A college student came out of Dallas Willard’s office wide-eyed, “Do you think Jesus can walk up to you?” Like many students in philosophy classes at USC he’d been drawn to the humble, wise, and radiant philosopher Willard. So he met with the professor for personal support and guidance. When the student asked about God,…
We can live in fullness of life in the presence of the risen Christ today — that’s the invitation of the Shepherd Psalm. But it begins with an audacious claim: “The Lord is my shepherd, he gives me life without lack.” Life without lack? You might question that. My life is full of lack —…
You can experience life without lack right now. Remember Christ is here with you. That’s what I told myself a few minutes ago when I was buried under a stack of stress on my desk. Emails. Admin. Unfinished projects. Decisions and more decisions. My body was tense, my breathing was shallow, and my soul was…
Kristi and I have been praying for people who were impacted by the hurricanes. In church this week we sang: “He loves like a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the waves and winds of his mercy.” (From “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan) Is this true? Is this good to sing? It…
One night as C. S. Lewis slept, a lion bounded into his dream. He wasn’t scared as much as he was blessed. Later, he named the lion “Aslan.” Then a wardrobe door opened into the wonderful world of Narnia — for 100 million people! You never know when a door to Narnia may open. “Jack”…
The spiritual program that has most impacted my life may surprise you. It’s the Stations of the Cross. Over the years I’ve gathered Gospel meditations and written prayers to go with each of the fourteen stations. It’s a crosswalk that brings me up close and personal to Jesus. I call it Unforsaken because that’s the…
It’s an isolating feeling to be on the outside looking in. We’ve all felt it. Some of us especially feel this way at Christmastime. We might relate to Frank Abagnale in the movie “Catch Me If You Can.” As a teenager and an only child his parent’s divorced. He goes back and forth between them…
Our Prince of Peace told us to expect troubles and to “take heart” from him and how he dealt with them (Matthew 9:22; Mark 6:50; John 16:33). The Apostles in their many persecutions and sufferings encouraged us to follow the Lord’s example: Paul taught, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for…
“The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of Jesus’ sayings,” my seminary professor said. “Matthew has arranged some pithy words of Jesus and put them into a sermon.” My heart sank. I thought it was Jesus’ sermon! This made it sound more like it was Matthew’s. There was no question about it being inspired…
Most Christians miss Jesus’ blessing in his beatitudes. I did for many years, even as a pastor and psychotherapist. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3) we hear, “You’ll be blessed by God if you’re humble.” That’s generally true, but it’s not what Jesus…