My great-great grandmother was ‘catchable but not fetchable.’ And we can find a place where the enemy won’t grab us, either.

Starting with the pandemic, and in the time since, many have longed to get back to “normal.” But we will not find life by looking for it.

In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus was already acting as a Shepherd who provides for the needs of his sheep.

As is true with so many others, I have prayed some prayers over and over again for many years. I pray because I believe God is listening and will answer.

The book of Ruth offers us a picture of the pattern God has used again and again to bring his people close to him.

“Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The problematic pattern of another age still is with us today.

Nearly every night I step out onto my deck and look up at the stars, and I think I can feel the same things David declared in Psalm 8.

I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try. That’s a sentence to describe many situations in life, including my goal to write about Psalm 23 five Saturdays in a row.

Law upon law will never bring the solutions needed for our broken world. We need truth, yes, along with the same measure of grace.

How many times has Jesus been standing there and we missed him? I suspect far more than we can count. But I realize I saw him today.

God may sometimes seem distant, but he is always nearby and working even when we don’t see him until suddenly he steps in again.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

God spoke to both of them, giving all of us an example for overcoming barriers and putting aside prejudices in answer to his call.

Gideon had quite a few push-backs when he received God’s call through the angel. Maybe we can relate.

Christians have been arguing about Communion and other things since Jesus walked the earth. But he still entrusts us with his work.

Jesus talked about money and vineyards, but his point was larger than finances and grape-growing.

When we see how miserably the Pharisees understood the Scriptures they had studied, we pause to reconsider whenever we think we have it all figured out.

I don’t know how many people heard it. I don’t know if it helped anyone who did hear it. What I do know is that singing it over and over for some 40 years continues to increase my confidence in God’s love.

A list of ideas for demonstrating God’s surprising diversity in the worship we offer back to him.