From I Know We’re All Welcome at the Table, but Do I Have to Sit Next to You? Listening in an open-hearted way does not mean that you agree with the position that the other is putting forth. You will have opportunities to state your differing convictions at another time. But if we are interested…
I will go through the house and turn on all the lights.Then I will go and turn them off one by one.When I come to yours. I know the tears will fall.I will sadly turn it off and say, “I love you” and say, “good night.” (The Empty Nest, p. 18) Tabitha Edwards-Walton, Poetic Life…
Similar to Thurman, Whitehead asserted that value and experience are coextensive with reality and that each creature has value apart from their use to others. Disregard and diminishment of another’s value goes against the grain of metaphysics and morality in an experiential universe. Bruce Epperly, The God of the Growing Edge, 21 (emphasis added) Discover…
We can see traces of Spirit — Spirit sightings — in the same way as we see wind rustling through the leaves or propelling waves to the shoreline. Everywhere and acting in various ways, intimately tailored to our openness and life situation, the Spirit addresses each of us personally. Often, however, we fail to see…
From Messy Incarnation by Bruce Epperly: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the…
Easter Sunday represents hope fulfilled, but also the promise of hope to all for all time. A Message We have a message to tell the world – a message of undeniable hope that will explode with power when it is lived out in day-to-day life. Deborah L. Roeger, The Power of Hope, p. 244 Faith,…
Saturday is sometimes called Silent Saturday, a day of waiting, of shattered hopes, of finding a way to cope. Just like the disciples, we often experience our silent Saturdays. Endure for the True Power of Hope The key to every hope-er’s overcoming victory is stated clearly in Hebrews 6:12, “[Be] imitators of those who through…
The cross reveals the fullness of Jesus’ love for humankind in all its ambiguity and sin. Willing to embrace his destiny as God’s beloved child and healer, Jesus faces the agony of Calvary. He did not want to die, nor did he wish to suffer excruciating pain. Still, Jesus placed his suffering and abandonment in…
Today is Good Friday. It’s important to remember, however, that we see it as Good Friday by looking back. The disciples saw it as anything but good. For them, hope was dying with their Lord on the cross. But hope is for the difficult, devastating times. Hope Looking Forward Hope allows that which is “not…
Foreword to Running My Race Though I don’t identify myself in the book itself, Dave Black asked me to write the foreword to his book Running My Race, published in 2016. I reproduce it here. Since my embrace of the gospel commission along with the often disparaged words “evangelism” and “mission,” often draws criticism, I’ll…
