Qoheleth

I did not stop drinking because alcohol had taken over my life. That is the first thing I need to say, because people often assume there must have been some dramatic collapse, some hidden addiction, or some rock-bottom moment behind a decision like this. That was not my story. In many ways, my experience with alcohol was a positive one. I enjoyed it. I appreciated it. Some of my best moments…

(Grace Behind Bars, Day 11) After calling the church to shine, Paul does something more. He gives the Philippians names and faces. That is one of the mercies of this passage. Paul does not leave us with ideals alone. He does not simply say, “Be humble. Be faithful. Be lights in the world. Be poured out. Be like Jesus.” He gives us two living examples and says, in effect: this is what it looks…

(Matthew 27:15–26; Mark 15:6–15; Luke 23:18–25; John 18:39–40) There is an old expression about choosing “the devil you know.” It speaks to something deeply human: we often prefer what is familiar, even when it is broken, over what is unfamiliar, even when it is good. That may be part of what makes the story of Barabbas so haunting. Why Barabbas Felt Like the Safer Choice On the day Jesus…

(Grace Behind Bars, day 10) Paul does not change subjects in Philippians 2:12. That is worth noticing, because it is easy to read this section as though he has moved on from the breathtaking portrait of Jesus in verses 5–11 and is now offering a few practical leftovers. But he has not changed subjects at all. He is still unfolding the same truth. Jesus did not grasp.Jesus did not cling.Jesus…

One of the things that makes forgiveness so difficult is this: when real wrong has been done, there is a real cost. That is why forgiveness cannot simply mean pretending nothing happened. It cannot mean shrugging off evil, minimizing hurt, or acting as though wounds heal just because we want them to. If there is a debt, someone has to absorb it. That is one of the deep truths quietly running…

Forgiveness rarely feels gentle at first. When I think about it, I do not picture peace. I picture a wrecking ball. Actually, I picture something even more specific: a heavy boulder dragging behind a car, swinging wildly, smashing things left and right. That is what unforgiveness can feel like. Someone wounds us, and from that moment on, we are no longer carrying only the memory of what…

(Grace Behind Bars (GBB) – Day 9) In the last GBB post, we lingered with Paul’s invitation to humility as self-forgetfulness. We spoke about the strange freedom that sometimes comes when the constant inner narration quiets — the voice asking, How am I doing? What do others think? Why can’t I get it together? When that voice softens, even for a moment, something opens up inside us. Our attention…

Previously, I wrote about how we can lose the gospel without noticing: tweak by tweak, softening the edges, keeping the vocabulary while quietly trading away the substance. That raises the obvious follow-up question: What is the gospel, actually? I promised I’d follow up with a post answering that question. I’m going to answer as clearly as I can. The Gospel is good news. If that is true, it is…

It begins innocently. The intention is to make the message more palpable, easier to digest, and more relevant to the hearer’s immediate reality and context. A little tweak here, a little tweak there, here a tweak, there a tweak, then everywhere a small tweak. What you are left with may, at a glance, sound really nice; perfectly packaged for the market. The right words. The right tone. Careful…