No, Mary Didn’t Know

Of course, that is the point of the song, isn’t it?  Mary could never have guessed all that her child, hers yet God’s, would do.  The exploits, the healing, the mastery of all powers earthly and heavenly, and the use of them all to love people whole and well.  Then again, had Mary thought about what …

Christmas Transformation

The message of Christmas means that things are not what they seem, that a new world has dawned so that we find ourselves on the front edge of powerful and beautiful realities worthy of the Maker who became like the made in order to re-make everything better than new.  In the jubilant words of Mother …

Praying for a Mary-Christmas

How surprised Mary was!  One day—I imagine it to be morning, but maybe it was at night, just before sleeping—an angel appears.  I resist the temptation to mythologize the story by assuming that angel-appearances were to be expected, since this is the Bible.  No, Mary had never seen an angel, and wasn’t sure about the …

Renewal is NOT a Missional Work-Around

Spiritual renewal requires followers of Jesus to be shaped (or “discipled”) into the KIND of people who become agents of God’s renewal.  IF renewal happens, it normally happens first to them and then through them to and for others. It is common for us to read the remarkable report on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2) and …

WHEN EXILES SING ZION’S SONG

Earthquakes, coup d’état, and plague convert citizens into refugees, and homeland into exile, as has happened last week in Haiti and Afghanistan.  Against such painful backdrop, the People of God in Jesus Messiah have a song to sing that offers hope from a deeper and wider story.  Consider how. The ancient people of God experienced …