I want to write a quick note on the two miraculous stories that I preached about in the last two weeks. The first one was the turning of water into wine in John 2; the second is the healing of the royal official's son in John 4.

In the turning of water into wine, the miracle happened very quickly between the filling of the large water pots (John 2:7) and the serving of the water to the guests' glasses. In the healing of the royal official's son (John 4:46-54), John went to great lengths to inform us that it happened over a relatively longer period of time.

Here's the gist of the story: as the royal official was going home, his servants met him along the way and reported that his son was "recovering" (v.51, ESV). The father asked when he "began to get better." They said it happened 'yesterday at the seventh hour.' Did you notice that? He wasn’t fully healed. He was only recovering. He only began to get better.

The reason why I make a big deal out of the time element is two-fold. First, because John obviously wants us to notice the time. And two, because putting these two miracles in Cana side by side actually teaches us something important about miracles: some miracles happen in an instant; others take time.

The next time you pray and nothing happens right away, don't lose heart.

Trauma is a disconnection from the self. This is how Dr. Gabor Maté defines the word trauma, which, he says, comes from the Greek word for 'wounding.' Whenever we're wounded, a scar tissue forms over the wound. But that tissue is harder, less resilient, and less flexible compared to the original tissue it replaced.

The same thing can be said about psychological trauma. When we are traumatized, we experience a wounding. Tenderness is replaced with rigidity. We become harder and less flexible. The reason for the hardening, according to Dr. Maté, is that the wounding induces a separation from the self. That's how we become rigid to life, to ourselves, to relationships. We don't feel as much as before. We don't love as much, or trust as much, or care as much. Trauma changes us.

Dr. Maté's concept of trauma revolves around the idea of the wound that separates us from the self. This is where it gets interesting. According to Dr. Maté, there are four separations that happen to us when we get traumatized: alienation from ourselves, alienation from our work, alienation from other people, and alienation from nature.

Would you look at that list again. Trauma breaks our most fundamental relationships with self, work, other people, and nature. But why does this list sound familiar?

Because three out of four of these items are the results of the fall at the Garden of Eden. Dr. Maté, writing from psychological perspective, would naturally not mention God so he mentioned 'work' instead. But theologians in the last two thousand years have long identified the four relationships that broke when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit: relationship with God, relationship with other human beings, relationship with nature, and relationship with self.

Psychology is now only coming to grips with ancient truths the Bible has been trumpeting for thousands of years. Will it accept the Bible’s prescription on where to find healing?

Why do people give up everything to follow Jesus?

The same question faces people today. Why did this person give up a promising legal career to become a preacher, throwing away a lifetime of high earnings for the insecurity and poverty of pastoring and teaching a church? Why did that person abandon her remarkable gifts as a singer in order to study theology and get ordained? Why did this person become a teacher, that one a prison governor, this one a monk, that one a missionary? And – since these more obvious callings are only the tip of the iceberg of Christian vocation – why do Christians in millions of other walks of life regularly give up lifestyles and practices that look attractive and lucrative in order to maintain honesty, integrity, faith, hope and love?

The answer can only be in Jesus himself, and in the astonishing magnetism of his presence and personality... Sometimes his call comes slowly, starting like a faint murmur and growing until we can no longer ignore it. Sometimes he calls people as suddenly and dramatically as he called Peter and Andrew, James and John. When that happens to you, by whatever means and at whatever pace, you will know; Jesus has a way of getting through, and whatever we are engaged with – whatever nets we are mending, or fish we are catching – somehow we will be sufficiently aware of his presence and call to know what it is we’re being asked to do.

~NT Wright, Matthew for Everyone

Hey there!

As you know, I am writing a newsletter. I launched it last week and I plan to grow it over time. I came up with the idea of writing a bulletin for three reasons.

1. Because I am currently in the process of enrolling back in seminary and I would like to brush up on my writing.

2. Because social media is too short, noisy, and fast. You see one post you like and the next minute it’s buried under a rubble of memes and rants. Ideas are truncated. Nuance is dead. We need something better.

3. Because the way to make sure you understand something is when you write about it. I want to understand. That’s why I write. And I hope my writing benefits you too.

So here’s the plan. My newsletter will be a free flow of ideas coming from a pastor who is interested in theology, practical ministry, seminary stuff, culture, books, and writing. Some personal stuff might get thrown in along the way but main content will revolve around these things.

Stay tuned. And if you think this is something you can dig, feel free to signup.

When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, and you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears, “Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. But there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, sermon to be written).”

~John Piper