Church Street

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Church Street, Princeton
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It would be just like him

The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.

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Practicing Our Scales

Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.

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Rescue

I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.

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Your Roots Are Showing

The life that I bring to the world can only be found in my attachment to Christ. His presence with me is essential.

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Connection

I live in a U.S. county with traffic problems. It's a peninsula, and what's not swamp land has been developed. Building new roads is difficult and expensive. Making things worse, roads that could connect don't.

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Just mercy

“And [Mary’s] husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”
— Matthew 1:19 ESV

The verdict is about to be delivered. Will the judge serve up justice? Or will she extend mercy?

Are justice and mercy opposites? Or can they be paired? In Matthew, Joseph shows us justice and mercy can share the same space. It is possible to regard truth and regard a person's God-given dignity. We can shine light into shadowy places without parading the Enemy's captives down Social Media Street.

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Right or left

Here's how I was raised: Be right or be left behind—heaven is for people who believe the right things and fight hard for them.

But I have placed my trust in Jesus. He shows me that we look through a glass darkly—that many issues are too complex to fit neatly into 'right' or 'wrong' categories. I've seen that God loves me and wants me to be with him so much that Jesus died to make that possible. I've discovered I've been declared the very righteousness of God—not based on my 'rightness' but based on his. I am Jesus' friend, I am a son, and I am an heir—despite my wrongness and brokenness. I'm not just headed in that direction, it's all true now. Already. This is who I am.

I am loved now as much as I will ever be loved. I am forgiven now as much as I will ever be forgiven. I don't have to be right. I'm not worried about being left. God enjoys me and I can live every moment of this life enjoying him.

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A dim light in the daytime

For decades the church has seemed a dim lamp in the daytime. We've aimed to be no more than a better expression of humanity. And we've simultaneously declared our surrounding culture 'Christian'.

The church now seems ready to concede that the darkening culture isn't such a good representation of Christ and his kingdom. But how do we view ourselves?

The future offers us great opportunity. The church's power is seen best in contrast. But it matters where we aim our sights. If we compare ourselves to culture, our lamp will gradually dim—always calibrated to be a soft glow, barely noticeable. If we fix our eyes on Jesus and make his likeness our passion, our lamp will become an intense beacon to those suffering in darkness.

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