Blog

‘Be angry; don’t sin.’ (Eph. 4:26) Anger cuts both ways. It can incite one to drive idols from the Father’s house; it can drive others to fill that house with idolatry. We each face resistance to what we perceive as worthy goals. It helps to access the passion that motivates us to go against the grain. Anger may activate us to bore a hole through the hard wood of injustice, or at least what we perceive as unjust. Maybe that’s the catch. What begins as ‘justice’ may devolve in

New evidence now exists to show a host of challenges to kids of gay parents. Professor Mark Regenerus found that, when compared to adults raised in married, mother/father families, adults raised by lesbian parents had negative outcomes in 24 out of 40 categories, while adults raised by gay fathers had negative outcomes in 19 categories. (See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/10/study-suggests-risks-from-same-sex-parenting/) More studies are in the works to debunk t

If we want to be more like Jesus, we must be with Him more. And do less of everything else. Our roots must sink and stay deep in the Source if we want to bear fruit that remains. I do badly when first thoughts of the day revolve around unsolved problems. I start striving, and my words and actions become cutting. I know right away that I am not in Christ; I am worldly, and thus unable reveal Him to the world. I used to wake up each morning and see if the little red light was f

Merciful Discipline 2: Broken, We Repent for the Church’s Mishandling of Abuse ‘This crisis isn’t about sex abuse. It is about covering up sex abuse.’ Spokesperson for victims of priestly abuse ‘God’s justice summons us to give account of our actions and to conceal nothing.’ Pope Benedict to priests who abused children As the Church, we are united as members of one Body. When one is abused, all suffer. When abuse is covered up or mishandled by Church leaders, the abused are a

— Faithful Mother for an Adulterous Generation 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 3 ‘Rejoice, for you are closer to God in His mercy than a baby to its mother’s heart.’ (423) ‘The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all that He has made.’ (Psalm 145:8,9) ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget

Bearing witness of Christ with the whole story of one’s life is costly. Especially when your story involves sharing shameful things. Throughout this year, I have shared with scores of people from my new church of how Jesus healed me from homosexuality. Most have never heard of such a thing; it challenges conservatives who think you cannot be healed, just obedient and miserable, and it shocks  liberals who believe nothing about homosexuality needs to be healed. On whatever poi

— Mercy for the Church ‘What a joy it is to be a faithful child of the Church! O how much I love Holy Church and all those who live in it! I look upon them as living members of Christ, who is their Head. I burn with love with those You love; I suffer with those who suffer. I am consumed with sorrow with those who are cold and ungrateful.’ (511) Above all, St. Faustina was a child of the Church. She regarded the Church as she regarded herself—the least yet much loved member of

Day 3 of our 40 Days of Mercy Fast — ‘Rejoice, for you are closer to God in His mercy than a baby to its mother’s heart.’ (423) Our father is the perfect parent; He combines and surpasses the best virtues of both mother and father. Just as natural parents complement each other in creating children and loving them well, so does the Father’s Mercy involve two intertwining dimensions that bear fruit in us: one masculine, the other feminine. Understanding these two expressions of

— ‘Apart from God, there is no contentment anywhere.’ (42) A painful fact of life for my twenty-something children is the sexually immorality that defines their generation. If not subject to parents who failed to keep their commitment to each other, they are steeped in a culture that celebrates the relentless erosion of holy boundaries. These are a people so scorched by porn they no longer feel the burn; these are ‘friends with benefits’, open to the sexual possibility in any

During Holy Week, we pause to consider Jesus’ cross and the smaller one He asks us to carry. The goal? To know Him more. Perhaps He will invite you in these days to ‘keep watch with Him’ in His suffering. We take another step toward Calvary by considering the ways we have been sinned against. He has not suffered only for our sins and foolishness; His cross-walk had as much to do with the gaps and gashes we bear due to others’ sins. Isaiah 53:4, 5 says it best: ‘Surely He bore

Since our transition to Kansas City, God has provided two men who have stood with me in prayerful friendship: Mike and Morgan. I am not sure I could have stayed true to the Lord without them. When I have been discouraged, they speak God’s truth to me; when unsure, they speak wisdom. They have helped me close the gap between things we aspire to in faith and the uneven ground our feet trod on this earth. Most practically, we help each other to love our wives and kids well. We h

Man for woman, woman for man, committed to permanence and fidelity. Nothing better for the civilizing of sexuality. And its enhancement. Nothing channels the power of the raw sex drive better than a committed, honorable relationship between a man and a woman. Think about it. Outside of marriage, sex readily becomes an arm of our own brokenness and delusion. Women may use it to secure ‘love’ or to retaliate; men may use it to prove their virility. Both genders may use it for p