One end of semester day during my own PhD study years, I went down to my local coffee shop and ordered a latte. The barista took one look at me and said, “An extra shot, then?”Read more…
The Day of Resurrection
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky, our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.Read more…
Palm Sunday’s Short-Lived Praise (Scholar’s Compass)
Human praise is short-lived. Whether it’s my students, the conference organizers, or publishers, praise is not always on their lips. And we see the same happening for Jesus. Read more…
Do I Really Need a Sabbath? (Scholar’s Compass)
The key to Sabbath is to trust God rather than ourselves. Read more…
The Hope of Eternity
Our goal is to leave behind a physical and spiritual legacy that will bless those who come behind us.Read more…
The Tension of Passion and People
In the everyday work of relationships and tasks, we can still fulfill our purpose as we focus on our Father who walks with us.Read more…
Healing
Dear LORD. May we remember your marvels throughout creation and in all nations. May Your people continue to look for the awesome things You will do with us. Amen. (A prayer based on Exodus 34:10)Read more…
Lenten Healing in the Psalms
Healing occurs because we are directed to dependence on Christ.Read more…
Lent: Public and Private Healing
Lent is a time of healing.Read more…
The Baptism of the Lord (Scholar’s Compass)
On this day, we commemorate the baptism of Jesus. This chronological jump in the church calendar is jarring. Just yesterday—on Epiphany—Jesus was a small child receiving gifts from the magi. Today, he is a grown man beginning his public ministry.Read more…
First Week of Advent: The Word (Scholar’s Compass)
Who we are, and are becoming, is subject, at least in part, to the words we hear and read, speak and write, and receive and dismiss. Read more…
Developing Christ-like Character in Grad School
Recently, I was pleased to write a recommendation for an outstanding 4th year medical student’s application for a residency program. While the letters I’ve written and read highlight a wide range of positive attributes, two characteristics have stood out to me lately.Read more…
The Bible Project — A daily engagement with the word of God
If you are not currently turning to the Word of God in a daily manner, I encourage you to join me in The Bible Project. Today we’re exploring . . .Read more…
Thinking as Worship
Sometime in my junior year a faculty member spoke to our InterVarsity chapter. I remember distinctly one element of his talk, a quote in German that he attributed to Luther. It is a message that has stayed with me and a few years ago I set out to track down the origin of the quote. Read more…
Living in the Moment (Scholar’s Compass Transitions Series Summer 2017, Post 4)
The Gospel opens to us a new reality, a new awareness of timeRead more…
Living in Transition (Scholar’s Compass Transitions Series Summer 2017, Post 3)
We daily live in this tension of the “already and the not yet.”Read more…
“Where You Go, God Is” (Scholar’s Compass Transitions Series Summer 2017, Post 2)
What Christian Brady learned about transitions from a vaudeville performer turned expository preacher. Read more…
Reshaped, Reworked, and Redeemed (Scholar’s Compass Transitions Series Summer 2017)
When I began college thirty years ago I was intent on being “a real doctor.” I loved science and medicine, I had interned at NIH, and I was going to be a physician. Until I wasn’t.Read more…
What Writing Does for Me (Writing As a Spiritual Discipline Series)
Having to write one word—one letter—at a time forces me to focus. On one idea. In the moment. Writing slows my thoughts to one idea at a time. It’s like photography.Read more…
Why I Write (Writing As a Spiritual Discipline Series)
I’m not one of those writers who has always known I wanted to write. I don’t have childhood journals, and I didn’t write my first novel as a teen. (In fact, I still haven’t written one).Read more…
Letter to My Self, Starting Graduate School
Well, congratulations—you’re going to graduate school! So—this is your future self, writing from a decade ahead to let you know that you’ll have a lot of fun. On the other hand . . . it won’t all be easy. Read more…
A New Easter Poem
Today we feature a new Easter poem by ESN author and scholar of early modern literature David Parry. Christ is risen!
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Good Friday: Jesus Dies on the Cross
Sitting in a Good Friday service at the cathedral, I’m trying to hold it together. Rejected in a relationship. Uncertain about my job. Lost.Read more…
Making the Second City Church Lenten Cross
I professed faith in Christ in 1970, right as I was completing my M.F.A. in sculpture. I was living in Baltimore, where I studied at the Rinehart School of Sculpture, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The results of my conversion were mixed. My behavior certainly changed in some positive ways, but artistically I was stymied. I could not find any contemporary role models.Read more…