After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth....

During Lent, many Christians take time to contemplate their lives honestly and prayerfully, and focus afresh on Jesus -- who he was, what he did and taught, how he lived and how he calls us to live. An intense examination of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry can...

I am angry, and I am not alone. In response to the heart-shattering violence visited upon innocent children and teachers in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, millions of Americans are enraged by the lack of sensible gun control laws, as well as by the tone-deaf responses of those who think...

Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that in Buddhism, the energy that helps us "touch life deeply" is known as smrti, the energy of mindfulness. A careful reading of the Gospels reveals a Jesus who is full of smrti.

Jesus knows himself. He is mindful of his feelings and expresses...

A stone is tossed into a still pond, and from its point of entry ripples circle out, wider and wider. In the same way, Jesus enters human existence, piercing the surface between the eternal and the here-and-now, and love washes continually from him in wave after wave, flowing out beyond...

One of my favorite rituals is to carve a few days out of my schedule each year and take off to St. Simons Island, Ga., for a creative retreat. Each year as I walk along the broad, white-sand beach, I am surprised by the changes in the shoreline. The sea...

A few years ago I was at a meeting in New York City -- huge, overwhelmingly busy, and extremely confusing to someone not used to its eccentricities. Take the subway system, please. If you know where you're going, you can figure it out easily enough. If you're not sure, you...

Some years ago, a friend of mine from church invited me and another fellow to spend a few hours relaxing on his new sailboat on Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta. I knew nothing about sailing but the other two did, so I just went along for the ride.

It...

After you spend time and energy trying to learn something, sometimes God gives you an opportunity to put it into practice, ready or not. And that's a good thing because it compels us to live what we've learned. For me, it happened the moment I walked out the door after...

In a special Day1 Conversation, author and religious historian Diana Butler Bass talks with me about her new book, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne, 2012).

Diana delves into the roots of the crisis that churches of...

I got stumped the other day by what would seem to be a rather easy question: "Would you say something to us about God?"

I was meeting with a dozen members of an important committee in the denomination to which I belong. The members were asking me all sorts of...

A year ago I attended the National Festival of Young Preachers, an initiative of the Academy of Preachers. And I reported here that I had seen the future of preaching, and it's a beautiful thing.

I returned to Louisville, Kentucky for this year's Festival Jan. 2-5,...

A meditation on the Psalm appointed for Sunday, Oct. 30 (Revised Common Lectionary)

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the...

It's mid-May.
I'm in a Minneapolis hotel bar
Slick, dark and red-lit
Sipping a husky tempranillo
Resting after a busy day
Mindlessly checking email on my phone
Reading the latest headlines
Minding my own business.

I'm aware of three men
...

A couple of months ago I wrote here about my experiences on the streets of Atlanta meeting homeless people. Recently, I spent another hot day in the city with ministry colleagues. Our goal this time was simply to listen to people who call the streets home share...

You probably know that "Hoarders" is one of the most intriguing and popular programs on cable TV today.

Well, I must confess that I am a hoarder. Okay, not one of the 3 million compulsive hoarders like those featured on the addictive A&E series....

When it comes to promising the sky, Psalm 128:1-4 doesn't beat around the bush:

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. Your wife...

Last month I was part of a group of people of faith who spent a Saturday mingling with homeless persons on the streets of downtown Atlanta. Maybe you'll consider doing something similar where you live. You will likely come back home as grateful, and as surprised, as I did.

What...

What if they find out? What if you're exposed? You could lose your position, your wealth, even your life. These people, your fellow Pharisees, are serious -- deadly serious.

The Rabbi has had them in an uproar for some time now. He seemed to go out of his way...

I've been asking a lot of "why" questions lately. But what else is new.

Last week in Atlanta, where I live and work, two families were awash in emotion -- one with joy, the other with sorrow.

The Sowell family was rejoicing that their 15-year-old son Thomas was...