Turn out the light Blow out the candle too Don't fear the night coming I'm right beside you Turn out the light Close your tired eyes Don't fear the night coming I'm right here by your side… … Diamonds in the mine got plenty to shine about I keep my diamonds down in the...
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 In my prayers, I often find myself saying, “You are the only one worthy of worship, you are the only one worthy of praise, you are the only one worthy...
Ritual is woven into the life of faith. We gather, pray, proclaim, listen, share meals, tell sacred stories, serve our neighbors, and return to the practices that remind us who we are and to whom we belong. Yet ritual can be misunderstood. It may be dismissed...
For many of us, the idea of routines and rituals gets a bad rap. We often equate them with vain repetitions that culminate in boredom and leave us unmoved and uninspired. But there are plenty of rituals and routines that allow for centering, continuity, and...
In 2013, after eleven years serving as a college professor who preached occasionally, I took on the dual role of professor and pastor. Previously, when I served as a guest teacher for Sunday School and Bible Study, I had always done so from a standing...
“Yeah, there’s no one else my age at church,” shrugs the 28-year-old with resignation. Justin grew up at Saint Elizabeth’s, Honolulu, back when his brother led the lively youth group. He’s still here. But most — well, maybe all — of the kids he knew a...
Memes are rituals drained of transcendence. — Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker As religion recedes, politics takes its place. — Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal joy unspeakable is practicing freedom while chains still chafe, singing deliverance while Jim Crow stalks — Barbara A. Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church These three...
Tripp Fuller published an insightful essay earlier this year about the pace of modern life, and it includes a helpful illustration that I frequently share with others. Drawing on Hartmut Rosa’s argument that modernity is fundamentally a mode of operation, a way of organizing society...
Every day, ministry leaders make countless choices. Some are obvious, like how to spend the next hour, or which meeting to attend, what to preach, or where to invest limited resources. Others are quieter but no less significant, such as choosing to listen before speaking, to...