"And when we gather at City Pres we sing about this gathering in the future that will be different. We don’t look like it yet, but we still sing of it in confession and hope. In our ‘not-yet gatherings’ we confess our failures. We are a broken communion of called out ones in a broken world. But we also confess our hope. Our hope that this will be different. In ...

"I am so caught up in my busy life, and my busy heart, that it can be all that I see, and I treat it as my kingdom and desperately try to hold it up. It makes me laugh cynically when thinking of all of this, because we are all laboring in vain and working so hard to do it, all the while being completely oblivious to it. I am deeply thankful for the good news that God calls...

"You become what you are regarded as. Here in Romans 4, Paul says, that God reckons us as righteous. Here the end time Word of God’s blessing invades our world in the now and declares that we are righteous. His end-time Word into the now ...

"There is no emphasis on my action, my behavior, my commitment level, or my productivity...the emphasis is on how out of my own control my own identity is… which feels uncomfortable… and liberating. I have favor from God. That’s the final word. My identity, the “what” of who I am, is already set in stone."...

"I can’t fix this. My ‘Ugh’ is my groan ...

"Each of us is made by God to delight and rest in him differently. And yet by taking one day a week for rest, the very rhythm of our lives declares that we are God’s people, formed in his Image and secure in the work he has finished on our behalf."...

"I know I'm ladder climbing when I'm angry." When Justin spoke those words this Sunday reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Up until that point I had been struggling to think of what kinds of things I climb the ladder towards instead of Christ, but those words brought to light a whole lot of things that made me see the reality of my struggles as a sinner in a broken world....

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight maki...

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom ~ Psalm 90:12 As my kids have gotten older, gathering around a table has becomes harder. We don't just do it around our farm table in our dining area anymore, but we grab time at Chick Fila and Chipotle or maybe even standing around our island food in hand. When we gather, we pray, and then I ask them, "Ok...

For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. ~ Psalm 103:14 One of the most powerful moments of my ministry life was the first time I imposed ashes on the foreheads of God's people. There was an older saint who ambled down to the front. She was in her late 80's I think. She had this intense and earnest look in her eyes, and I spoke the words: "Dear Sister, rem...

Lent begins with a feast. Each week of Lent begins with a feast. Lent all ends with a feast first on Maundy Thursday before the fasting of Good Friday, and then on Easter Sunday. On that Easter Sunday, absence gives way to presence. As our very bodies have felt the absence of food, drink, devices, social media or some other source of comfort and delight, on Sunday, they fe...