Our Feelings Matter I’ve spent most of my life trying not to feel emotions. When I was a kid, I watched the movies. I got the message. Boys don’t cry. Boys don’t get sad. And we sure don’t show weakness, in fact we don’t show any emotion—unless it’s anger, and then only in a way […]

Hope In The Midst Of Despair There was a time in my life—right in the middle of my divorce—when I honestly believed I would never feel happy again. It was a darkness so heavy and so thick, I knew it would take a long time to get through it. I know that sounds dramatic but

Before we get into Psalm 42 and how it relates to depression, it gives us a strange heading—“A Maskil of the sons of Korah.” This forgotten intro might be the key to the whole psalm. We usually skip the line at the top. You know the one. That ancient-sounding superscription we brush past to get

Transformation Is Slow After Jesus sends out the seventy in Luke 10 and they return amazed at what they’ve seen, he responds with a moment that feels both celebratory and sobering: “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven… But don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you. Rejoice that your names are written in

Jesus tells his disciples after returning from a mission where they healed the sick, cast out demons and preached good news, to not rejoice in the results they got but to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. A message we still need to hear today. When the seventy returned from their mission, they

For years, from my mid 20’s to my late 30’s I was involved with a religious new testament based cult. One verse that got blasted from the pulpit more that any other was: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into

In the lectionary this week we are looking at a passage from Galatians 6 about building spiritual community “Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.”— Galatians 6:6 This one sentence has always puzzled me because it seemed to jump out of context. After reading it today, I

There’s a pattern in Scripture that has always been there, but I am just now seeing it with fresh eyes. A patter that reveals who God is—and who we are. We are the sheep. And we are always going astray. God is the shepherd always calling us back. Sometimes our straying as big as chasing

What exactly is “a double portion of your spirit”? The heart of the story in 2 Kings 2:1-14 Two Prophets, One Legacy 2 Kings 2:1–14 tells a vivid story full of symbolism, emotion, and divine mystery. We meet two prophets—Elijah and Elisha—on the day when Elijah will be taken up into heaven by a whirlwind.