This Sunday, we heard the story of the apostle Thomas, who refused to believe in the resurrection until he had witnessed it for himself. All the other apostles had been there Jesus when Jesus appeared, but Thomas missed it. Thomas was sure the others were making the whole thing up. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, …
Let’s get this out of the way: The story of Jesus being raised from the dead is totally nuts. The idea that for two nights Jesus would lie dead in a tomb – probably beginning to smell a little funny – and then on Sunday morning would be up and about, visiting his friends, strains credulity …
I was one of those kids who was raised to believe I could do anything I set my mind to. I was encouraged to dream big; the only limit was my imagination. When I watched movies or read books, I saw the heroes as people who I could aspire to be. I’ve lived my whole …
Life isn’t simple. Despite all of the ways in which we try to control our path – all the academic, work, and social hoops we jump through to provide order to our lives – the world we live in is fundamentally disorderly. How do you distinguish between the good and the bad? Or, even more challenging, how …
The Christian tradition can seem a bit confusing when it comes to the subject of fear. Is fear a legitimate, God-given emotion, or is it something to be overcome by the power of love? There is a strong biblical case to be made for both perspectives. On the one hand, the authors of the Bible repeatedly paint …
When I was about twelve years old, I went through a phase when I was terribly afraid of hell. Like, wake-up-screaming scared of hell. Shouting-at-the-ceiling-because-God-won’t-answer afraid of damnation. My parents probably thought I was mentally ill, but that wasn’t quite right. I was living in a persistent state of spiritual terror. Somewhere along the way (maybe at …
Read more “I Want to Follow Jesus. Do I Need to Be Baptized?”
The title of this post alone may have already made me a Quaker heretic, but I hope you’ll hang with me on this. One of the unspoken rules of the Quaker tradition is that you’re not allowed to admit that you have a clear plan. According to this school of thought, any strongly-held, long-term planning is dangerous …