The Nature of Community (1) – Community Flowchart 1. God, the Original Community. “Within God’s very nature is a divine rhythm or pattern of continuous giving and receiving – not only love, but also glory, honor, life… each in its fullness. Think. God the Father loves and delights in the Son. Jesus receives that love and …
(This is a wedding homily given by Steve Larson on May 30, 2015, for Abigail Eisley and Nathan Mitchell) (After a few introductions and greetings)… Rather than marital advice, Nathan and Abigail, I will instead offer you, just for a few minutes, a glimpse of what I believe marital love grows into. Here’s what you …
Blackhawk Island: Tribute to Mom. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24) My mom’s name Lucy means light, and she was all of that, even after an upbringing that included abandonment and physical abuse. During her homemaking years, helping my dad raise 3 boys, her …
The Stolen Bike: Tribute to Dad. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for them who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withdraw your coat as well. Give to …
Ten Glimpses of Sainthood: “A saint is a little Christ. Not only do we see Christ through His saints, as we see a light through a stained glass window, but we also understand the saints only through Christ, as we understand eggs only through chickens.” (Peter Kreeft) “Life holds only one tragedy, ultimately: not to …
“In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus was crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow Him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion.” (Frederick Buechner) When I was a teenager thick in the middle of the 60’s Jesus Movement, I liked wearing a …
The Bird in the Mist. Before everything When emptiness was waiting to be filled, and Nothingness was silent in the formless deep, The Spirit of God flutters over the thick eggshell of the watery abyss. A songbird hovering over her brood to come, God waits until the right moment to sing a universe into being …
(11.) Thinking With Both Hands ON THE ONE HAND THIS, AND ON THE OTHER HAND THAT! “When we open the Bible, we are invited to undergo a kind of intellectual conversion to the Hebrew world of the East.” (R. Martin-Achard, An Approach to the Old Testament). “The Christian faith is divinely revealed and is securely …
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24) What would happen if a small group of Christians decided to move into the same neighborhood, hold themselves accountable for how they spend their money and time, talk and pray together regularly, with the goal of fleshing …
“Though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things; everyone there is filled full with what we should …
Wisdom: the practical art of living skillfully; moral discernment; taking pleasure in the right things; practicing the truth in daily life; learning to live as our Creator intended. Based on understanding, not intelligence; on contemplation, not calculation; on faith, not insight; on practical spirituality, not personal giftedness. (paraphrases from various sources) Wisdom is like a …
Have you ever wondered how to bless others meaningfully, to pray God’s best for them, whether for a child, a parent, a spouse, a friend, or even a total stranger? When words or insight seem to fail you, try praying these blessings (‘good words’) over the other person. It’s all scripture, so it’s rich, deep, and …