God’s (costly) new normal

the following is a sermon i recently offered on ephesians 3:7–13 at first presbyterian church of berkeley. I. “of this gospel i have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power” (ephesians 3:7). three weeks ago berkeley was overflowing with graduation celebrations: students […]

thresholds: the (im)permeability of our homes & our hearts

“When you look at the rules of traditional masculinity, it’s all about creating an inhuman: someone who is all surfaces and has no innards, no interiority and doesn’t require community, doesn’t require intimacy, doesn’t require family. We’ve been dealing with the fallout of that utter nonsense for centuries and the terrible damage it does to […]

a semblance of home

“maybe at the heart of all our traveling is the dream of someday, somehow, getting Home.” –frederick buechner and then, late one saturday morning in may, the person you love most in the world is reduced to a pile of boxes—old books, papers, clothes, tools—all strewn across the hot pavement outside a storage unit. […]

late-night coincidences: don’t ever think that you’ve been forgotten

it’s saturday night and the kids have been down for at least an hour already, maybe more. the house is especially quiet. jen is tidying up downstairs somewhere, while i pour the basket of laundry onto our bed and make myself useful. the monotony of towels folded end-over-end and socks turned in on themselves, after […]

walking with c. s. lewis: remembering professor tony ash

for those of us from the cool, damp pacific northwest, there’s not much reason to get excited about traveling to west texas. but i arrived deeply excited. after flying into san antonio late march, i drove the four hours north to meet professor tony ash. a publisher introduced me to tony several years ago, shortly […]

life over lies: worth in work

the following is a reflection i shared with our university ministry community in berkeley, for a series titled, “life > lies.” since the new year began, we’ve been asking, ‘what are the lies that i believe about myself?,’ and, ‘how can we stop living into those lies so that we can receive the abundant life […]

valentine’s Day, ash wednesday, & lent: cleansing our broken hearts

the following is a homily on psalm 51 that i offered at first presbyterian church of berkeley, on the event of ash wednesday. it’s the first time since 1945 that valentine’s day has fallen on ash wednesday. these two holidays seem like an odd couple, don’t they? chocolates and ashes? but maybe not. both days […]

when we say goodbye | why i need the rosary

i’ve been thinking about and working on a book idea since finishing called: my journey to c. s. lewis’s house and back again. death and grief and the long process of saying goodbye is, unfortunately, part of our story. we have said goodbye to some of those closest to us and found ourselves struggling to […]

birth narratives

the gospels were not the earliest accounts of what God was doing in and through the life of Jesus, of course—paul’s letters to the early church had already been penned and shared by then. but it was eventually decided that a written account of Jesus’s life and, more than that, His ministry, should be captured. […]

good christian? bad christian?

who is shaping our image of a “good” christian, i wondered when two university students told me they feel like a “bad” christian from our seats in berkeley last spring. who’s telling us what it looks like to be a “bad” christian? are either valid? i’m exploring this question with our community in berkeley this […]