Draw Near: Lenten Devotional by Lynne Baab, illustrated by Dave BaabTwo Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationSabbath Keeping FastingPrayers of the Old TestamentPrayers of the New TestamentSabbathFriendingA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDeath in Dunedin: A NovelDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelPersonality Type in CongregationsBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeAdvent Devotional

Draw Near: Praying for trust and prayer as trust

Lynne Baab • Tuesday November 22 2022

Draw Near: Praying for trust and prayer as trust

If you’ve ever visited Trafalgar Square in London and looked toward the National Gallery, you might have noticed a church off to the right. That is St-Martin-in-the-Fields, where Rev. Samuel Wells is the vicar. He was previously the Dean at Duke University Chapel, and he is one of my favorite columnists in The Christian Century. I love it when he writes about the challenges of serving a church in central London, often full of tourists. I also enjoy his reflections on what our Christian faith looks like in practice.

In a recent column, Rev. Wells argues that there are two kinds of...

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Holy Spirit disruptions: Wait

Lynne Baab • Thursday July 22 2021

Holy Spirit disruptions: Wait

Some of Jesus’ disciples are terrified. Jesus has died, his body has disappeared, and some of the other disciples are saying they have seen him alive. The ones who haven’t seen him yet wonder if Jesus has become a ghost, and they don’t know what to do with their questions and strong sense of loss.

Then Jesus appears among them.

When they see him, he does look like a ghost to them, so Jesus asks them to touch him. He requests something to eat, affirming that he’s still living in a body. Then he teaches them from the Old Testament scriptures about the...

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Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: a kite string as a lifeline

Lynne Baab • Wednesday May 20 2020

Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: a kite string as a lifeline

In a prayer letter about her ministry, a friend of mine described her angst as a teenager. Her sister knew that she wanted to be a teacher, but my friend wasn’t clear on what she wanted to be and do, and she felt shame that her ambitions weren’t clear to her. Toward the end of her college years, God spoke to her in a picture:

“First I saw an arrow and felt God say, ‘See, this is like your sister, keenly focused on a single target that she’ll hit right on the mark.’ Next, I saw a kite swaying in the wind...

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Spiritual diary of self-isolation: the lifeline of God’s constancy

Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 1 2020

Spiritual diary of self-isolation: the lifeline of God’s constancy

In this strange, unsettled, constantly-changing time, Psalm 130 gives us a beautiful reminder of God’s constancy and God’s invitation for us to bring everything in us into God’s presence.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! (verses 1 and 2)

I don’t know about you, but my rate of crying out to God has dramatically increased in the past month. It is right and good to do that. We are not the first people to be bewildered and scared about what’s going on. We must not criticize ourselves for...

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By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021