At the Transfiguration, divinity refused to be contained to heaven but erupts into this world, making clear to the disciples and to us, that the transcendent world, the world of God and spirits, is real, just as real as the one we can touch and see and taste, and just as present.

A church that doesn’t invite people or that stops inviting people is not a “true Bible church,” not Jesus’ church. From the first, Jesus promises that if we sign on with him, he will teach us, will teach us not correct doctrine or right behavior or the right opinions, but will teach us to “fish for people,” to catch them, to share in his work of drawing in all people to God.  

Master of Papeleu,   Virtue Garden, from La Somme le Roi (and Le Miroir de l'âme) by Laurent of Orleans , 1295, Illumination on vellum In 1279, a Dominican monk known as Frère Laurent produced—whether by original composition or careful compilation—the Somme le roi , a handbook of moral instruction prepared for King Philip III of France. The work circulated widely, and no fewer than fifteen of its manuscripts contain a richly symbolic illustration commonly called the “Virtue G

Stanley Spencer (British), The Baptism , 1952 John Baptizes Jesus at the Odney Pool   You had not known you belonged to such a region until Spencer took you there, until he showed you Cookham, where God made a detour down High Street,   past Fernlea to the Odney Pool, mineral-laced water near the Thames where the artist once swam as a child.   All’s inverted now. Heaven’s here-- in the languid pool, where, amid the bathers in their ordinary, black-knit suits, God’s only Son’s

If you are listening for it, you can find Christian messages in the strangest places, even in the lyrics of country music songs. Consider these thoughtful, theological verses: “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers,” “Jesus, take the wheel,” and “God blessed Texas with his own hand.” As I said, deep theology…The lyric that most struck me recently when I heard it is a line from Brooks and Dunn’s ‘Red Dirt Road’: “Happiness on earth ain’t just for high achievers.”