Romans 12:2 (NRSV) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.   I’m reading “Think Again” by Adam Grant. Guess what it causes me to do? Think. And think again.   The premise of the book is to continuously look at ideas, things, and situations from different angles.…

How do we love our enemies?   To answer that, let’s start in an unlikely place: the book of Judges. This Old Testament book is disturbing. It starts off by cutting off the big toes and thumbs of all the Canaanites. It goes downhill from there. It doesn’t make a good argument to love your enemies. It makes a better argument to get rid of your enemies.    But if you get…

Sticking to the path   Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NRSV   Vineyards (collectively)  in the U.S. make around $1.4 billion annually. Some produce wine. Some sell to wineries. Some do a little of both. Making wine is a big business.   I recently went…

Hope is the path we take in aligning our will with God’s In Wesley’s sermon #83 “On Patience”, he states: “Whereas in that moment when we are justified freely by his grace, when we are accepted through the Beloved, we are born again, born from above, born of the Spirit. And there is as great a change wrought in our souls when we are born of the Spirit, as was wrought in…

If you’re gonna have a mug shot, make sure it’s worth it. I recently toured the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. A small group at church had completed a study on racial reconciliation and it seemed a fitting field trip to end their time together.   The main level of the museum is dedicated to the Civil Rights movement in the United States. It highlights historic locations in…

God is not punishing us. But it won’t be easy. I now have a teenage girl. Here is my prophecy: my prayer life will increase exponentially in the next few years. So let’s get started…   Dear God,   I’m a big believer in grace. I see it all over the Bible. You forgave Moses, David, Paul, Peter, the Samaritan woman. You have consistently shown me grace over the span of my…