The With-God Life
One of my directees runs an organization with 330 staff and a large budget. He is in and out of meetings all day and constantly interacts with people. He asked me, Is it really so important that I talk...
View ArticleSeeing Jesus
Since my friend Dallas Willard died, I’ve found myself doing things that are “out of the box.” As a self-employed person I’ve tried to stay focused on writing, teaching and spiritual direction. No...
View ArticleReprocessing Anger into Grace
I’m quite fascinated by the carpenter Joseph in the Nativity story and what it must have been like to have a son who was a messiah. Family life is puzzling enough without divine intervention from the...
View ArticleSwitching the Focus
Because the Renovare´ Book Club and Goodreads is studying my book Madame Guyon Her Autobiography, I’ve been re-reading it. I’ve been particularly impressed by Jeanne Guyon’s peace and tranquility in...
View ArticleHow Did Mary Become So Adventurous?
If you were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved in a venture that would change the world but cost you a great deal, how would you respond? Would you hesitate as Moses did at the...
View ArticleThe Kind of Person You Can Talk to about Spiritual Things
How was Dallas Willard able to act as an informal spiritual director to so many people? Why were they able to talk with him so easily about the primary topic in spiritual direction: how they’ve been...
View ArticleTrust God & Do the Next Thing
The book Abandoned to God, the biography of Oswald Chambers (who wrote My Utmost for His Highest and many other books) is full of wisdom as well as being an interesting story. One of Chambers’ favorite...
View ArticleWhat About the Other Guy?
A confession: Sometimes I get distracted—OK, annoyed!—by what others are doing. Their actions seem wrong to me but others give them good feedback; or they’re not doing their part; or they’re...
View ArticleContagious
Many years ago, I was speaking at a church about the importance of believing at “gut level” that God loves us when a man asked me, “How did you get to the place that you really believed that?” I’d just...
View ArticleSmall Things Keep Us from Being Practical Atheists
Many years ago a friend suggested that when I couldn’t find something, I ask God to show me where it was. When she did this, she could see where it was in her mind’s eye. But I didn’t try it because...
View ArticleAccepting People As They Are
Some of us have an “inner judge” who notices when others don’t do what we think they should do. Maybe they’re not doing their “fair share” or not following through as promised or they’re promoting...
View ArticleAcceptance: Then What?
I recently blogged about accepting people as they are. I received many appreciative emails, especially about this line: Expectations are the early stages of resentment. I also received some good...
View ArticleWhat About Those Drowning Egyptians?
Someone who recently saw the movie Exodus: Gods and Kings asked me how a good God could drown the Egyptian soldiers in the sea. Here are a few thoughts that came to me. God weeps over the destruction...
View ArticleWelcoming The Person In Front Of Me
I am by nature a high introvert. Given my preference, I’d sit in a comfy spot reading a book for the rest of my life. But the second part of the Great Commandment tells me to love my neighbor (Matt...
View ArticleWelcoming the Stranger
Last month I talked about getting my face out of a book and learning to welcome the person standing in front of me. It’s been an adventure (and generally fun) to pay attention to the person standing in...
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