Some Christians can make prayer seem like bit of a puzzle. Not that they portray prayer as confusing — far from it. They make it more like a jigsaw puzzle: once you get each piece in the right place (and they only fit one way) the picture emerges automatically. In the puzzle theory of prayer […]
I’m dead! Now what do I do? (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 88)
My favorite scene in Les Miserables is also the most important scene: the interaction between Jean Valjean and Bishop Bienvenu. It is the scene where Victor Hugo sets in motion the driving issue of his great novel. It is a picture of redemption as both death and new life — a demanding, imperfect, complicated new […]
A Leap into the Light
What is faith, really? Some will tell you it is a leap into the dark — jumping into the unknown, off a proverbial cliff, and hoping that Someone will catch you. For Jesus that wasn’t faith; that was “tempting” or “testing” God, and he wouldn’t do it. Or when we need faith to pray effectively […]
What Christians Believe in 15 Seconds
You are talking with your co-worker from the next cubicle over coffee. She knows you are active in a church. She is in a season of searching. What is Christianity actually all about?” she asks. “I mean, what do you believe?” She really wants to know. You really want to tell her. Three problems: You […]