Do the Hard Things

The King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”—Matthew 25:40

True Christianity looks much different from the sanitized pop-culture religion we have fabricated. It is hands-on and messy, unpredictable, colorless and borderless. It is (more…)

A Family Likeness

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.—1 Corinthians 4:16

I never looked like anyone in my birth family. My mother had medium brown hair, dark skin and blue eyes; my sister was blond, blue-eyed and big-boned; then there was tiny little black-haired, green-eyed me. “You must be adopted,” I heard more than once—from extended family members, no less.

In fact, everything about (more…)

Jesus Heals

We all know someone who needs healing. Sometimes it’s a serious short-term illness; sometimes it’s chronic or even incurable. The logical response is prayer, except when it seems illogical.

Today I learned a man I admire exceedingly has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a death sentence by conventional wisdom. And how I pray for him says something about my faith.

I serve a (more…)