The Great American Virtue

  It’s been said that motion is the great American virtue, and waiting is the ultimate un-American act. If you doubt it, consider how you deal with checkout lines. Well, consider me as I checkout the checkout lines in my most recent trip to Uganda. I found myself...

Transformation in Waiting

  One of God’s most effective transformation tools is a season of waiting. In fact, it seems that God delights in imposing a time of waiting as preparation for those He intends to use. Joseph sat in a dark prison cell for ten years before being called out to...

Calming the Storm

  This morning’s Lenten devotional was a familiar story: Jesus quiets a storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat with his disciples. What makes this story so remarkable is that Jesus exercises his dominion over the forces of nature, even when the...

A Disturbing Epiphany

  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” When King Herod...

What Will This Change?

  On my most recent trip to Africa, I ask one of my Ugandan friends why he never got angry at all the crazy taxi and boda boda drivers who are constantly cutting in front of us and hugging us out of our place. His response was simple: What will this change?” A...

The Dance of Lectio Divina

  Lectio Divina (translated “divine or sacred reading”) is an approach to the Scriptures that sets us up to listen for the word of God spoken to us in this present moment.  Lectio divina refers to the ancient practice of divine reading that dates back to the...

A Light Only Darkness Can Illuminate

  Have you ever noticed the number of questions found in the gospels? We have Zechariah’s request for assurance from the angel Gabriel about the son promised he and Elizabeth, “How will I know that this is so? (Luke 1:18); Mary’s question of Gabriel, “How can...

Stages of Prayer

  When I was in elementary school, my family was in church every time the doors were open. That’s a bold statement to make but true none the less. In fact, not only were we there every time the doors were open, we were there even when they were not open –...

The Power of Belonging

  I was twelve years old and spending the summer away from the city in upstate New York at my grandmother’s house. I loved the two months of summer we’d spend at Nannie’s – our affectionate name for my maternal grandmother. She had this house that felt like...

The Red String of Fate

  I was surprised how a passing invitation for my friends in the DFW area to join me at event with tattooist and friend Tristan Bradshaw this morning, generated a viral response – at least viral by my post standards! The event was sponsored by Connecting...