Category: God’s love

Two kinds of love

Martin Luther coined the phrase “theology of the cross” in his Heidelberg Disputation of 1518. The cross, he held, is where differences between human and divine loves are sharpest. Human love seeks personal benefits and satisfaction—whatever is good. While God’s love forms what is good in humans. “Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; …

Read More Two kinds of love

Thinking of Wendy

Heavy hearts bend a soul and the pain of lost love stifles us. Bible verses and lessons-for-life from well-meaning friends won’t help. Grief is much too heavy. So it’s hard to walk, talk, think, or see. Kind words feel like thin plastic. Poetry is hollow. Once rich colors now come in shades of gray. Yet …

Read More Thinking of Wendy

You & me together

The Spirit is God’s bond of love. It’s who he is and what he does. Yet he’s fully personal, with feelings, intentions, and actions. He prefers transparency in his role of elevating others, in forming union, and sustaining unity. So the Father loves the Son, and the Son in turn loves the Father, with the …

Read More You & me together

Dependent Hearts

How does faith reshape our appetite for freedom? Freedom has been a human ambition from Adam and Eve onward. It’s ironic, given our deep reliance on others: in being birthed and raised; in learning; in work, family, and daily needs; and in our final interment. There is a healthy impulse to leave home to enter …

Read More Dependent Hearts