Speaking Truth to Power

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.—Psalm 139:1-2 (ESV)

Our society has clung to the idea of speaking truth to power in an effort to effect change. The term often is used in the face of perceived oppression or powerlessness. What if the powers to (more…)

Moving at the Speed of Life

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.—James 4:14 ESV

I was 14 when I first experienced the death of someone in my circle. It was a 16-year-old tuba player in our high school band—a boy who had delivered our newspapers and on whom I had a serious crush. Just a few (more…)

Rise Up and Walk

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”—John 5:8

If you’re anything like me, getting up in the morning can be a challenge. Maybe you sleep hard, and it takes the banging of metal trash can lids to get you going. Or maybe you—like me—struggle with insomnia. But most of us are able to get up out of bed (more…)

A Clean Slate

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 3:13-14

For most of us, 2019 was a mixed bag of grief and joy—more grief than joy for some, and more joy than grief for others. For (more…)

When Your Dreams Die

Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said (more…)