Sublime

God can give and God can take away. Will we trust the increase or curse the decrease, or will we say, “Blessed be the name of the LORD?” The way we are typically programmed to measure the success of our ministries sets us up for hollow victory and desperate failure. But this is not to say we should never do any measuring. It is only to say that wha

and eloquently. He knows that God is always with him. He puts first things first—not the opinions of others but his relationship with his father.

In

As one of the people, Beecher could more clearly claim God’s love. God, Beecher could say as a regular bloke, wants us to feel loved, to be happy and not miserable. Instead of having us cough up blood as we climb the hill of holiness, this God wants to be our friend—just as your pastor does.

Embody Vibrant Christianity in Trial or Comfort

Updike’s poem, which he wrote in 1960 for an arts contest at his church (he won), is beloved by many, myself included. It tells the reader that the Resurrection is not a parable, not an event to mark the rebirth of spring. Easter is no tamed observance that respectable modern people can fit neatly into our sensibilities. The force of its claims mus

“On reflection,” confesses Eugene Peterson, “I realized that I had become busy, a bastard form of ambition.”

we act toward what we long for, and if we long for what has captured our imagination, then re-formative Christian worship needs to capture our imagination. That means Christian worship needs to meet us as aesthetic creatures who are moved more than we are convinced. Our imaginations are aesthetic organs. Our hearts are like stringed instruments tha