Late Saturday night, as many churches began Easter Vigil Masses and services, I was home with my family. As I plugged my phone in to charge overnight, I opened up Facebook to skim through friends’ updates. The first post I read tagged Phil, a college friend of mine—his wife was updating everyone that his fight with leukemia was over. “You are free!” she wrote alongside a collection of photos of them with their young daughter over the years.

For a moment I couldn’t breathe. It was a shocking note on which to end Holy Saturday, the day Christians sit in a posture of waiting between the memories of Jesus’s horrific crucifixion on Good Friday and the joy of celebrating his resurrection.

Phil followed Jesus, and his family and friends take comfort from our faith that he now enjoys the peace and wholeness of eternal life with God. Phil no longer anticipates eternal life—he knows and sees Jesus personally. While we woke up the next morning to celebrate the past event of Jesus’s resurrection, he “woke up” to the fulfillment of that hope.

As we grieve the suffering Phil endured and our loss at his passing, Easter offers us a reason to breathe a little easier. The timing of his death gave us an immediate reminder of the hope we shared with Phil. Jesus didn’t stay in the grave. He rose bodily, alive once more, and walked out of that borrowed tomb in Jerusalem. He appeared to Mary Magdalene and commissioned her to go tell his other disciples that he was alive. “I have seen the Lord!” she told them.

As the old hymn says, “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.” Because he is risen, we know we will rise too. Because he lives, we can have eternal life. The Bible describes the apostle Paul’s missionary work as, “Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18). It was as radical then as it is now, to claim that a dead man came out of a grave alive.

When Christians speak of Jesus’s resurrection, we refer not to a spiritual idea or allegorical concept; rather, we speak of the human being who suffered immeasurably on the cross, died and was buried, whose grave was guarded by Roman soldiers, and who, after three days, appeared alive to hundreds of his followers. He ate with them, touched them, showed them his scars, and called them by name.

His physical resurrection points to our future resurrections. “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also” (1 Cor 6:14). This promise is the hope of Easter—resurrection. Our God lives, and his love for us is active, present, and eternal. Phil’s loved ones—and all of us who have lost those dear to us—grieve not with despair but with hope. Because Jesus is alive!

This past Sunday, virtually every Christian church in the world celebrated the same biblical event. Palm Sunday marks the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem—riding on a donkey and accepting the acclaim of the people shouting “Hosanna!” The day also marks the beginning of Holy Week, the highest, most solemn and important week of the annual Christian calendar.

This week, we look forward to observing Maundy Thursday, “maundy” coming from the Latin mandatum (commandment), referring to Jesus’s instruction during the Last Supper to “love one another.” Some churches will hold services in which the priest or pastor will wash the feet of several guests, just as Jesus demonstrated his humility in serving his disciples in that way. To read more about the original event, see the Gospel of John 13:1–17.

Next comes Good Friday, the day we observe the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It’s fair to say that Jesus, the Son of God, became human in order to bring his kingdom to earth. Part of his mission involved rescuing his people not from the Romans, as much as they were hoping he would (see also Palm Sunday), but from the greater oppressors of sin and death. By his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus defeated its power over us all. He suffered and died for us all, becoming our representative and substitute. When we accept his sacrifice on our behalf, placing our faith and allegiance in him, we belong to him. In evangelical language, we are “saved.”

Christ’s power over death was not immediately evident, of course. The following day, his followers hid in fear, waiting for the Sabbath day to pass. We call it Holy Saturday, a time of quiet waiting. For we know what the original disciples did not know, that on Sunday morning, Jesus would bodily rise from the grave alive again.

The Bible explains the spiritual significance of Jesus’s death and resurrection like this: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve… If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Co 15:3–5, 17, 20).

On Easter morning, Jesus appeared first to his disciple Mary Magdalene, then to his other disciples. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. Without that event, we have no foundation to this faith built over 2,000 years. So as we march this week toward Sunday, pause to reflect on each significant event that leads to the resurrection. Hear Jesus’s command to love, put your faith in his sacrifice for you, and revel in the hope offered by his resurrection. “These three remain—faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Both of my grandmothers were Irish—one a Martin, the other a Caragher—which explains my love of wearing green, whether on my sweater or in an emerald ring. I have long dreamed of visiting Ireland and finding some of my ancestors’ hometowns, to walk where they walked, to worship in the village churches where they worshipped, to enjoy the beautiful landscape they (probably) took for granted.

But we don’t have to travel overseas to explore the legacies our families have left us. Particularly when we think of legacies of faith, often we just go visit Mom or Dad, Granny and Grandpa, a former teacher, or our old coach. Have you ever pictured a specific face when someone asks, “How did you come to learn about Jesus’s love for you?”

I do. And I smile every time. She was my sixth-grade social studies teacher, and she talked about Jesus with a joy and freedom I envied. (Don’t worry, we were in a parochial school.) She just had to tell us how he had taken her through cancer treatments the year prior. We were her first class after she went into remission, and we enjoyed the fruit of her renewed joie de vivre. Her love for Jesus was contagious.

Psalm 107 begins, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story” (vv 1–2). The psalmist goes on to describe all that God did to deliver Israel from its foes, from hunger, from distress and hardship. He details the struggles his ancestors endured—prison, suffering, war, rebellion, storms, and drought.

A look back at our own history, or that of our family, will likely turn up some hard times. Did your mother have cancer? Did your father get injured on the job? Perhaps your grandfather fought in one of the wars, or you’ve heard stories of surviving the Great Depression. We all know someone who fought—or still fights—addiction, young mothers who have miscarried, and friendships broken by harsh words. Suffering is as inevitable as death and taxes.

But God is even more faithful.

The psalmist is quick to highlight the way God provided: “He turned the desert into pools of water … they sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest … he lifted the needy out of their affliction…” (vv 35, 37, 41).

Whatever comes our way today, remembering God’s faithfulness in the past will give us confidence in his presence now and in the future. If you don’t already, consider gathering stories from your family members that reflect answered prayers and needs provided. And keep a record of prayers answered, going forward.

“Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord” (Ps 107:43 NLT).

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, celebrating the most famous Irish saint who, ironically, wasn’t even Irish. Born in Britain around 387, Patrick was sixteen when he was stolen and enslaved by Irish marauders. While working for his master herding sheep, Patrick became a devoted follower of God. He wrote in his Confession, “More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God. Faith grew, and my spirit was moved . . .”

Patrick credited God with coming to him in a dream to point him to a ship that would enable his return home. Eventually reunited with his family, Patrick began studying for the priesthood. Sometime later, he dreamed that that the people he had left in Ireland “called out as it were with one voice: ‘We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us.’” From then on, he determined to return to Ireland to share the gospel of Christ with them.

When the time was right, he did return and spent the rest of his life in Ireland. He wrote, “I testify in truth and in great joy of heart before God and his holy angels that I never had any other reason for returning to that nation from which I had earlier escaped, except the gospel and God’s promises.”‍

Patrick was profoundly shaped by his trinitarian faith. In his Confession, he wrote: ^‍

“There is no other God, nor will there ever be, nor was there ever, except God the Father . . . And his son, Jesus Christ . . . Let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ, in whom we believe and whom we await to come back to us in the near future, is Lord and God . . . He has generously poured on us the Holy Spirit, the gift and promise of immortality . . . This is the one we acknowledge and adore—one God in a Trinity of the sacred name.”‍

For decades, Patrick taught the pagan peoples of Ireland about the one true God. In the two documents still in existence written by his hand, we discover a humble man who remained grateful for God’s grace in his life. He was resilient, standing firm amid suffering, adversity, false accusations, betrayals, and more. Strengthened by his robust trust in God, Patrick the pastor loved his flock loyally. Writing his Confession late in life, he addressed a wide audience:

‍“You all know, and God knows, how I have lived among you since my youth, in true faith and in sincerity of heart. Towards the pagan people too among whom I live, I have lived in good faith, and will continue to do so . . . I have cast myself into the hands of almighty God, who is the ruler of all places.”

‍ Let’s all raise a glass to the faithful Patrick. Slainte! Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

AI videos can fake out the best of us at times. Counterfeit dollars have snuck past trained observers. Stunt actors and body doubles behave as if they are the real actors we’ve come to watch in a movie. Deception surrounds us in both light and heavy ways.

Have you ever met a “fake” Christian? Their integrity is questionable, their attitudes disdainful, and their hearts are hardened. But they masquerade as followers of Jesus, talking the talk, singing the songs, going to church, praying, and joining in on all the other outward “Christian” behaviors. Unless you know their hearts, they look so much like true believers that it’s difficult to judge if they are sincere. Even more problematic, sometimes they don’t know they’re fakers—they think they are the real deal, too.

Some of you may recall from an earlier column that I’ve been working through the Bible on a 90-day plan. This week I was reading in the Gospel of John. In 8:21–32, the Jewish people want him to plainly tell them who he is. He finally tells them that he does only what the Father who sent him wants him to. “For I always do what pleases him,” he concludes (v 29). Then John comments, “Then many who heard him say these things believed in him. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, ‘You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (v 30–32).

They protested that they were children of Abraham, not slaves, and what did he mean anyway about being free? In other words, they claimed they had God’s approval, membership in his family, because of their lineage. But Jesus corrected them: “No, for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example” (v 39).

Ouch.

Jesus rebuked people who felt entitled to certain privileges because they belonged to a certain family. They were born into a community, a culture, a religious tradition. But heritage alone isn’t enough for Jesus. To be a “child” of someone meant more than mere biological connection. It meant following in their spirit, becoming like them in action and attitude.

When his mother and brothers would visit him as he taught, he would tell those listening, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it” (Luke 8:21). Jesus expects that his true followers will follow his example. It’s not enough to have prayed a prayer or grown up in church. True disciples act like Jesus.

We love our enemies.

We pray for those who hurt us.

We show compassion to the hurting.

We obey his commands.

We treat others as we wish to be treated.

We are in the middle of Lent, a wonderful season for reflection: Consider the authenticity of your faith in Christ. What evidence do others see that proves your faith is real?

In March we celebrate the contributions of women to all walks of life. So let’s take a look at the women who accompanied Jesus during his public ministry. These female disciples were often presented as embodying a more faithful discipleship than the twelve apostles. Let’s see how the Gospel of John shows women as strong disciples.

Mary, Jesus’s mother, appears in chapters 2, at the beginning of his public ministry, and 19, when he is dying on the cross. Her presence at these “bookends” of his earthly ministry demonstrates her allegiance to her Son’s divine agenda. She’s not even referred to by name, only “mother”—a signal of her identity as a disciple. She pulled Jesus into the drama at the wedding in Cana, urging him to help. Even before he turned the water into wine, she was pointing people to follow him. And her presence at the cross indicates her loyalty to her Son and a determination to follow him through the highs and lows of his ministry. She was all in.

The Samaritan woman in John 4 is a seeker of the true God and engages in an astonishing conversation with Jesus, who tells her, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again” (Jn 4:13–14). He then reveals himself as the Messiah, saying “I am” to her, and she becomes a witness to her town, bringing many to believe in him.

In John 11, Martha of Bethany is distraught and ready to confront Jesus for being late to heal her ailing, now dead and buried, brother Lazarus. It’s an emotional scene for them all (and us readers) when she greets him, displaying her faith that he could have healed Lazarus had he arrived earlier. Jesus speaks with her: “I am the resurrection and the life … Do you believe this?” She responds, “Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (11:27). Her radical declaration is the most specific description of Jesus by any disciple yet, evidence of her advanced (though still incomplete) understanding of his identity.

In John 12, Martha’s sister Mary anoints Jesus’s feet with nard, a special and costly perfume, drawing criticism from the soon-to-be-traitor Judas. Her act of humility and service shows that her priorities are like Jesus’s (as is her character), contrasting with the cluelessness of Lazarus and the antipathy of Judas. She understands somehow, in a way the twelve apostles do not, that he’s going to die.

As the first witness and evangelist of the risen Lord, the “apostle to the apostles,” Mary Magdalene embodied the fullness of a disciple, taking the good news of his resurrection to the rest of his followers. She was the first to declare, “I have seen the Lord!”

These women, and more, show us how following Jesus is for everyone.

Last week I attended a conference that focused on the stories of women in the Bible and church history. Some of the women were quite well-known, such as the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the (Samaritan) woman at the well. But other speakers examined the lives of some less conspicuous women. Let me share one of those with you.

In the book of Acts, the apostle Peter gets arrested and jailed. Overnight, an angel appears in the jail cell, unlocks his chains, opens all the doors, and leads him to freedom. Peter, realizing he truly has been delivered, heads to the home of Mary, mother of John Mark. He knows these friends have been praying for him since he was arrested.

He knocks, and Rhoda the slave girl heads to the door. “When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’” (Acts 12:14). At first her master and the others don’t believe her, saying she was out of her mind then placating her with “it must be his angel” (sort of like telling a child, “Oh, maybe it’s his ghost! Whatever.”)

But Rhoda was vindicated when they finally heard Peter’s repeated knocking and calling and opened the door to see him standing there in the flesh. God had answered their prayers despite their unbelief.

One troubling fact beneath the surface of this short anecdote is the revelation that Christians owned slaves. In the first century, slaves held no legal rights. Masters could, and often did, use them for their own selfish pleasures and services in addition to regular labor around the house or family business. Even children could be enslaved, perhaps born into a family who owned their parents. And girl slaves sat at the bottom, the lowest rung on the ladder of class hierarchy. They were disposable.

We can’t tell what sort of master Mary was to Rhoda, but they were a family who followed Jesus. They were close friends with his prominent apostle Peter. And Rhoda was overjoyed to see him free. These clues lead us to conclude that Rhoda claimed Jesus as Lord, and that she was a member of their local church community. Slaves and masters often worshipped together. The church was forming a radically different society.

Even more significantly, we actually know Rhoda’s name! Luke included her name when telling the story—could it be that some of his original readers, seeing this history a couple of decades later, would smile and elbow one another, saying, “Look, he mentioned Rhoda! We know her.” One from the lowest-ranking class of society, highlighted in the gospel story.

If Rhoda loved Jesus and found a home in his faith community, there’s room for you and me as well. No person is so far that God cannot reach. And that news is worth rejoicing over.

** Thanks to Dr. Linday Ann Nickens for her stirring lecture at the 2026 Symposium of the Visual Museum for Women in Christianity.

It’s only February 18, and we have already made significant progress in the church calendar. We’ve made it through Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and Mardi Gras. OK, so that last one is anything but a holy day (shout out to my family in Louisiana!). We “laissez les bons temps rouler” and all that. But Fat Tuesday, aka Shrove Tuesday in Great Britain and Mardi Gras in French-speaking parts of the world, does usher in the next church season of Lent.

So what is Lent all about?

It lasts for six weeks and. prepares people for the celebration of Easter, in a similar way that Advent leads up to Christmas. Although Advent is a time of celebration and eager anticipation, we typically observe Lent as a solemn time of soul preparation before Good Friday and Easter. Lent calls for us to ready our minds and hearts to remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

When Did Lent Become a Thing?

Resurrection Sunday—Easter—has always been the high point of the church year. To prepare for it, believers developed traditions within the first decades and centuries that allowed them to focus on repentance and self-contemplation. This annual period prior to Easter, called Lent, includes practices like fasting, self-sacrifice, and confession of sin. Since new converts were baptized at the Easter Vigil worship service, candidates for baptism spent weeks preparing for admittance to the church. They studied Scripture and the Creed, learning the doctrines of their new faith. They practiced the spiritual disciplines, confessing, praying, meditating on Scripture, learning in community, and more.

What about Ash Wednesday?

The start of Lent is marked by Ash Wednesday, which is named after the customary practice of blessing ashes obtained from the burning of Palm branches or crosses made of Palm leaves used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations.

In some churches, these ashes are used to make a cross on individuals’ foreheads. During the cross-marking ceremony, the officiant recites the phrases, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). We are reminded of our mortality and of our dependence upon the grace of God, which will be celebrated joyously at the upcoming Easter service.

The season of Lent invites us to consider our brokenness and frailty even as we offer thanks to Christ, who, through his death and resurrection, delivered us from sin and death. Often churches encourage believers to practice some kind of self-denial or change of habit that will prompt us to refocus on Jesus instead of our own comforts.

Remember, anything you do in these six weeks is a way to draw closer to God, not because you feel guilted into it, not made legalistic, not something to broadcast to a group. Let it help you make space for God.

This column has been focused on the central beliefs of Christianity over the last few months. We’ve used the Nicene Creed as our guide, working our way through it line by line, phrase by phrase, in order to discover all the teachings that unite Christians.

The Nicene Creed was written during the 4th century CE, first by a group of bishops, and then by a second group of bishops who tweaked the language and gave the church the creed as we have it today. Church leaders through the centuries, no matter which branch of the church, affirm the concepts found in it.

It’s important to understand that these church leaders did not create the doctrines. Rather, they affirmed and gave language to truths revealed in Scripture.

But not all statements of faith are as ancient as the Nicene Creed. Churches often list their doctrinal beliefs on their websites. Denominations publish long, detailed documents that specify what they believe and how they expect their people to live.

How can we know if the beliefs of a given denomination, church, or individual are compatible with the Bible’s teaching? That may sound like a tall task beyond the ability of the typical church-goer or someone curious about Christianity. But it’s not.

Just as bank tellers were taught to recognize counterfeit bills by handling the real ones, we can learn to recognize poor theology by knowing our Bible. We start by just reading it. And that’s what I want to encourage you with today.

When we begin reading our Bibles, we allow the word of God to influence our thinking. We begin to know who God is, what his character is like, and how he has worked through people and events in history. We might even find some familiar, Shakespearean-sounding words and phrases:

“How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands of this most grievous guilty murder done!” – Richard III (alluding to Matthew 27:24)

“God shall be my hope, my stay, my guide and lantern to my feet” – Henry VI (a reference to Psalm 119:105)

Familiarity with our Bibles not only opens up our understanding of some required reading in high school, but it also develops wisdom. As we learn how God thinks, we can decide if we really want to be on his team, and when we commit ourselves to following him, we find more and more guidance in his word.

If you like to read digitally, download the YouVersion Bible app and choose your favorite Bible version. It includes reading plans, for a week or a month or a year, that will take you through the Bible. Start with the Gospel of Luke so you can get to know Jesus, because he’s the center, the main character, the whole point of the Bible.

And the number one best suggestion I can give for reading the Bible: read along with others. Theology is always best in community. May the Lord bless your efforts to know him better.

Something inside each of us rebels at the thought that death is truly the end. If you’ve heard or said these words of comfort at a graveside, “He’s in a better place,” you will identify with today’s creedal phrase:

“We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.”

So ends the elegant synopsis of the doctrines held sacred by Christians across time and space. Appropriately, the creed concludes by declaring the common hope we anticipate—resurrection and new life. Many people speak of “the next life” or of someone who “crossed over,” but Christians ground that belief in the witness of Jesus himself.

The apostle Paul wrote, “in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:22–23). Jesus was the first to defeat death by rising to life, and not just to a disembodied, spiritual kind of living. No, the earliest Christians bore witness that Jesus physically rose from the dead, alive in body and spirit. They touched him, watched him eat, walked with him, enjoyed his cooking … the unanimous declaration of his followers after the crucifixion was that Jesus lived again. When the risen King Jesus returns at the end, those who belong to him will also be resurrected and restored to him—physically.

So what will life after death look like? Scripture affirms that anyone “in Christ” is immediately with the Lord. We like to call this phase heaven. It appears to be a state of being between our mortal life here and our resurrected life later. In Revelation 7:9, the disciple John shared his vision of God’s throne room: “there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Though theologians have floated various ideas about timing, Scripture is vague on the specifics of when and how our resurrection will happen. It does clarify, however, that we will be resurrected physically. All Christians can affirm the Nicene Creed’s phrasing, since it declares what we do know from Scripture—there will be a resurrection and a new life with God.

I love the picture John paints in his Revelation. God’s love is wide and deep, extending to people across the globe and across the centuries, with different ethnicities, traditions, looks, economics … the new heavens and new earth will reflect the glory of God’s creative genius and the generosity of his love. And the hope for that sort of future can hold us up when we say goodbye to a loved one.

“The life of the world to come” is the culmination of Scripture—God reunited with humanity, just as he’s always wanted. When he returns to live with us, we are getting back together, forever and ever. That’s the kind of hope that carries us through this life. Amen.

Few events in my family of origin can beat the sweetness and joy of the newest infant’s christening: the long, white, frilly gown adorning baby—boy or girl—the expected cries of objection when the water hits their skin, and the smiling faces of godparents and family posing for pictures.

As an adult, I’ve witnessed countless baptisms of older children, teens, and adults that moved me to tears. One of the most special occasions came when I baptized my youngest son (at his request). My husband had baptized our older three children years before. Witnessing and participating in that moment when a person declares before the world that Jesus is Lord…well, it’s special.

Our phrase of the week in the Nicene Creed is deceptively simple: “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” This sentence is based on at least two central Bible verses:

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:4–6).

Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37–38).

During the early centuries of the church, new converts to the faith went through a learning process, during which they were asked a series of questions: “Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” By the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, these baptismal questions were collected and codified into the official creed.

Baptism is a multifaceted picture of the work of Christ in the spiritual lives of God’s people.

• Unity: The “one baptism” highlights our unity in Christ.

• Objective Reality: Baptism by immersion pictures the work of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection—descending, being changed (drenched), and rising up for atonement.

• Regeneration & Illumination: It signifies the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5) and spiritual illumination that happens to believers made new in Christ.

• Forgiveness: Baptism is intrinsically linked to the forgiveness of sins, as seen in Acts 2:38.

At its heart, baptism signifies the new spiritual reality of a person accepted into God’s family. Different traditions and denominations bring their own theology of baptism to the table when interpreting precisely what the creedal clause means (just as they do with the biblical texts it is based upon). We might even say that the creed is intentionally broad on this point.

As an ecumenical (that is, worldwide) creed, the Nicene Creed is affirmed by the whole church. It does not belong exclusively to any one tradition, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, or anything else. Even as it declares truth, it also leaves room for the mystery so inherent in our faith.

A few years ago, before we moved down to SE Texas, I helped lead a group of fellow church members through a theology class. We used the Nicene Creed as a template, much as I am doing through this series of columns, to discuss core doctrines common to all Christians. And by “all,” I mean across the globe and down through the ages. These doctrines about God make up the central truths that define our faith.

But sometimes the words need to be defined clearly. The night we introduced the Nicene Creed in that church theology class, we projected the words onto the screen for everyone to read. Then we led them all in saying it aloud, together, just like many liturgical churches do weekly. But before we started, one person shot up a hand to ask a question:

“What does it mean when it says, ‘We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church’?”

Did I mention that I was teaching in a Southern Baptist church?

This obviously skeptical class member posed a great question. We should always know what we mean when we are asked to recite a statement that begins with “We believe.”

Our phrase today describes the church, which is the body of people who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The creed offers four key adjectives that describe the church: one, holy, catholic, apostolic. Let’s go through each.

One: Jesus’s followers, together, comprise his church. No matter where we live or worship, no matter what denomination or tradition, no matter who is preaching or presiding over communion—we all are united as the one church. Of course, local bodies of believers gather together, and we title each congregation with different names. But since we all claim Jesus as Lord and recognize the Bible as his authoritative Word, we are united as his disciples.

Holy: The word “holy” means set apart, sacred, reserved for God and his ways. As Jesus’s followers, we are already set apart by his forgiveness and grace, indwelt by his Spirit who empowers us to reflect his goodness and godliness. The church should “shine … like stars” in the midst of “a warped and crooked generation” (Philippians 2:15). We ought to behave differently from the world.

Catholic: Here we come to the crux of my friend’s question. How can a Baptist affirm a “Catholic” statement? The creed doesn’t mean the Roman Catholic Church; it’s using “catholic” (little c) as the word for “universal.” So we can all affirm that we belong to the church universal, whether Baptist, Catholic, nondenominational, or any other Christian congregation.

Apostolic: The creed affirms that the true church teaches the truths that originated from the preaching of Jesus and his first apostles. As the apostle Paul said, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

Despite our differences, all Christians share the same foundational faith in Jesus. May we choose to act like the sacred siblings we are.

Who’s your favorite Person of the Trinity? Come on, be honest. You’ve got a favorite, even if you haven’t really thought about it in those terms. Jesus usually wins the trinitarian popularity contest. He’s human, after all, and so much more relatable than the all-powerful, all-knowing Father who reigns from heaven. The Holy Spirit, though, sometimes rises to the top of the favorite list. Yet he’s the most mysterious Person of the three. A ghost, a spirit, an unseen force? Who is he?

When the original council met in Nicaea in AD 325, they fought heresies about the person of Jesus, and their efforts resulted in a creed that focused on Jesus. About 55 years later, another council tweaked some of the wording and added clarifying language that included more on the Holy Spirit. So the creed we recite today in many churches says:

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father (and the Son),
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.

The Bible first mentions the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” He was present and active at creation. We find similar language when Gabriel announced to Mary that she would become the mother of the Messiah: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). The Spirit was the active agent in the Incarnation.

And in Romans 8:11, we learn that it was by the Holy Spirit that God raised Jesus from the grave. So the Spirit was a major player in creation, in Jesus’s coming, and in his resurrection. Just that makes him worthy of worship!

Notice that I keep saying “his” rather than “its”—Scripture affirms over and over that the Spirit is a Person with power, not an impersonal force or power unto itself. We worship the Spirit because he is fully God, just as are the Father and Jesus the Son.

Jesus promised that he would send his Spirit to his followers after he ascended. That first happened at Pentecost (Acts 2) in dramatic fashion. But the Spirit is sent to all of us, as well, when we affirm Jesus as Lord. And he never leaves us.

The presence of the Spirit in a person looks like being influenced, empowered, led, comforted, inspired, and enlightened. When we read our Bibles, it’s the Spirit who enables us to understand the mysteries of God. When we sense God’s presence during grief or stressful times, there is the Spirit.

Anything non-physical holds a sense of mystery, so there’s no way we will fully understand the Spirit or how he works in our lives. But Scripture gives us language to describe his activity. When we thank God for working in our lives, let’s remember he did so through his Spirit.

It may be New Year’s Day, but we are smack in the middle of the “twelve days of Christmas,” which began on December 25th and extends through January 6, Epiphany (the arrival of the Magi). So this week ought to be an opportunity to continue your celebrations with …

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To my subscribers: Today’s post is my devotional printed in the Silsbee Bee this week. Merry Christmas! ~ Kelley

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We are deep into the Advent season by now; three out of the four Sundays have come and gone. If you aren't familiar with Advent, just ask your friends who attend liturgical-type churches. That may take some time so here's a quick overview: back in the fourth century, the church began setting aside the weeks before Chr…

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The Nativity scenes glow in the spotlights, dozens of them in each neighborhood throughout our area. You’ve seen them. You probably have one in your yard or in your house. Baby Jesus lies in his cradle of hay, Joseph and Mary hovering solicitously over him, while shepherds and their critters watch from the sidelines. Somet…

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When the calendar flipped to December 1, one young boy exclaimed, “Christmas is here!” He cocked his head to the side when his mother told him it wasn’t yet Christmas. “But the trees and lights and presents are all out,” he replied.

His mom gently tweaked his chin. “Sorry, son. You’re right. The signs point to Christma…

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For the past few weeks, we have been exploring the core beliefs of the Christian faith. First we examined how Scripture points to one God as Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. Then we studied characteristics and actions of the Father, the source of all life, the one who sent the Son into the world. When it comes to our salvation, the Father initiated his…

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Let’s review briefly what we’ve learned so far in previous columns about the nature of God: First, God is trinitarian—one essence in three Persons. The Trinity…

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