I don’t feel like I’m “running the race”. I get nervous even thinking about my “Christian walk”. Shouldn’t I be progressing? Going somewhere? And faster? Am I even a grown-up Christian?

The surprisingly comforting answer is, “No. I’m not a grown-up, and I’m not in control of my progress.” While I’m not going to say that walking with Jesus is a walk in the park (after all, the Psalmist calls it the Valley of the Shadow of Death!), it is less like climbing Everest with a sherpa and more like holding a good father’s hand as we walk home from the park. God is my good father who knows that I have short legs and an even shorter attention span.

I have had five toddlers, and none of them could walk in a straight line. On our walks they’d stop to look into a daffodil, or watch a wooly bear caterpillar inch across the sidewalk. Sometimes they’d charge on ahead, and I’d yell frantically for them to stop at the crosswalk! And of course there are moments when the toddler can not walk another step. Then comes what we call “lead butt” when they suddenly weigh 10,000 pounds when you try to scoop them to their feet. But I loved watching them stump along clumsily and wander on their wondering way.

How many photos do you have of your little ones clumping along adorably? I have thousands.

This is a better picture of our walk with Jesus. He is with us on our way Home, and he has permanent patience for his beloved toddler, me (and you!). In fact, only an unkind father would force his child to race home, in a straight line, allowing for no distraction or weakness. Our paths Home are slow and winding. We get lost by wandering but also absorbed by the good and beautiful things along the way.

Jesus keeps an eye on my progress and continues to accompany me, lead me, sometimes scoop my “lead butt” up off the sidewalk. I can trust that my labyrinthine journey is a gentle journey under his loving supervision. He won’t lose track of me. His faithful love endures forever. When I wander, trip, run ahead, or squat down to watch the caterpillars, he watches me with delight and unbreakable patience.

We’re not Home yet, but Jesus is with us on the way.

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Provisions for the Road

Encounter Jesus in a whole new way!

FREE LIVE WEBINAR

• September 12
• Time: 10 AM Pacific | 11 AM Mountain | 12 PM Central | 1 PM Eastern
• Cost: FREE (Thanks to generous donors)

Stories are full of sights, sounds, smells, and real human drama. The Gospel authors wanted you to see Jesus’ face, to hear his voice. Reading the Gospels with your imagination is simply reading biblical stories the way they were meant to be read.

The heart of this practice is to let the Holy Spirit make Jesus present to you, to let him catch your eye and ask: "And what about you?"

God can teach us with facts. But he meets us in our imagination.

In this workshop you’ll:

• Learn how imagination is a God-given tool for encountering God in Scripture.
• Walk through a simple 5-step method of reading with your imagination.
• Practice the method and ask your questions
• Leave with a complete worksheet and list of passages to start with.

Register today

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Food for Thought

Things the team found interesting this week, no endorsement implied.

SABSing Is a New College Dating Trend

by Bruce Y. Lee M.D., M.B.A. at Psychology Today

I'm not sure how to feel about this article teaching you how to "See And Be Seen" as a new dating trend. Perhaps its a commentary on how lonely we all are? Or a commentary on how out of practice we all are at IRL (In Real Life) relationships?

What I do know is that being trule "seen" and truly "seeing" another is the core of true friendship — even with God.  

Read more..

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Nobody Asked Us

By Dr. Sean Tobin on The Inner Exodus

"Sam Altman said the next ChatGPT would be more human: customizable personalities, a warmer and more emotive tone, even an adult mode for verified users. The assistant was being remade, explicitly, from a productivity tool into a personal companion that adapts to your tone and your mood.

The easy version of this essay is the one that calls it fake and walks away satisfied. That essay is useless to you. The companions are not going to fail by being obviously hollow. They are going to succeed. That is the whole danger."

Read more..

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Mirrors, Mirrors Everywhere, Thou Shalt Not Struggle, Tech Sadness, and Looking Outward for God

By Todd Brewer at Mockingbird

Todd summarizes and comments on some of last week's most interesting articles and cultural artifacts. Many of the articles he references are behind paywalls, but his commentary is fantastic. Go on, treat yourself! Click that read more link -> Read more..

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