I am noticing a deeper understanding and love for Liessa emerging, and it is not without effort. In fact, effort is quietly serving its proper purpose in loving her more. But lest I give the impression that I have arrived, nothing could be further from the truth. There are still struggles within me that want …
When Liessa and I were talking about prayer last night with an overnight guest, her desire to grow in prayer and her frustration with what felt like slow progress led us into a deeper conversation about grace. What became apparent was how easily effort, when left unchecked, tries to outrun God’s agency. The will begins …
I asked Liessa the other day if, given the chance, she could go back and do one thing differently in the liminal space she occupied for seventy years, what would it be? As I listened to my own question, I realized I had never answered it for myself. But the moment I spoke it inwardly, …
Preface When Formation Is No Longer the Church’s Center I have been trying for some time to name what I am seeing in the life of the Church, not because it is new, but because it has become familiar enough to feel unquestioned. It shows itself quietly in how people speak about faith, in how …
“The profound is not always simple to understand, but more often than not the simple is more profound.” — RLR What we must come to understand about the transcendence of God is that it is not meant to create distance, but reverence. God’s transcendence speaks of His immeasurable greatness—His otherness, His being beyond all we …
We live in an age that rewards mastery—over time, over tasks, over knowledge. From the moment we enter the world, we’re taught that understanding brings control and that control brings security. But in the life of faith, the opposite is true. God invites us not to master His mysteries, but to be mastered by them. …
“Every gift is God’s breath in motion, and every surrender is His life finding its way through ours.” It began with a simple recognition. A friend sensed that what rose in him came with the ease of breathing. He was not trying to summon his gift. He was simply responding to something that already lived …
I grew up in the thick of segregation. And I will be honest with you. Back then, we did not talk much about cultural injustice. Not really. Sunday School, sermons, Wednesday night prayer meetings. They were full of Scripture, full of hope, full of heaven. But mostly silent when it came to the brokenness just …
I have often asked why a just God does not immediately confront injustice. If God loves justice, why does He not simply act. If He sees what is wrong, why does He not correct it. These questions do not come from unbelief. They come from the tension between God’s character and our lived experience. To …
Dedication For Liessa, whose life has been a quiet and unwavering witness of unconditional love. From the beginning of our union, her love for me because of Christ never lost hope. Through her, I have come to see love as something lived, embodied, and incarnational. God used her love to show me what formation looks …