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I, like most of humanity, spent much of March and all April of 2020 in varying degrees of isolation. And we're still there as we enter May. Is there a country or region that has not been touched by the pandemic of the coronavirus?

A friend of mine recently posted a picture of his 10 month old son with this caption: “If he only knew how happy his smile makes me.” My heart lit up like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. I know this feeling! I do! I know this joy, this pleasure!

The other day I was talking with someone about eternal life. I had been saying that eternal life is the life of the Triune God and that it becomes ours because we know God. In other words, we experience eternal life because we say “yes” to a relationship with them. The Incarnation surely revealed this, yes?

For those who identify themselves with the Christian faith we have come again to a sacred time of the year. It is Holy Week.[1] Around the globe there are many who will look to the cross today and mostly see wrath and vengeance played out on a cosmic stage. They will see love and mercy too but only as a supporting cast.

I live just 30 minutes outside of Portland, OR. Not far from where presently, there is a huge fire raging. I am also a nature photographer by vocation and this fire happens to be in the Columbia River Gorge, one of the most naturally beautiful and scenic areas in all of the United States. Consequently, I am deeply saddened by the destruction. And, I am angry…

Ever hear the phrase, “You need to commit your life to Christ”? I have… used to hear it and say it all the time. It was the prescription for spiritual health. Struggling with anxiety? You need to commit your life to Christ. Emotionally gutted because of betrayal or treachery? You need to commit your life to Christ. Not sure where you will go when you die? You need to commit your life to Christ.

Well, it has been quite a year so far… 2017 saw the release of The Shack as a major motion picture, and it is still going strong. The novel ended back on the NY Times at #1 for six week in a row. Lies We Believe About God, released at almost the same time as the movie as did the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) TV series that I shot with them last summer in Montana, called ‘Restoring the Shack’.

Here is a day to remember – the day God died. And in the moment of a phrase and the breath of a word we have entered into Mystery. Pause with me and consider the astonishing story that reveals a love that stuns us into silence…

With the release of the movie The Shack, there has been a renewed interest and fair amount of talk about the good/bad or truth/error of the book and the author himself, William Paul Young. Additionally, the recent release of Paul’s new non-fiction book, Lies We Believe About God, has doubled the size of the lightning rod that is Paul Young and The Shack.

I know a small group of men who meet every 6-8 weeks to express and discuss those things that are important in their lives. They call the meeting The Gathering Fire. Moments like these are rich with laughter and friendship. Yet the conversation always seems to transcend the ordinary when we begin to share the hopes and dreams of what we really want our lives to be.

This year, as a part of the season’s festivities, our little tribe attended a Christmas Eve event and sang some familiar and obligatory Christmas songs of all such services. However, we ended by singing ‘O Holy Night’; repeating the 1st verse a cappella. And the power of music moved me. It was beautiful. My soul was stirred with what I can only describe as wonder beyond wonder.