Joe

When is the last time you felt at ease?

It feels strange to think of a Psalm often associated with funerals as an invitation to everyday ease, but that is both what the Psalmist and Easter invite us into. So I ask again, “When is the last time you felt at ease?”

[Read more…] about Everyday Ease (Psalm 23)

“What’s your story?”

A number of years ago the aunt of a woman I was dating asked me that question and everything inside me tightened. It was the first time I met her and a number of other members of the family. I really wanted to give a good impression. As I saw it, my story would do the opposite.

[Read more…] about What’s Your Story (Psalm 30)

Psalm 150 closes Israel’s book of worship with six verses that unpack the where, why, how, and who of praise. All of it points to the simple conclusion that when all is said and done, in the end, we praise.

[Read more…] about The End Is Praise (Psalm 150)

Grace is a gift. An incredibly confounding gift. I think that is why so few people, even the people who claim to live by grace, actually believe in it. Does that sounds strange? Let me unpack it.

[Read more…] about Unstoppable Grace (Psalm 114)

They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.

Psalm 118:12

[Read more…] about Love Wins! (Psalm 118)

For the past three weeks, I’ve wrestled with Christmas. I longed for that magical feeling, wondered if the day should be more about the birth of Christ or the new way of being God invites us to embrace, and highlighted how disjoined our world is from the one God invites us to partake.

[Read more…] about Christmas Salvation