A Prayer from the Ashes

based on Joel 2:12-27 Faithful God, we’re feeling broken. Hatred, disease, anxiety, and doubt are tearing open our hearts, weighing down our bodies, and casting a shadow over our spirits. We’re struggling to find hope amid the ashes of what used to be–some still-glowing ember that might re-ignite our confidence in the future’s promise. ButContinue reading “A Prayer from the Ashes”

A Gimmicky Rhyme Scheme for Pursuing a State of Flow

My word for the year is Flow, based on the work and writing of psychologist Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi. His book on Flow has been foundational to this effort: finding a center is key to his proposed concept of flow, as one seeks an ideal state between anxiety and boredom where we meet the moment with confidenceContinue reading “A Gimmicky Rhyme Scheme for Pursuing a State of Flow”

This Ecclesiastical Argument Could Have Been an Email

I wonder what exactly Christians believe they’re accomplishing when they argue about liturgical doctrine during a pandemic. In early 2020, many of the church practices that we knew and loved couldn’t be done in the same way—not safely, anyway. I was pastoring a church at the time, and we, like most others, moved to anContinue reading “This Ecclesiastical Argument Could Have Been an Email”