On Darkness

This time of year is sometimes called “the season of light” as we light candles and other festive decorations. It is equally though the season of darkness. While this is particularly true in the Northern Hemisphere, it is also true from the lens of Advent. This season of the Church Calendar is about both light […]

On the Calendar

I have come to really appreciate the seasons of the church year—Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time. These are the primary seasons of the Liturgical Calendar that I hope to reflect on over the next year in this series of writings. Growing up in the American evangelical church, I used to […]

On Again, Off Again, On Again

My writing behavior on here has always been “on” for a while then “off” for a longer while. Up until recently, I have felt quite guilty about this, especially how my endings are often abrupt and unsettled. Between my various writing phases on this blog, my thinking on the subjects addressed here never stops. The […]

On Rebuke and Affirmation

Naturally I’m a slow reader, often going at a mental cadence akin to a pony ride. When I read the Bible this is usually the case as well. Sometimes, though, I listen to an audio recording of Scripture and that experience is as if I am suddenly galloping on a horse and experiencing a familiar […]

On The Saints

The work of the Reformation does not end with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation by any means. Today is All Saints’ Day, and on this day we remember all those who have gone before us, glorifying God through their lives on earth, for the sake of Jesus Christ and the Eternal Kingdom. We are […]

On Money

A key frustration of Martin Luther was how the church glorified and used money. He saw that the church in his day distorted the good news of Christ by offering salvation in exchange for money. And when the church became focused on money it ceased being the church. It stopped serving God. I wonder if […]

On Technology

If Martin Luther’s 95 theses were the match igniting the flame of the Reformation, technology was the wind that caused that flame to become a wildfire. Without the printing press (the technological marvel of Luther’s era), the flame of the Reformation might have burned out quickly and not have re-shaped the western world as much as […]

On Rural and Urban

I’ve found this interesting: the scriptural narrative begins in a garden (Genesis 1-2) and ends in a city (Revelation 21). And I think it is worth pondering, what this means. Perhaps it means that God can be found in both the city and the country. In both the busyness of the city lifestyle and the […]

On Culture

We are called to live in our present time and yet, at the same time, we are called to be workers of Christ’s Eternal Kingdom as well. We have reflected on how this applies to our attitude towards history, modernity, and nationalism. Now,  consider how this applies to our posture toward our culture. In contemporary […]