Columns

• 

  My top 10 books for 2021

  Dec 31, 2021

  I’m not a literary critic, nor pretend to be. Simple fact, I don’t read enough. A busy, pressured life affords me only some smaller windows of time within which to read anything that’s not directly related to my ministry.

  
• 

  Building God’s Kingdom in the New Year

  Dec 31, 2021

  The powerful temptation to build earthly kingdoms has been a painful thorn lodged deep within the human psyche from ancient times to the present day.

  
• 

  Are you ‘waiting’ or ‘welcoming’?

  Dec 17, 2021

  In welcoming, we actively participate in three main tasks: making time, making space for the coming of something beautiful and life-giving, and making ourselves or the place presentable for what or who we are anticipating.

  
• 

  The grim world Jesus was born into

  Dec 17, 2021

  It’s been a tough year, and we have been through a lot in our households and in our churches, and also as a nation.

  
• 

  A Christmas miracle – when enemies became brothers

  Dec 17, 2021

  As the first Christmas of World War I approached, Pope Benedict XV on Dec. 7, 1914, asked the leaders of all warring governments to agree to an official ceasefire. He begged "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang."

  
• 

  Listening to our souls …

  Dec 17, 2021

  Today we are witnessing a trivialization of soul within the culture. Few things are sublime anymore, meaning few things are soulful anymore.

  
• 

  God will make all things right in His time

  Dec 11, 2021

  True enough, in His time, God answered all my prayers. When I was stranded, He made sure I was well taken care of by my partner’s family.

  
• 

  Human(kind) — Ashlee Eiland

  Dec 11, 2021

  We need her narrative. We live in a time of bitterness and division, when civil discourse and respect have broken down, where we demonize each other, where injustice, inequality, and racism still define us more than their opposites, and where kindness is often seen as a weakness.

  
• 

  Living as an instrument in the hands of God

  Dec 03, 2021

  There are countless ways to be an instrument in the hands of God. As I grew up, I came across many people who were great examples of ‘instruments of God’.

  
• 

  Leaving Church …

  Dec 03, 2021

  The Marginalized are those who feel themselves outside the understanding, empathy, and spiritual scope of the churches.