“Does this offend you?” the Emmaus Road Jesus asked His disciples. For many, it did, and understandably so. “From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.”

Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.’”

When Karen was five, she had her first and only panic attack. It was on a Sunday, after church. She had a tummy ache and, with it, a sudden terror. What if she died? She began to hyperventilate. So, dad and mom put her in the car, where she sat in the back seat between her grandmothers. And they raced to the hospital.

In that moment of paralyzing fear, when five-year-old Karen thought she was dying, she told her grandmothers she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.

And she did.

Everything in this next story is true, metaphorically…

One day I summited a mountain. While taking in the stunning view, I discovered a systematic friend had also just arrived and was enjoying the same vista. We embraced and then, filled with wonder, reveled in our shared awe of the landscape – it was Revelation.

Dave was a Christian, and Jesus was his best friend. Mine, too. Truly. But when we talked about Jesus, Dave’s thoughts were fuller and better than mine. We both used the same words to describe Jesus, but Dave’s interpretation was deeper and more complete. Dave’s understanding of God’s goodness was also better than I understood it.

The sin of certainty is a phrase I’ve heard over the last few years, mainly by those deconstructing. It’s a phrase employed to point out hypocrisy within the church. And there’s plenty to point out. It’s a phrase used to highlight the cruel and punishing things done by the church in the name of love. And there’s plenty to highlight…

Mankind has been submitting the goodness of God to our broken experiences since the fall. But thankfully, Jesus is the goodness of God revealed, and He climbs inside every god-box we create and blows them up from the inside with His goodness.

After Jesus tells us about how important our perception of God is, how the eye is the gateway to wholeness or brokenness, He says something amazing and often overlooked.

“If then the LIGHT WITHIN YOU is darkness…”

It seems our perception doesn’t change the nature of light nor its inhabitation. Even if we perceive the light within us as darkness, it remains light and remains within us. if there is no separation between us and God, then the question isn’t, “Is the light within us?” it’s, “How do we perceive it?”

Relationship is the only theological lens through which I can communicate authentically and with any effect. Love is my doctrine. Kindness my dogma. The goodness of God my creed.

Every life on this planet is in part a revelation of the creativity, diversity, and symmetry in the heart of God and an ever-expanding canvas paraphrase of the gospel!

Can I see and love what Papa sees and loves in every other person today?

The Incarnation, Christ in us!

Last month I had the opportunity to speak at icuTalks on the topic of Ending Stigma in the Church.

I was incredibly honored and took all 26 of my 25 minutes to talk about a reconciling God in a church that often perceives him through the lens of retribution. If you’re curious about the new book I am finally wrapping up, Leaving & finding Jesus, this is a good introduction.