Best Books

Best Books My church recently observed Pentecost Sunday, a day which celebrates the death of aristocratic spirituality. The Spirit was unleashed upon all flesh, baptizing all ages, classes, ethnicities and genders. In the new order, unlearned fishermen and poor servant girls may speak the words of God. Old men dream of God’s kingdom, young men …

It’s Time to Man Up On February 23, AD 155, the elderly bishop of Smyrna was taken to the city’s arena to be executed. Charged with the crime of being a Christian, he was allowed one more chance to renounce Christ. When he declined to deny his faith, the crowd shouted for his death. Polycarp …

Risk More. Dream Bigger. Fear Less. In his letter to the Christians of Rome, the Apostle Paul prayed that the God of hope would fill them with joy and peace, and that they would abound in hope. To abound in hope means to have more than enough, to have overflowing, over the top, audacious, beyond …

Hear the Word behind the words… Christianity isn’t a science. There are no secret formulas for spiritual success, no laws which drive predictable patterns of spiritual formation, no axioms upon which spiritual maturity can be assured. Even the Scriptures defy our impulses to turn it into a textbook. Our faith is perplexing and mysterious, much …

Are We Ready? Preparing for Easter, C. S. Lewis I’m pretty sure that if I’d met John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan River, I would have dismissed him as a deranged zealot. Sensing my lack of enthusiasm for his style and lack of decorum, he would, no doubt, have pointed one of …

You Carried Me Last year, on a sunny day in May, Melissa Ohden left her church thinking of a scripture she had heard at Mass that morning. Based on Romans 5:5, Paul asserts that “hope does not disappoint.”  In a world jaded by cynicism, strife, and despair, Paul’s words may seem like wishful thinking. The …