The Jerusalem Experiment

There are a myriad of ways one might express the beauty of this place. On coffee shops and in tiny parks scattered on lonely street corners, pilgrims pour words into journals, paint limestone landscapes and snap photos with bulky black cameras. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been welcomed into a group of fellow students [...]

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I arrived in Israel four months ago with certain pictures drawn in my mind–perceptions of how things ought to be, and what the phrase “holy land” means. Most of these presuppositions have turned out false, and instead I’ve been cast into a crucible of sorts where my faith has been deconstructed, refined and renewed. There [...]

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Moses was found by the living God amidst the crooked crags of Egypt’s Sinai. David and Jesus encountered the burning heart of the Father in the desolate landscape just East of Jerusalem–the Judean Wilderness. Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Galatia, …when he who had set me apart before I was [...]

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This winter I wrestled with God. As the wild evening winds tore at the facade of my monastic guest room atop the Mount of Olives, I stretched my hands out across the cold tile floor and listened–rain pounding against dusty windows, the buzz of my tiny space heater…and sobs like a drowning man’s angry lungs [...]

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Spring carries with it certain connotations. I won’t go into details; however, a quick survey of 2 Samuel 11 and 12 should clarify what I’m getting at. During Old Testament times, spring was also the time when kings went to war (2 Sam. 11:1). Why? Because between late March and September it never rains in [...]

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Over the past three days, I had the opportunity to hike with two great friends along the Jesus Trail (which stretches from Nazareth to Capernaum). We took a bit of an abbreviated route (which took us into Tiberius instead of Capernaum), and made a few stops along the way to write poetry. On day two, [...]

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Paul tells us to “speak the truth in love,” but what happens when we live in a culture fascinated by a hyper-romanticized notion of love while possessing ambivalence towards truth? Despite the almost 3,000 year and 6,000 mile gap separating us from the Israel of King Ahab, his method of leadership hums the anthem of [...]

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The only true currency in this bankrupt world… is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool. (Almost Famous) High school was a confusing time for me. One of the most interesting anomalies which marked the transition from Junior High to Senior High was “the nod”. Prior to ninth grade, the act of passing [...]

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Sometimes the last gasp of breath and a borning cry bleed into one: The dying night collides with the full light of day just as God pulls up the curtain on sunrise; poets craft songs that send nations into a wild-eyed embracing of their destiny. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to [...]

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