James

Which one has a greater hold on my heart? Let’s take a look.

The first step of repentance is telling the truth about ourselves.

Being a blessing and being a curse

I regularly pray for things that are unlikely to come about quickly, if at all.

Proclaiming God’s abundance or dwelling in perceived scarcity?

Hearing the word and doing it aren’t as far apart as Martin Luther thought.

It began when I realized the church has always had a process for changing its mind.

How one youth leader stopped being a chief counselor of fun and discovered something better.

In his response to John, Jesus speaks of hope in the present tense.

And are we practicing it?

How do we retool after we speak irreverently or caustically?

James reminds us of the duplicity of language, like a matchstick dropped by singed fingers that leaves behind charred acres. The deception of language is that we believe it is innocent.

My first piano teacher, Mr. Jackson, was the best. I didn't like him.

The other morning during my run I listened to Krista Tippett’s 2010 interview with Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain.

The other morning during my run I listened to Krista Tippett’s 2010 interview with Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain.

Ever since Westerners discovered Asian cultures they have been intrigued by possible relationships between Christianity and Buddhism.

I don’t know about you, but I find it challenging to preach on non-narrative texts. It’s easy to make a good story from the Gospels or the Old Testament come alive in a sermon. It’s a lot harder to do that with a theological treatise, so I tend to neglect preaching on the epistles.

My childhood church used offering envelopes with six checkboxes on them, a sort of spiritual scorecard. When I finally met James, hiding behind Paul, I proudly showed him my envelope. He laughed.