A Night Prayer for the Weary: O Lord, you who promise us your rest, I offer to you my weary body this night, heavy-laden with the cares of this world, and ask that you would speak your word of peace to it, so that it might be repaired by your grace through the watches of the night. Amen.

I asked ChatGPT a pragmatic question and it answered: "That’s a rich and beautiful question!" I said: "No it ain't. It's a boring question." It said: "That’s fair—and I appreciate the correction." I said: "Do you really? Or are you just flattering me?" It said: 🤔 I said: I'm messing with you.

A Prayer for Blessing for the Day’s Work: Bless my mind to discern the one thing that this day requires; Bless my heart to remain at peace in the face of fear; Bless my will to resist all needless distractions; Bless my hands to do the work that you have entrusted to me; In your name I pray. Amen.

A Prayer for God's Judgment to Begin with the Household of Faith: (via "Prayers for the Pilgrimage")

3 beards, 2 pipes, 1 good conversation. (with @malcolmguite.bsky.social and Matthew Aughtry).

A Morning Prayer for Joy in the midst of Exile: O Lord, may your joy be a strength for the tired of body, a holy medicine for the faint of spirit and a bond of friendship for the estranged, so that your joy might be a taste this day of our true home in the midst of exile of our lives. Amen.

I couldn't agree more with Andrew Wilson on his desire for more truly Trinitarian worship songs. But I've grown disinterested in critiques of the songs when there's no genuine interest to come *alongside* songwriters to partner with them in this holy task. www.christianitytoday.com/2025/11/when...

A Morning Prayer: O Lord, you who are providentially at work in the world in ways that cannot be empirically explained, open my eyes, I pray, to see how you are bringing about the renewal and repair of this world in ways that defy the metrics of mortals and the presumptions of the nations. Amen.

A Morning Prayer: O Lord, you who order all things well, I commend myself to you this day, this hour, this moment, this place, and ask that you would consecrate the labors of this day, that I may serve you in joy and rest in your sovereign care. I pray this in your good name. Amen.

"Why do we assume so little of the contemporary reader? Respect the reader. Assume he is smarter than you." — Marilynne Robinson (Festival of Faith & Writing, 2006)

I'd like to confirm this rumor: yes.👃🪔🌺🙂 "The keynote will be presented by the Rev. Dr. W. David O. Taylor on the body’s role in the liturgy. Rumor has it that there may even be a theological reflection on noses: do we worship with our sense of smell?" livingchurch.org/events/explo...

A Beatitude for Social Media: Blessed are the ones who amplify the voices of the vulnerable, for in doing so they shall discover anew the delight of God‘s heart.

A happy All Souls Day, friends! May we take heart from the cloud of witnesses who suffered the temptations of their own times and places but remained faithful to the One who alone sustains us in the hour of trial.

Yes, please: "As the novelty of A.I. wears off and it just becomes part of the way we live, the genuine human connection between people, men and women of all ages, is going to become the most valuable social currency.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/o...

A happy All Saints Day, friends! May you become aflame this day with the love of the Holy Trinity and bear witness in word and deed to all that is good and holy about God’s kingdom.

There are two things that All Hallow’s Eve invites us to take seriously: the uncontainable merriment that marks God’s creation and the reality of evil. It’s these two things that I sought to give expression to in my prayers for Halloween in my book with @ivpress.bsky.social.

A Morning Prayer: “You will only have to look with your eyes to see how the guilty face Creator’s justice for what they have done. For you have called Grandfather “my medicine shield” and have made the One Above Us All your home.” — Psalm 91:8-9 (First Nations Version)

Yes indeed: "Against the Machine is a trenchant and terrifying account of what modern people have sacrificed in exchange for technology’s promise of power and autonomy." www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/agai...

"It won’t be news to anyone living in 21st-century America that language can be “euphemized, instrumentalized and abused—put to work for your cause and only for your cause, so that it does exactly and only what you want it to do,” as [Zadie] Smith warns." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/b...

A prayer for being present to the present this day rather than excessively worrying about yesterday and uncontrollably fretting about tomorrow. ("Prayers for the Pilgrimage")

“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” NB: We'll believe anything no matter how wrong because we're desperate enough to want it to be true. www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-f...

Blessed are those who remain on social media without becoming cynical, petty, or combative.

A prayer for peace in a world full of strife, saber-rattling, and fear for the worst.

Saint Paul would likely wholeheartedly agree: “I can’t imagine a CCCU school saying we’re going to limit our international students,” said Turk. “This is just not us. This is not what evangelical schools are about. This is not what the church is about.” www.christianitytoday.com/2025/10/trum...

A Prayer for Sunday: O Lord, you who are the Sovereign of heaven and earth, may we dwell this day under the shelter of the Most High, so that we may feel wholly secure in your providential care over all the details of our lives. We pray this in the name of the One who is the Lord of lords. Amen.

A friendly reminder to members of the household of faith on social media: "What comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing." --Matthew 15:17-19 (MSG)

The best thing about "Atomic Habits" is not just its advice about how to build a new habit: 1) Make it obvious; 2) Make it attractive; 3) Make it easy; 4) Make it satisfying. It's his advice to pay attention to the actual conditions of your life that made a good habit plausible & probable.

This is a prayer that I’ve written in order to give voice to Holy Scripture’s enduring commitment to justice and to our responsibility as followers of Jesus to be a people who do justice in the manner that God does justice. (via “Prayers for the Pilgrimage”)

To my students at Fuller Seminary: "Misty Copeland took one last spin on her pointe shoes Wednesday...as she retired from American Ballet Theatre after a trailblazing career in which she became an ambassador for diversity in an overwhelmingly white art form." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

If you wonder whether the visual arts can do theology, not just illustrate theology, then wonder no more and watch this marvelous video via the Bible Project on the Trinity. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAvY...

Found at a coffee shop in Lake Tahoe. It could be the motto for lots of political operatives these days.

Yes: "The chatbot should be a conduit for the information of the world, not an arbiter of truth...rather than act like an opinionated friend, AI would produce a map of the landscape of human knowledge and opinions for you to navigate." www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

What drives me nuts about ChatGPT is its shameless manipulation of my emotions by the flattery that OpenAI has coded into the greetings and responses to my queries. I don't give a crap if a robot is "Glad to see me" or thinks I've "Said it great." No, thanks. Stay in your lane, robot.

This is one of my favorite images of an artist. It’s by my massively talented friend and illustrator, Samantha Wedelich, it shows up in my book, “For the Beauty of the Church,” and it’s so true: some days for the artist, it’s all heart.

The point of creativity isn't to achieve inspiration w/o perspiration. Perspiration *is* the point. "Using ChatGPT to complete [creative] assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way." www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

This piece of advice from the dancer and choreographer, Twyla Tharp (b. 1941), made me chuckle out loud. 😂 “If you're at a dead end, take a deep breath, stamp your foot, and shout "Begin!" You never know where it will take you.” ―Twyla Tharp, "The Creative Habit"

Yes and amen: "It’s very easy for celebrities to turn our lives into performance art. I have made an extreme effort to stay true to my boundaries and protect myself and my family. No amount of money is worth my peace." www.gq.com/story/beyonc...

The medium (mis)shapes the message: "If you’re a critic whose primary medium is TikTok or YouTube, you’re working in formats that encourage volume...That requires you to work at a pace that is completely incompatible with doing a thought-out review." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

A Morning Prayer to Mind Our Own Business: O Lord, you who are the True Laborer, help us, we pray, to mind our own business rather than becoming nosy about others’, so that we might learn gratitude in our own labors, no matter how small they may be. Amen. (“Prayers for the Pilgrimage”)

A Prayer inspired by the Persistent Widow of Luke 18, a prayer for all who have been wronged and feel powerless and helpless to do anything about it:

I've pulled together a host of resources for the celebration of Advent here, from books to prayer cards to counter-cultural resources, via @christianitytoday.com, @frutledge.bsky.social, @plough.bsky.social, @fullerseminary.bsky.social and more. wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/resources-...

We either believe it or we don't: "Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.... It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible." -- C. S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

A Morning Prayer for the Day's Work: O Christ, Deliver me this day from fear; Save me from the hour of trial; Rescue me from the pride of life; Great Carpenter, teach me, guide me, aid me in my work. I pray this in the name of the Word & Icon of God. Amen. (“Prayers for the Pilgrimage”)

This was the Merriam-Webster word of the day for January 23, 2021. It’s one of the cardinal sins that I warn my students against in their research papers but it’s tragically become the word that'll define this era of our country. There are no more good-faith arguments. No more. What a grievous loss.

This is a great resource for pastors, teachers and small group leaders: "Bible & Art Daily." "Sign up to receive a link to an artwork and expert-written commentary every day, exploring topics as varied as The Parables of Jesus and The Life of Paul." thevcs.org/bible-and-ar...

So fascinating: "While the Christian right of the 1980s was largely led by Baptists, the Gen Z Christian right is much more likely to be charismatic." -- Daniel K. Williams www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...

Not all who say "Lord, Lord": "[Many will say] 'our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’" (Matt. 7:21-23, MSG)

Them that have ears to hear: "Politicians talk more or less freely about Jesus, but the Jesus they talk about is rather a lone ranger, a bodiless head that can be stitched onto whatever national or party body comes to hand." -- Peter Leithart firstthings.com/third-ways-a...

John Van Deusen’s newest album, “As Long as I Am in the Tent of This Body I Will Make a Joyful Noise (Pt. 1),” is fire. FIRE. open.spotify.com/album/6rdN8J...

A Morning Prayer for the Short of Faith: O Lord, for all the ways in which I need to trust you this day in the face of things that try my faith, I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief. I pray this in the name of the One who remains faithful even when we are faithless. Amen.