For years I have reflected on and studied the relationship between orthodoxy — what we believe — and orthopraxy — what we do, what actions we take.   Sometime what we believe defines what we do, while other times what we do defines what we believe.   The same is true with our actions and choices and our spirituality.  Without action, our spirituality can become lifeless and bear little or no authentic fruit.   Without contemplation, the things we do can come from our selfish.

One of the things I like about the Reformation is that it strikes me that the view of the church was not so much an institution as it was a movement. I like this view of the church because it reflects the view of Jesus towards the church: Jesus didn’t create an institution, nor did He create a culture within the church that was political, although His teaching certainly impacted the politics.  I don’t even believe that Jesus was setting out to create a religion or a denominat

In chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit comes to — and into — the disciples of Jesus and enables the disciples to speak in such a way that others, no matter where they come from or what language they speak, can understand.    That same Spirit is at work today, whether you’ve experienced it or not, and I believe we can still feel the power and unity of that moment.   That same Spirit is the power that affirms for us the worthiness we are so often denied and r

As I study photos of my two grandsons, Bennet and Callen, I am struck by the fact that all of life pivots around Divine Love.  Because our available understanding of love is almost always conditioned on “I love you if” or “I love you when,” most people find it almost impossible—apart from real transformation—to comprehend or receive Divine Love.  In fact, we cannot understand it in the least, unless we “stand under” it, like a cup beneath a waterfall. When we truly understand

In late 1984 after my ordination in New York, my journey as a missionary took me to the small village of Bugisi, Tanzania where I lived alone at a small location I had worked months to rebuild, a place that included a medical dispensary with a modest supply of medicine.  I quickly built eight (8) large, 5,000 galvanized rain tanks around my cement block home, all of which were filled before the rains stopped for nearly three years.  We had enough water for three years, water

Many years ago I lived for 5 years in an English Benedictine Monastery as a young boy from age 13 to 18.  The benedictines were born in the 6th century during a time in Europe where moral life was declining and, as such, there was little support for a more disciplined way of life.  While Christians were living for the first time with diminishing attacks on their faith, this led to complacency in living the Christian life.  It was in this time that Benedict surfaced in search

I reflected on love yesterday, and today I wish to make another observation about love, and that is that fidelity in love is our responsibility.  It is difficult to love this way because of our sinful nature.  We all struggle with competing loves, a struggle that is overcome only genuine deliberate love and care for others.  The people we live with, the people we work with, the people God brings into our lives we must care for, or fidelity in love escapes us.  Our friends nee

Historically Christians have differentiated between two kinds of love, total self-sacrificing or self-giving love ( agape ), and and the love of self-concern ( eros ).  Human history has often been viewed as the struggle between these two kinds of love, between agape  and eros .   When we look within ourselves we can see, if we are honest, that same struggle in our lives.  Jesus clearly modeled for us all — and He calls us all to live — agape  love. But our sinful and fallen

I have discovered, like everyone else, that the desire for prayerful solitude begins with a desire for external solitude, while the real struggle resides within, where our internal struggles and turmoils so distract us that we can desire to give up the pursuit of prayerful solitude.   There are such struggles when we discover the internal struggles of our soul.  Such struggles flood our imaginations and thoughts and feelings, sometimes at every moment of our day.   At times i

As human beings we are called to know and to love on the deepest levels of our existence.  To know the life-giving truth of Jesus Christ and to love Christ and His goodness is the purpose of life.  We are to live in such ways so as to be drawn to all who is Christ, all that is good, true, and beautiful.  We must take our steps towards Christ and away from this world and all it’s evils.  Nothing should draw us more in life than Jesus Christ.  Each hour and day in our life must

One of the things I love about the Reformation 500 years ago is something that is often overlooked, and it is the unique and different view of the human person that was such an important part of the effort to reform the church. Essentially the Reformers sought to return to the Scriptural view of the human person, namely, that we are creatures made in the image and likeness of God, and we have chosen to be tarnished by sin, and yet we have been restored to redemption through J