Sam Luce's Blog

The Arabian Desert by Frederic Edwin Church

The third temptation of Jesus in the desert was the temptation to be powerful. Jesus, fully human and fully God, was weary in his human flesh after forty days of fasting. The devil came to him and tempted him to be relevant, popular, and finally, powerful.

Satan promised him in Matthew 4, “I will give you all the kingdoms of this world in their splendor.” It was the temptation to have all the kingdoms of this world, the temptation to possess all the powe...

Desert Stream by Lilias Trotter

The second temptation Jesus faced in the desert was the temptation to be popular. To do something spectacular. To be someone others would revere because of his unique power, something that would gain him the applause of men.

Satan says to Jesus in Matthew 4:6, “Throw yourself from the parapet of the temple and let the angels catch you and carry you in their arms.”

Henri Nouwen says:

“Jesus refused to be a stunt man. He did not come to prove himself. He did not come to...

Ivan Kramskov Christ in the Desert

In this season of Lent. Forty days of prayer and repentance, a season of sustained focus on our sinfulness and the sufficiency of Christ. After Jesus’ baptism and before his public ministry, he was led into the wilderness, where he fasted and prayed. During which Jesus was tempted by the Devil in three particular ways.

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Henri Nouwen, a Christian Author and priest, wrote In the Name of Jesus. A short book that addresses the three temptations of Jesus...

The Thankful Poor by Henry O. Tanner

Most parents have a built-in instinct to protect their kids. This is God-given and important. But like all good things, it can be taken too far, and I believe this is true in modern American life. There are more products than ever to protect kids from putting things in electric sockets, from bumping their heads on coffee tables, and to lock cabinet doors that contain unsafe items. In our right desire for protection, we have become obsessed with physical well-...

Church at Vernon, fog by Claude Monet

After nearly three decades of pastoral ministry, I have found that the one thing the church in our day loves most is change and innovation. This is because modern culture has had a greater effect on the contemporary church than the church has had on our present culture.

If you have been around church culture long enough, you will have heard pastors talk about Good to Great as if Collins were the replacement for Judas rather than Matthias. You will have heard p...

Every year, our family watches "It’s a Wonderful Life.” It has to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Hot take, I know, but I stand behind it. I find that as I change and grow older, it hits a bit differently, and each year, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

George Bailey’s story in It’s a Wonderful Life is shaped by the tension between desires and responsibility. From a young age, George dreams of travel, education, and adventure. He wants to see the world, build great things, an...

By Norman Rockwell

This year was marked by changing and rearranging and facing fears. I started a new job after 28 years at the same church. I’m halfway through my doctoral program. My second book landed on a couple of lists, just like the one I am making here, for someone who has been making these lists for over ten years; that is so surreal. This coming year, I will also be finishing my second, third, and fourth books. One will come out in September, the other two in 2027. Writing out that last...

Drew,

I wanted to write to you to say I’m sorry. Rejection is never easy. To write and have someone say, “That isn’t what we want,” or “That isn’t good enough,” or “This won’t fit with our audience,” feels so personal. Writing is such a personal thing. You take your heart off your sleeve and put it on the internet for widespread consumption, you hope, but often what you get is specific and personal rejection.

To write requires honesty, and honesty demands courage. To risk being heard means you ri...

“Church in Winter landscape” by Sophus JacobsenText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedBuriedBuried between my finger and thumbMy pencil rests Eraser worn as much as the lead.Working both ends, led like A frantic candle of perfection. As a kid rain was God’s tearsMy back sore at fiftyFrom shoveling frozen tears That Date puts in hell.By God, the old man can handle a spade.Just like his old man.Cutting through the frozen turfCutting through the noi...

The Golf Player by Rembrandt

I started golfing before I could remember, like, four. If I kept golfing, I probably could have been Tiger before Tiger was Tiger, but probably not. I didn’t play much until my senior year of high school, when I joined the golf team. I loved it. Golf relaxes me. I don’t think about anything when I’m golfing, as someone who thinks about everything all the time. I need to golf more. I fell in love, got married, and had kids. I didn’t play golf for twenty years.

When COVI...