Out Fishing the Fisherman

What happens when Jesus confronts us in our area of strength? Many of us who claim to be Jesus’ disciples today treat our personal life like a roll top desk. Far more than dividing things into secular and sacred, each of us subdivides much of our life to help us cope with all our responsibilities, interests, and personas. We keep our different areas of interest and involvement separate from each other in separate cubbyholes. If we are honest, we even keep a few of our areas of interest very separate from our “God stuff.” We simply don’t want our spiritual interests interfering with these other areas of self-interest! So we have a cubbyhole for recreation. We have another for vacation. We keep a special drawer full of stuff for work responsibilities, relationships, and politics. We also have a cubby for parenting, hobbies, and investing. We even have a “God stuff” cubby for our Christian “Facebooking” as well as our church friends and church life. If we’re completely honest, some of us also have an “opposite of God stuff” internet cubby. This place is where we keep all sorts of things we really don’t want God to interfere or influence what we do. When things get really messy, we pull down the roll top desk and everything looks “fine” on the outside to others. We punch our “I’m fine!” button and head to church, pray for help, read Ann Voskamp, check out Max Lucado books, or seek a counselor. The problem is everything on our inside is a scrambled and mixed up mess. Under the roll top, there is no ordering Lord to bring coherence and purpose to our multi-personalised jumbled up mess. Which brings us to this week’s “Saved at Sea” segment with Jesus. Jesus’ entourage followed him to the seashore on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. This part of the sea of Galilee was called Lake Gennesaret. Peter and his homie-fishing buddies were washing their nets after a long night of work. Suddenly they were overrun by the God-squad of people wanting to hear Jesus and see one of his miracles. One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat (Luke 5:1-3). Why did Jesus come to the seashore? He knew the crowd would follow him there. Sure, the acoustics were good in this place. Yes, a boat makes a great pulpit, and this location on the lake makes a great amphitheater. Is there possibly something more to this moment than just a good place for a sermon for the masses? Let’s ask another question and see if we can’t find out what’s going on in this important moment. Why did Jesus really interrupt Peter and his buddies? Did he need Peter’s boat or was he trying to win the heart of the boat owner? A quick reading of the story (Luke 5:1-11) sure seems to suggest that Jesus was on a “fishing expedition” of his own! Jesus commandeered a boat. He used this boat, the water, and the shape of the shoreline as his amphitheater. But, notice who owned the boat! Simon Peter, the guy who would one day be the leader of Jesus’ apostles. So as we pay close attention to what’s happening, we realize the audience that came to hear Jesus wasn’t Jesus’ target audience for this moment. Jesus was after bigger fish than a herd of fickle people who made up the crowds that often followed him! He was looking for dedicated disciples who would become world-changing disciple-makers. Jesus was looking for people who would do anything and give up everything to follow him… obey him… and carry on his mission. So instead of offering an invitation song or an altar call with 10 verses of “Just as I AM” to get the crowd to respond, Jesus surprisingly told Simon Peter, “Hey buddy, let’s go fishing!” When he [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). However, there was a huge problem with what Jesus said. Everybody who knew anything about fishing in Jesus’ day knew you didn’t go fishing with Peter’s kind of nets in daylight. Fish could see and avoid them. Also, everybody who knew anything about fishing in the Sea of Galilee knew you didn’t catch fish with these kinds of nets in deep water. They were most effective for fish near the surface. On top of that, everybody who knew anything about fishing in those days knew you needed to be fishing at night or in the dusk of dawn and sunset. You weren’t going to catch anything at the time of day Jesus was speaking to the crowds! What makes Jesus’ command all the more interesting, Simon Peter knew fishing better than “everybody who knew anything about fishing in Jesus’ day.” Fishing was Peter’s life. Fishing was Peter’s livelihood. He fished every day. He knew how to catch fish. He earned his living catching fish. He took care of his wife and family catching fish. He had partners with whom he fished regularly. So Peter knew what Jesus was asking was crazy, yet… Simon [Peter] answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). In cornbread English, Peter is saying, “The fish aren’t biting, or I would have caught them last night. But if I am going to call you Lord over spiritual stuff, then I’d better let you be Lord of all my stuff… even the stuff I know

Daily Prayer for July 27

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16, NIV Lord our God, bring us together as one. Give us your Spirit so that we may know you, so that joy may fill our hearts, not only for ourselves but also for others. Root out evil from the earth. Sweep away all that offends you, all lying, deceit, and hate between nations. Grant that all people may come to know you, so that disunity and conflict may be swept away and your eternal kingdom may arise on earth and we may rejoice in it. For your kingdom can come to people even while on earth to bring them happiness and to make them your own children. Yes, Lord God, we want to be your children, your people, held in your hand, so that your name may be honored, your kingdom may come, and your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough In Deep Water off Antarctica Jessica T. Miskelly On an icebreaker off the coast of Antarctica, I felt a warming planet’s pulse. Read now The Unspeakable Beauty of God’s Love Clement of Rome A first-century bishop of Rome writes to the believers in Corinth. Read now Orthodox Stonemasonry Alan Koppschall A crew of master builders build houses using old methods. Read now The Redemption of Lam Trang T. J. English After serving twenty-eight years in prison, a former teenage immigrant, gang member, drug addict, and killer looks to build a life. Read now Dialogue in Christian Community Elizabeth O’Connor Dialogue requires a clear, radical, and arduous commitment to listening. Read now

‘What Sort of Man Is This?’

Who in the world is this man? What’s the most important question you’ve ever asked someone? “Will you marry me?” “How are we going to live through this?” “Did I lose the baby?” “Should we move?” “Why should I try to go on living if my life is going to be like this forever?” “Where should I go to college and what should I major in?” “Will you still love me if I say, ‘No’?” “What are we going to do now?” “Is it a boy or a girl?” “Should I take this job?” “Is there any money left?” “Will our marriage survive this?” “Do you think we should adopt?” “Was the surgery successful?” “Should I be baptized?” “Is it cancer?” My guess is that none of these questions grabbed at your heart unless it was a question you asked at some point in your life. Our questions become a lot more urgent when we’re the ones in the boat, the seas around us are raging, and we don’t know what to do. That was certainly true for Jesus’ early disciples. And when he [Jesus] got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23-27 ESV) This may well be the most important question any of us asks: “What sort of man is this…?” And this is not a question we ask just once. Each of us needs to keep asking it in all of our own life’s unique circumstances. Because life is, after all is said and done, about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Sometimes we find ourselves caught in a building Storm. We see the storm clouds collecting on the horizon. We’ve seen the warning signs. We’ve felt the dread of knowing difficult times are coming. As the storm intensifies, we need to know that we are not alone. We need to know that Jesus and his people will walk with us. Because life is, after all is said and done, about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of a storm in life, and we are frozen with fear. At that moment, we need someone to act for us. We need to know that when we don’t know what to pray or how to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26) and that the prayers of Jesus’ disciples surround us. Because life is, after all is said and done, about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Sometimes we find ourselves feeling like Jesus isn’t even listening to us. We’re tired of the shallow answers and throw away clichés that don’t fit into the frustration playing out in our lives. We’re angry. Yet more than angry, we’re hurt. We don’t understand why our prayers aren’t answered, and other prayers seemed to be answered. We can’t fathom why the Lord of heaven and earth can’t just blink away our challenges and bring us to a new day. We need help. We need to know that the Lord isn’t sleeping while we’re praying. We need to know he is not ignoring us while we plead with tear-stained cheeks. Because life is, after all is said and done, about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Sometimes we find ourselves trusting that Jesus is in control. We have this strangely wonderful calm in the face of our storm. We can’t say why, exactly, but we do. We feel as if Jesus has been here before and can handle our mess and guide us to a safe harbor. So we wait while the storm rages knowing that the storm will pass, or the Lord will still the seas and order the winds to cease. Because life is, after all is said and done, about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Sometimes we find ourselves enjoying the calm after the storm. We love the peace and good times. We bask in the sun of God’s goodness and obvious grace. We share in the gentle presence of those we love. Life seems easy. Our world feels comfortable. Our future looks bright. Yet we know that sooner or later, storms will come. For life is, after all is said and done, still about navigating storms. These storms come and they go. They rain and they blow. Their waves rock and they roll. And through it all, we need to keep asking, “What sort of man is

One Dad Changes Everything

How much power does one man of God have?! My heart broke.As I gathered in the news of Charleston on Wednesday night, my heart broke at the slaughter of people who came for sanctuary and a time of holy rest in the grace of God. These people of faith were murdered because of hate. My heart broke.I received a Sunday morning email from our VerseoftheDay.com translator in Pakistan. He told about the women and children killed and dismembered by suicide bombers. These women and children had been sharing a Sunday dinner-on-the-grounds while their husbands prayed inside. My heart broke for all whose lives were murdered, bodies damaged, and families wounded because of hate. My heart broke.I have watched while the press has remained largely silent about the methodical rape, selling of young kidnapped girls on the slave markets, beheadings, and crucifixions of fellow Christians at the hands of those who hate. My prayers and support have been offered for the families, churches, cities, and countries as they have endured such barbaric hate. In my own small way, I have come to understand a little of the deep emotion of God as he watched the world that was once “very good” (Genesis 1:26-31) become filled with evil: GOD saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil-evil, evil, evil from morning to night. GOD was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart (Genesis 6:5-6 MSG). What do I tell my son about raising his boys in such a world? What do I tell my grandsons about what it means to be God’s man in such a world? How do I help you understand that our efforts at sharing grace, our desires to tear down walls of racial bigotry, and our prayers to end racial and religious hatred are not in vain? Where are we supposed to turn as darkness descends, and all we can think to do is to adopt the plaintive cry of our Savior and say, “O God our God why have you forsaken us?” (Mark 15:33-34). The plan in our series entitled, “Saved at Sea,” was for us to study the story of Noah this week. Weeks ago, Noah seemed to be the perfect fit for Father’s Day. Now Noah seems even more powerfully tuned to our need of the hour. We need today’s men of God to be the men the Father has called us to be! We need to be like Noah, who “was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). While we know that Noah wasn’t a perfect man because of what we read later in the story (Genesis 9:20), he was God’s man. He was God’s man in a time when there weren’t any others — except perhaps for his sons (Genesis 8:1). In reading the Bible story of Noah (Genesis chapters 5-9), we can divide the story into four parts. We have already taken a peek at the first two parts, Breaking God’s Heart (Genesis 6:5-6; Genesis 6:11-12) and Being God’s Man (Genesis 6:8-9; Genesis 8:1). The world broke God’s heart with its evil. Violence erupted and multiplied in the lives of people made for so much more. Noah had distinguished himself from the wickedness of the world because of his righteous life. Stage three of the story is the account of Noah’s obedience as he focuses on Building the Boat of God. He built the ark based on the specifications God had given him. A theme that runs through this stage of the story is that Noah did all that the LORD commanded him to do (Genesis 6:22; Genesis 7:5; Genesis 7:9; Genesis 7:16). The final stage of the story focuses on Bringing God’s Future to the destroyed world. This involved those God saved on the ark: Noah, his family, and the animals. Noah had not brought every animal on the face of the earth into the ark, but the key type or exemplar pair of each animal — “according to its kind” (Genesis 6:19-20; Genesis 7:2-7; Genesis 7:14). God also had Noah bring his sons and their wives along with his own wife into the ark (Genesis 7:7; Genesis 7:13). The LORD then shut Noah in the ark with his family and the animals. God had chosen this group of people and animals to re-begin life on earth. The ark protected Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark from both the flood and the wickedness and violence on the face of the earth (Genesis 7:17-23). God then brought Noah, his family, and the animals out of the ark. The LORD entered into a covenant with Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8), the animals that had been spared, and the earth itself promising never to destroy the world with a flood again (Genesis 8:18-22; Genesis 9:8-17). Then God gave Noah’s family and the animals the charge to bring life in its beauty and diversity back to the earth (Genesis 9:1; Genesis 9:7). As we look at this powerful and bewildering story of God’s work through one dad, we should take some lessons with us for men and dads in our day. This example is especially important for us when our day seems so filled with evil and violence. So let’s grab three important principles from the story of Noah. God can take one man, one faithful dad, and use him to help his family stand against the strong tide of an immoral and violent culture. God notices that man, that dad, and remembers what he does to share his faith, bless his world, and live a holy life (Genesis 6:8-9; Hebrews 6:10). God uses that man, that dad, to bring new life and fresh hope! God can take such a dad and use his efforts and his life to save his family in every way they can be saved — morally and spiritually — because

Daily Prayer for July 14

At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel. I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives. I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper. I will show love to those who were called “Unloved,” and to those who were called “Not-My-People” I will say, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.” Hosea 2:21–23, TEV Lord our God, kindle true light in our hearts and minds, that we may recognize what we are and become free of everything false and dishonest. Let this light of righteousness, this judgment, go through all nations, that people no longer use empty words when they talk of “mercy” and “truth.” Grant that your mercy and your truth find the right soil and bear fruit. May they find soil prepared by you, for you judge us and make right what is wrong in our earthly life. We thank you that however painful many of our experiences are, we may still say, “Through how much need has not our merciful God spread out his wings to protect us!” Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Visions Under the Serviceberry Tree William Thomas Okie Robin Wall Kimmerer envisions a new economy in her book The Serviceberry. Read now Learning to Love Food Sarah Reardon While recovering from an eating disorder, I found a new appreciation for good food – and my own body – in the pages of scripture. Read now The Christian’s Secret Strength Thomas Guthrie Samson’s great strength lay in his hair. Where does ours lie? Read now Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 12

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20, NIV Almighty God, keep watch over us and lead us fully into the life of Jesus Christ. Let your Son Jesus Christ become truly living within us so that we may be full of joy because we belong to the realm of heaven and may live every day with faith in him. We thank you for all you have let us experience. We thank you with all our hearts that in your great compassion you have showered so much good on us who are not yet perfect in faith. Keep our hearts in the light, we pray. Keep us patient and dedicated, for then more and more can be done among us poor children of earth, to the glory of your name. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough The Christian’s Secret Strength Thomas Guthrie Samson’s great strength lay in his hair. Where does ours lie? Read now Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now

The Creator Brings Grace

Can you drown out all the noise and simply listen for the Creator’s voice in the Bible’s first chapter?   We were in a boat along the west coast of Florida. Big thunderstorms had blown up all around our horizon. So my fishing buddy fired up his Coast Guard frequency on the radio to try to see the best way for us to return safely to the boat launch. What he got back on the radio was a muddied voice in the middle of a ton of background noise. Little by little he turned up the squelch button until the voice on the other end was clearly heard. There are few chapters of the Bible that match the beauty and transformation content of the first chapter of our Bibles (Genesis 1:1-31). Unfortunately, when most people think about this incredibly important message they only hear the arguments and controversies surrounding creation, evolution, and the truth of Scripture. So I am going to ask you to turn up the squelch button in your brain. Tune out all the arguments, litmus tests, and debates. Then take a few minutes to calmly read this important chapter through slowly. (Click this link to read Genesis 1:1-31). Before reading, ask the Holy Spirit to help you tune out the noise so that the voice of your Creator can be clearly heard. Embedded in this wonderful message is God’s truth about who we are and the nature of the universe in which we live. Keep the squelch button turned up and drown out the noise. The Spirit can help you hear God’s voice telling you how precious you are and how he longs to do his new creation work in you. Before time and anything we know from our world, God existed. In the mysterious pre-primal nothing of formlessness, emptiness, and darkness, our God was (Genesis 1:1). Before there was matter and energy there was nothing… just the fearful nothingness and God. God as Creator, Son (John 1:1-3), and Spirit hovering over the vast void. The Spirit waiting to create out of nothing in response to the Creator’s word of grace (Genesis 1:1-2). We know that something doesn’t come from nothing… unless you are God. We intuitively realize that before there can be a big bang, there must be a Big Banger, who brings into being energy, light, matter, design, and purpose. So with a word, God speaks. His word overcomes the fearful nothingness of pre-primal and primordial existence. Into nothingness, God speaks diversity. God calls into existence variety out of the inane void of nothing. God’s gift is a dazzling variety of everything. Diversity carries a fingerprint of God’s design. Variety is God’s favorite color. If you don’t believe it, then look at a lifetime of sunsets. The Creator defeated the monster of nothingness with variety and diversity filling a multitude of terrains, spaces, expanses, and seas. Jesus told us that only God alone is completely good (Luke 18:19). So we shouldn’t be surprised. Goodness is the divine thread that runs through the tapestry of unspoiled creation. God overcomes the indistinct formlessness of pre-creation with the goodness of his creative work. Out of formlessness, our Creator makes beauty. As the creative Master does his work, we find an oft-repeated phrase that goes very much like this: God saw that it was good! Then, when his creative work needed its weekend’s rest, God saw all that he had made and it was very good! The ancients feared the chaos monster. This fear sounds very superstitious and crazy to us until… Then we are confronted with this monster in a severe drought, a raging fire, a rampaging thunderstorm with hail and lightning, a class 5 tornado, a storm surge of a hurricane, a slow rumbling vibration of a major earthquake, a mountain-moving explosion of a massive volcanic eruption, or an uncontrollable advance of a tsunami. These events bring chaos. They re-awaken us to our fear of chaos. They alert us to our terror at the hideous monster that lies behind such disasters. God defeated this pre-creation chaos by creating order and by creating with order, symmetry, and purpose. (See the chart in the image below.) As we meet the Bible’s God of creation — our Creator as Father, Son, and Spirit — we are reminded of God’s eternal desire to connect life with relationships. So out of the impersonal emptiness of pre-creation, God brings relationship to life on earth. We are made to reflect the divine relationship in our Creator. God did not make us to be alone. We are, after all, made in his likeness. We are made for life with him and with others. The Creator’s intentionally repeated commands to love him with all we are and to love our neighbors remind us of God’s relational imprint in us. This imprint testifies to both our need for others and our Creator’s desire to bring us into relationship. For all who struggle with loneliness and the emptiness of not connecting to others, God beckons you back to him first. Without him, we have a God-shaped hole that no other person or thing can fill. Anything or anyone else is merely weak imitation, a counterfeit become addiction that can never fill that hole in our soul. By drawing close to our God, we find ourselves in the company of others. We find life together. We were made for relationship, so God defeated the impersonal emptiness to bring relationship to life. Yet all of this variety, order, beauty, and relationship can become predictable. God’s gracious gifts can devolve into meaningless monotony. This boring sameness squeezes out life as we lose any sense of purpose to our Creator’s gifts. We were created with purpose and for a mission. Over time that mission changes. It shifts as the Creator keeps calling us to go on the mission for his fresh creative purposes. While God’s mission for us may morph over time, underneath these changes is an undergirding truth. We are

Daily Prayer for July 11

So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. Hebrews 10:22, TEV Lord our God, grant us true unity with your Son Jesus Christ, so that his power can be revealed in us and we may find new life in which we can truly serve you. Protect us from all error. Be among us with your Spirit to make us people who are genuine. Let your will be carried out more and more in this age. Let your will again intervene so that a new creation may come, a new heaven and a new earth, as we have been promised. May your name be great among us, may your kingdom come and everything in heaven and on earth be done according to your will. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 10

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6–7, NIV Lord our God, strengthen in us all that comes from you and is eternal, all that is good and right and genuine. Let this shape our outward life and help us triumph over need and death. Help us to wait quietly, even when we don’t know the answers to our questions, because we are certain that the outcome will be good and life-giving, to the glory of your Spirit and your name. We entrust ourselves to your hands. Stay with us, that we may receive your calling for our lives. Stay with us, so that in all our work and activity we may be aware of your guiding Spirit at work in our hearts. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 9

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:14–17a, NIV Lord our God, you are our Father, and we human beings know that our innermost hearts belong to you. Hold us firmly through your Spirit, we pray, so that we do not live on the level of our lower natures but remain true to the calling you have given us, the high calling to what is eternal. May all our experiences work in us for good, bringing us the joyful certainty that you rule us with your Spirit, that you further the good everywhere in the world and make more and more people sensitive to what is good, right, and perfect. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now A Disabled Savior Devan Stahl The wounds of a resurrected God help us live with ours. Read now