer despised and thrown away. Look at them standing about — like wildflowers, which have nowhere else to grow.
La idea central en la mayor parte del Antiguo Testamento podría ser llamada «la idea de la soledad de Dios». — G. K. Chesterton
I see the confusion of politics and religion as one of the greatest barriers to grace. C. S. Lewis once said that almost all crimes of Christian history have come about when religion is confused with...
I leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy.
I feel called to minister to telephone marketers. You know, the kind who call at inconvenient hours and deliver their spiel before you can say a word. Immediately I flashed back to the times I have re...
I am forced to reexamine. Thomas Merton’s words about the Bible in general apply to the Old Testament in particular: There is, in a word, nothing comfortable about the Bible—until we manage to get so...
How differently will I relate to the uncommitted if I view them not as evil or unsaved but rather as lost.
Herein lies the most solemn challenge facing Christians who want to communicate their faith: if we do not live in a way that draws others to the faith rather than repels them, none of our words will m...
God shattered the inexorable law of sin and retribution by invading earth, absorbing the worst we had to offer, crucifixion, and then fashioning from that cruel deed the remedy for the human condition...
Gary Haugen, founder of the International Justice Mission, say something similar: God has a plan to fight injustice, and that plan is us — his people. There is no Plan B.
Even in post-Christian societies the gospel will continue to do its subversive work. Jesus used small things to describe his kingdom: a sprinkling of yeast that causes the whole loaf to rise, a pinch...
Earth is crammed with heaven And every bush aflame with God But only those who see take off their shoes. —ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
At first glance legalism seems hard, but actually freedom in Christ is the harder way. It is relatively easy not to murder, hard to reach out in love; easy to avoid a neighbor’s bed, hard to keep a ma...
Ariel Durant, There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion. The Durants add a foreboding remark, The greate...
A Franciscan Benediction
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he n...
You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is required. The stars neither require it nor demand it. ANNIE DILLARD
We decided to attend to our community instead of asking our community to attend the church. His staff started showing up at local community events such as sports contests and town hall meetings. They...
The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the oppressed truly are blessed. Not because of their miserable states, of course—Jesus spent much of his life trying to remedy those miseries. Rather, they are...