Living in Community with Students: Benefits and Challenges

This blog post is adapted from an article I wrote a few years ago for Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education, a semi-academic journal for people teaching in the theological disciplines.[1] I have updated the article to reflect the fact that Trudi and I have now been living in community with students for the past eight … Continue reading Living in Community with Students: Benefits and Challenges

An Easy Way to Memorize the Beatitudes

Not long ago, I helped a group of young adults memorize the famous verses below using hand motions. Perhaps you can do the same. (Adapt to whichever translation you normally use. We used ESV for this memorization project.) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Flat hand patting down on … Continue reading An Easy Way to Memorize the Beatitudes

“Practicing” Forgiveness

This morning toward the end of my prayer walk, I waved at three people (all from the same family, I think) who were standing at the top of their driveway.[1] They smiled and waved back, but didn’t make any attempt to restrain their off-leash dog—which suddenly bolted in my direction, growled menacingly, and started jumping … Continue reading “Practicing” Forgiveness

A Thousand Years is Like a Day: A Thought Experiment

Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that we were to take the statements in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 about a thousand years being like a day literally (which are probably not literal in their literary settings). Then let’s assume that the difference is not just how God sees time, but also represents the difference … Continue reading A Thousand Years is Like a Day: A Thought Experiment

How Wrestling with Hard Bible Passages Expands our View of God

My thoughts wandered this morning on my prayer walk.[1] I kept bringing my mind back to prayer, but my mind was wandering from my very first steps. I decided to use the Lord’s Prayer to guide me—I sometimes do this when I’m struggling with mind-wandering—but I still had trouble concentrating on prayer. (By the way, … Continue reading How Wrestling with Hard Bible Passages Expands our View of God

Wait Training

God trains us through waiting. On the day I started writing this post, I was waiting for God to answer a prayer. You see, Trudi and I have been leading up a residential discipleship community of Christian college students (known as “The Berdhouse”) for the past eight years while I have continued to teach full-time … Continue reading Wait Training

Temptability: Not the Same for Everyone

Everyone is not equally temptable. One person can be severely tempted by something that another person barely or is not-at-all tempted. Some people, for example, are tempted to drown their sorrows in alcohol. That isn’t a temptation for me—or at least so far in my life it hasn’t been. But I am tempted by other … Continue reading Temptability: Not the Same for Everyone

What Should You Do When There’s No Time to Pray?

What should you do when there is no time to pray? On the surface, this appears to be a simple question, but it turns out to be a bit more complicated in practice. Here are four perspectives that may help. First, we need to call out the uncomfortable truth that most people who claim to … Continue reading What Should You Do When There’s No Time to Pray?

God-pleasers not People-Pleasers: How Important is it for Students to Like their Teachers?

Not long ago, I shared a devotional with the Talbot School of Theology faculty. Here’s a summary of that devotional.[1] I have recently been thinking about Galatians 1:10: “For am I now trying to win the approval of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please … Continue reading God-pleasers not People-Pleasers: How Important is it for Students to Like their Teachers?

Category: Personal

Top Ten Blog Posts of 2025