"The Bible offers a complete spiritual diet. But we all come to this feast with our own tastes and preferences (biases), shaped by our personalities, upbringing, culture, social status, and life experiences. These preferences can lead us to fill our plates with only what's familiar, building our spiritual nutrition around a limited menu. The consequences of such selective feeding can be grave. This is true for every biblical doctrine, including our identities."

“In John 15, Jesus taught that branches must remain connected to the vine to produce fruit. Likewise, if we are to produce fruit, we need to remain connected to him, the lifegiving vine. This is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples, his parting words. And weighing heavily on his heart and mind was the disciples’ need to abide in him.

This message was so important to Jesus that he repeated it ten times. He longed for intimate union and communion with his disciples—for them (and us) to stay connected to him, allowing his love and presence to take up residence in them so that they would produce much fruit (John 15:1-10).

This is what makes hosting the presence of Christ possible. It is a holy calling to spiritual hospitality, offering back to others what we have received. Extending his love and presence through sharing wisdom, forgiveness, mercy, and spiritual gifts, in every conversation we have with a friend or family member.”