“Like Jesus, and like the apostles, our asking is related to our assurance of God’s fathering. The object of all asking and the consequent source of all answering is the Father.” Stuart McAlpine  Just Asking: Restoring the Soul of Prayer    I never used to give much thought to how I opened my prayers. God, … Continue reading Our Father

In middle school, I would often get the most perplexing response to asking a classmate for gum: “It’s my last piece.” “But” I thought, “it wasn’t your only piece. And someone has to eat it.” Besides, they had the second to last piece in their mouth as we spoke. Why be a scrooge with the … Continue reading Under the Influence of Mercy: How the Gospel Makes Us Generous

The three years immediately after I returned to the US from living in China are both hard to speak about and about which I have most to say. They have been some of the most significant in my journey with the Lord so far. I moved to Boston at the height of the global financial … Continue reading When Winter Tarries

Yesterday I got coffee with a friend and she asked me how classes were going. I told her that my covenant theology class has changed the way I pray. When she asked how, an analogy came to mind. You enter a store teeming with nothing but precious valuables. You take a stroll around trying to … Continue reading No More Window Shopping: A Covenant Perk

I know nothing about physical therapy but several years ago got to observe a pediatric physical therapist at work. I sat in a corner while a little girl played across the room on one of those plastic playsets for 30 minutes. At the end of the session, the physical therapist turned to the girl’s mother … Continue reading A Boon for My Soul

2018 was almost as good as 2016 and 17 weren’t.  Three quarters of this year, in fact, was not just relatively good, but exceptionally so. In no particular order (well, in some cases certain things are logically paired like two and three, eight and nine, ten and eleven), here’s a sampling of the most memorable … Continue reading 2018 Year in Review

Appetites shimmy with glee, saliva pools in our mouths, stomachs churn impatiently. Today, we will feast on the bounty placed before us. Succulent meats, savory sides, hearty stuffing, and decadent pies release aromas signaling the time has come. An enticing invitation Long ago the Lord invited the hungry and thirsty to come, buy with no … Continue reading A Feasted Soul

The scene opens on a kitchen. A restauranteur seeks chefs to make food according to the recipes in his book. He tells them they can follow any of the many recipes he provides, but if they decide to make something else they will lose their jobs. At the end of the first day, the new … Continue reading When VBS Comes at You Like Nathan