- Forward Day By Day - April 14, 2025
We begin Holy Week with the poetry of Isaiah. There is great comfort in this poetry of the homecoming of the exiles from Babylon, a reminder that Jesus, too, was something of an exile. Just as the Hosannas of yesterday quickly disappear this week, th [...] - Forward Day By Day - April 13, 2025
In the moment just after Jesus takes his last breath on the cross, the Gospel of Luke gives us a bold statement of Jesus’s innocence, a truth ignored except by Pilate, who claims Jesus’s innocence, the centurion, and the criminal hanging beside J [...] - Forward Day By Day - April 12, 2025
In a sermon about forgiveness preached years ago, the Rt. Rev. Frank Vest, former bishop of Southern Virginia, began with this question from Psalm 137. At the time, I was struggling with the ways of the institutional church, and I was preparing for a [...] - Forward Day By Day - April 11, 2025
In context, this verse from Jeremiah refers to God’s plan to restore the exiles. Slightly out of context, however, it reminds me of the beautiful words from Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.” Ev.... (Vie [...]
- Going with God - April 15, 2025
In The Courier, a film inspired by true events, the main character Greville is confronted with a difficult decision. He learns that a close friend is going to be arrested and will likely face a grueling imprisonment. Greville can save himself from th [...] - Sharing Gospel Resources - April 14, 2025
The venue and accommodations for our leadership meeting in downtown Chicago were in stark contrast with the neediness I encountered on my way there—neediness that included individuals who lacked the basics of food and shelter. The differences helpe [...] - Listen to the Stones - April 13, 2025
After our family held a riverside memorial service for my father, we each selected a stone to help us remember him. His life had been a checkerboard of wins and losses, but we knew his heart was for us. My fingers traced my stone’s smooth surface a [...] - The Spirit’s Helpful Reminders - April 12, 2025
One year, I agreed to sing a song before one of my son’s sporting events. I practiced for weeks, but I knew the song by heart already. So when I walked onto the field with the teams lined up on both sides of me, I closed my eyes and prayed. I start [...]
- The King Who Speaks and Saves
Can you trust Christ’s words before you see their effect? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to John 4:43–54 to show what it means to trust in Jesus for the right reasons. Watch Now - He Cursed the Barren Tree: The Parable of Holy Monday
It’s Monday. The dusty track between Bethany and Jerusalem is busy with the typical traffic: Farmers bring their produce into the city, the more successful driving braying donkeys. A young lawyer-in-training walks as quickly as dignity allows to g [...] - God Withholds Nothing We Need
If God has already promised not to withhold anything good from us, then does asking him for more imply that yesterday’s good wasn’t good enough? Listen Now - He Dared to Ride a Donkey: The Prophetic Riddle of Palm Sunday
Jesus dared to ride a donkey into Jerusalem. We might be so familiar with Palm Sunday that we overlook what an audacious move this was. Don’t let the palm branches distract you. The point of the greenery is the man lifted up on the back of the bea [...]