Members of One Another

Unity Is More Than Getting Along

...individually we are members one of another.

— Romans 12

Shalom, Your Majesty

When the Kings Begin to Sing

All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord.

— Psalm 138

If . . . Then.

What Happens If the Lord Is Not on Our Side?

If . . . then.

— Psalm 124

Listen. Look. Lift.

Where the Pursuit of Righteousness Begins

Listen . . . Look . . . Lift.

— Isaiah 51

The More They Multiplied

What Fear Makes Us Do to Other People

But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread . . .

— Exodus 1

The Eighth Month of Christmas

Make Peace

TEN YEARS GONE: The Seventh Month of Christmas (Revised)

Keeping Christmas While We Wait

First published Wednesday, July 6, 2016 — Revised Monday, August 17, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Utmost Patience (Revised)

An Urgent Message Does Not Require an Impatient Messenger

First Published Wednesday, June 29, 2016 - Revised Sunday, August 16, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Search. Seek. (Revised)

Stop Looking for Opponents

First Published Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - Revised Saturday, August 15, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Extreme Measures (Revised)

When God Wants Us to Get the Point

First Published Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - Revised Friday, August 14, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: The Angry Wicked (Revised)

When Righteousness Itself Becomes Offensive

First Published Saturday, June 11, 2016 - Revised Thursday, August 13, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: The Son of God (Revised)

And Go From There

First Published Tuesday, April 5, 2016 - Revised Wednesday, August 12, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Hope for the Entire Year (Revised)

The Christmas Story Is Already Happening

First Published Monday April 4, 2026 - Revised Tuesday, August 11, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Uneducated (Revised)

What Can We Learn From This Person?

First Published Saturday, April 2, 2016 - Revised Monday, August 10, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Child: Get Up! (Revised)

 Why Raise Someone Who Will Die Again?

First Published Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - Revised Sunday, August 9, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Can't Stay Away (Revised)

Sirs, We Would See Jesus

First Published Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - Revised Saturday, August 8, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: When the Left Is Right, We Say So (Revised)

Let Scripture Correct All of Us

First Published Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Revised Friday, August 7, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: The Three Young Men (Revised)

 

Faithfulness When the Crowd Grows Small

First published Wednesday, March 2, 2016 - Revised Thursday, August 6, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Understanding Envy (Revised)

 Producing the Fruits of the Kingdom

First Friday, February 26, 2016 - Revised Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

— Matthew 21:43

TEN YEARS GONE: More Than Brothers and Sisters

Learning to Greet Those We Do Not Yet Know

First Published Saturday, February 20, 2016 - Revised Tuesday, August 4, 2026

And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?

— Matthew 5

TEN YEARS GONE: Do Not Hate Your Own Kin (Revised)

Expanding the Circle of Family

First published Monday, February 15, 2016. Revised Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: The Long Road to Purity (Revised)

Holiness Is Patient Work

First published Friday, February 12, 2026. Revised Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Gotta Problem (Revised)

 When Secret Charity Leaves You With Nothing to Say

First published Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Revised Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Do Not Hide From Your Own Kin (Revised)

 

A Different Kind of Fasting

First published Tuesday, February 9, 2016. Revised Thursday, July 2, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Where Is Their God? (Revised)

Beginning With Ourselves

First published Monday, February 8, 2016. Revised Friday, June 26, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Equity, Justice, and Righteousness (Revised)

When Your Opponent Is Protecting Something Valuable

First published Thursday, February 4, 2016. Revised Saturday, June 20, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: The Face of Someone Who Has Been With God (Revised)

On Moses and the Light We Carry

First published Wednesday, February 3, 2016. Revised Sunday, June 14, 2026. 

TEN YEARS GONE: Just Like Us (Revised)

Why Christ's Humanity Matters

First Published February 2, 2016. Revised June 11, 2026. 

TEN YEARS GONE: The Refiner's Fire

On the Thoughts We Never Speak

 First published on Monday, February 1, 2026. Revised Sunday, June 7, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: The Pro-Life Readings

Wonder Before Politics

First Published Friday January 29, 2016. Revised Saturday May 30, 2026

Ten Years Gone — Do Not Mourn (Revised)

 Staying in the Joy of Easter

First Published January 22, 2016. Revised on May 10, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Lead, Don't Lord

Peter, Servanthood, and the Difference Between Leaders and Bosses

TEN YEARS GONE: Holy Spirit = Unity (Revised)

The Gradual Erosion of Contempt

First Published Wednesday, January 13, 2016. Revised May 8, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Even Beasts (Revised)

The Reach of God’s Care in a Living World

First Published January 12, 2016. Revised April 24, 2026. 

TEN YEARS GONE - Marriage (Revised)

 

Covenant, Delight, and the End of Abandonment

First published Monday, January 11, 2016. Revised April 17, 2016.

TEN YEARS GONE: Receiving the Holy Spirit

 

The Prayer We Rarely Think to Pray

First Published Saturday, January 9, 2016. Revised Sunday, April 12, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Water (Revised)

 Where Life, Power, and Mystery Meet

First published Friday, January 8, 2016. Revised Monday, March 23, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Fear Not (Revised)

Called by Name in a Season of Testing

First published Thursday, January 7, 2016. Revised March 21, 2026.

Ten Years Gone: The Mystery . . . Good! (Revised)

 

From Epiphany’s Light to Lent’s Quiet Wonder

First Published Wednesday, January 6, 2016. Revised March 10, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Dear in His Sight (Revised)

 

From Epiphany’s Light to Lent’s Sobriety

First published Tuesday, January 5, 2016. Revised Tuesday, March 3, 2026. 

TEN YEARS GONE: Hope for Children — All of Them (Revised for Lent)

When Innocence Threatens Power

First published Monday, December 28, 2015. Revised Sunday, March 1, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: God Changes His Mind (Revised for Lent)

When Judgment Yields to Mercy

First published December 26, 2015. Revised for Lent, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: A Light That Cannot Be Cancelled (Revised for Lent)

 

From Christmas Eve to Lent — Why We Still Need the Light

First Published Thursday, December 24, 2015. Revised February 27, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: Cry Aloud, Inhabitants of Zion (revised)

 

When The Presence of God Becomes Song

First published Saturday, December 12, 2015. Revised February 25, 2026

TEN YEARS GONE: The Woman and the City (Revised)

 

When Culture Seduces Power — and the Church Must Decide

First published Saturday, December 5, 2015. Revised February 23, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: Great Babylon Has Fallen (Revised)

 

When Systems Collapse and Illusions Burn

Originally Published Sunday, November 29, 2015. Revised February 22, 2026.

TEN YEARS GONE: New Testament — What Is the “Violence”?

When Judgment Comes Not by Force, but by Truth Fully Spoken

First published November 29, 2015 (Revised for 2026)

TEN YEARS GONE: He Can't Lead the Nations Astray Anymore

 

Why the Gospel Never Needed the Power of the State
First Published Saturday, November 28, 2015

TEN YEARS GONE - Holy, Set Apart

     What I Believed About Holiness Before I Understood Grief

(Originally published November 27, 2015 | lightly edited)

Ten years ago, I was still close enough to loss to speak with urgency.

Fresh grief sharpens moral language. It doesn’t always soften it — but it does make it honest.

---

“But as for cowards, the faithless, the corrupt, murderers, the sexually immoral, idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
— Revelation 21:8

The closing chapters of Scripture do not argue. They summarize. They do not negotiate. They describe what belongs in eternity — and what cannot survive it.

What has always struck me is that the dividing line is not intelligence, doctrine, or even religious fluency. It is holiness — not as moral exhibitionism, but as a life set apart from self-destruction.

Cowardice is not holy.
Unfaithfulness fractures trust.
Dirty-mindedness corrodes the inner life.
Lies eventually isolate the liar.

These are not arbitrary rules. They are descriptions of what leads to tears.

Revelation places the wiping away of tears right alongside the call to holiness — and that pairing is no accident. So much of our suffering is delayed consequence. We grasp for comfort now and grieve later. We break bonds and are surprised by the pain. We tell ourselves a lie and wonder why the world feels unreal.

Holiness, joy, and peace are not opposites. They are aligned.

Ten years ago, I wrote with conviction because I believed — and still believe — that God’s warnings are acts of mercy. They are not meant to shame us, but to spare us from becoming people who can no longer receive joy.

Time has not made that conviction smaller.
It has made it more compassionate.