Abounding in Hope

A Year Ago… Pitiful to Preacher

Where were you one year ago today? What were you preoccupied with? I was in New York City with some great friends and co-workers going to the Hillsong conference. I was just the fill-in. My name had been put on the tickets months ago but we were going to have a new worship leader go … Continue reading →

Instead of playing house, let’s…

It’s obvious just a few days later that I’m not the only one provoked by this question, “Is everyone just playing house?” Today I want to suggest an alternative. Let’s agree that playing house is playing and pretending in all the ways that are “normal” for suburban life— meals and groceries, familial relationships and pets, … Continue reading →

Is everybody just playing house?

I hope this post sounds like more than a suburban rant of discontent. It feels in my soul more like a manifesto. Continue reading →

Blossoms vs. Fruit

A tree that grows without boundaries is a fruitless tree. Life has a way of pressing against the boundaries, stretching in every direction. But life rarely has a season to prune. So we grow up to the sky and down to the ground… and we can’t bear fruit. Continue reading →

A Good Friday Liturgy

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Mark 14:32-34 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have … Continue reading →