Question: does love require agreement or affirmation of another’s position?

I re-worked some reflections from a few years ago on Abraham, birds, God, and spiritual conflict from Genesis 15 in “Beating Off the Demons.”

The latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with the first woman General Secretary of the AG, Brian Dijkema on justice, Toni Morrison’s passing, Replogle on Bonhoeffer, America’s gun problem, and more.

After a week away, “The Weekend Wanderer” is back with Joshua Harris’ loss of faith, reflections on evangelical purity culture, Rob Moll’s passing, preaching lessons from Gardner C. Taylor, and much more.

The stunning Ouimet Canyon in Ontario.

Every time I read Eugene Peterson, I reminded of how wise his insights are about pastoral ministry and spiritual growth. There are few pastor-writers I encounter who have such a biblically-rich and incarnationally-rooted approach to life with God.

“The well-established and much-verified fact is that following Jesus is not a consumer activity. Prayer is not a technique that can be learned as a skill; it can only be entered as a person-in-relation.” - Eugene Peterson

Mist over Lake Superior in Grand Portage, Minnesota. Another photo from last week’s Lake Superior Circle Tour with no edits or filters.

Back from vacation with too many beautiful photos from around Lake Superior to share.

Here is the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Milliner’s field guide to Richard Rohr, ‘tradpunk’ Christianity in Brooklyn, House Chaplain exorcises Congress, religious persecution in Iraq, & more.

The more I study Scripture, the more I am amazed at the depths found within it. There are depths about who God is that continue to thrill me, including the wisely complex and gentle ways in which God graciously tends both the cosmos and each human being.

“Only that fellowship which faces disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer from Life Together.

Eugene Peterson in Practice Resurrection: “Christian maturity is not a matter of doing more for God; it is God doing more in and through us. Immaturity is noisy with anxiety-fueled self-importance. Maturity is quitely content to pursue a life of obedient humility” (222-223).

Thinking about these words today as I work on a message from Ephesians 4. >“The Church is in Christ and has to grow up toward him. This underlines that the Church’s growth is not being thought of in terms of quantity, a numerical expansion of its membership, but in terms of quality, an increasing approximation of believers to Christ.” - Andrew T. Lincoln

What sort of growth are we aiming for?

Another photo from last week at Fort Wilderness in northern Wisconsin. There’s just something about that place.

Evening sky before sunset and a rainfall on a quick trip to the Dells to visit our oldest son, Isaiah.

“We are God’s: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions.” - John Calvin

The latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” is now available with Jeremy Begbie’s recommendations on classical music, questions about authenticity, faith at the border, forming citizens, and much more.

Finishing up a beautiful week here in the north woods of Wisconsin at Fort Wilderness, teaching through the book of Ruth.

Here’s the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Lincoln’s Bible, Hymns in Hong Kong, US decrease in refugee resettlement, 9 exceptional works of architecture in the US, and much more.

As a former “worship leader” and now Senior Pastor, I think a lot about worship in Christ’s church. Here are some thoughts from the psalms: “Comprehensive Praise: some reflections on worship from Psalm 150”.

This summer I’m reading Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. The other day, I came across this powerful reflection on Christ as the fountain of life.

Emanuel, Charleston, Forgiveness, and the Future - some reflections after viewing the documentary, Emanuel, last night followed by a talk-back session.

If you missed the most recent edition of “The Weekend Wanderer,” which I failed to share here, you can still read it with articles on Anglicans, Southern Baptists, Iraq’s Syriac Church, Azusa Street and more.

Here is the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with controversy on Platt praying for President Trump, 11 reasons to stop looking at your smartphone, Percy & Dostoevsky as prophets for our age, and more.