Archive for April 2019
Rhythms of Worship, Part 2
Many of us may be familiar with the terms “Vespers” and “Compline,” used for special evening worship services. But these are actually just two of seven prayer times, or “offices,” that help us remember the events in Jesus’ life and ministry in worshipful observance throughout any given twenty-four-hour period. This daily rhythm is called canonical…
Read MoreGrowing Generous Souls Is Now Out!
I’m pleased to announce that my new book is now out: Growing Generous Souls: Becoming Grace-Filled Stewards! It invites church leaders and individuals to stop racing from one activity to another and instead to focus on being rather than on compulsive doing and consuming. The book includes reflection questions and resources to help people move…
Read MoreRhythms of Worship, Part 1
I was in my twenties, out of college and in seminary, before I learned about the seasons of the “Christian Year.” Like many Protestants, I experienced Sunday as the Bible’s “first day of the week,” the worship anchor for each week of the year. But it was easy to see each Sunday as a one-shot…
Read MorePledge for the Poor
A lot has changed in the past twenty years, politically, sociologically, in many ways. But Just Generosity: A new vision for overcoming poverty in America, by Ronald Sider, hits home just as powerfully now as it did then. In fact, its overall message seems even more urgent. Coming into the 21st Century, the author says,…
Read MoreFully Simply Enough
“Enough” does not have to be barely enough or just enough – it can be fully enough! Growing Generous Souls talks about “an ethic of enough” as contentment (not complacency): the sense of sufficiency that prompts people to act responsibly toward others in gratitude for all they have received. Sometimes what is fully enough is…
Read More