Lynne Baab • Wednesday May 1 2024
Human brains love dichotomies. If this thing is true, then this other thing is wrong or a lie. Human beings also love to assign blame. Something inside us longs to believe that the universe is ordered and logical. Therefore, when things go wrong, someone or something must be at fault.
In John 9, the human love for dichotomies and blame is on full display. Jesus and his disciples have just left the Temple because some of the Jewish leaders started throwing stones at Jesus.
“As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Thursday April 25 2024
When I first encountered the story of Jesus healing a man twice at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26), it seemed crazy. I was 20, I’d been a committed Christian for a year, and I felt that things related to faith should be clear and straightforward. Why would Jesus have to heal a blind man twice? If he was there at creation (John 1:3), he surely knows how eyes work. If he sustains the creation and all things hold together in him (Colossians 1:17), he surely knows how to heal eyes the first time.
This is the story where Jesus puts saliva on the man’s...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 17 2024
Early in his ministry, Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue on the Sabbath. After he rolls up the scroll and sits back down, he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). One component of the prophecy in Isaiah is “recovery of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18). In his ministry, as recounted in all four gospels, Jesus heals a good number of people who are physically blind.
Jesus often juxtaposes physical healing of blindness with direct or indirect statements about spiritual blindness. Jesus’ concern with spiritual blindness is a strong call...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Wednesday April 10 2024
At age 20, I encountered for the first time the miracle of Jesus touching and healing a man with leprosy in Mark 1:40-45. Ever since then, I have marveled at the intimacy and radicality of Jesus’s touch. (Yes, I just learned that “radicality” is a word. I wanted to use “radicalness,” but I couldn’t find that word online. I think radicality will be my new favorite word. So much of Jesus’s ministry seems to me to be radical, using this definition: change or action relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something.)
Last week, while I was pondering how to write this...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023
By Lynne M. BaabLynne Baab • Sunday June 26 2022
Making Space for a Continuing Conversation with the Living GodLynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021
By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021
Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is a teacher and writer. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »
Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her book on grief and gratitude, designed to help people grieving from anything, including the pandemic, while also desiring to notice God's good gifts. Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life is available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her best-selling book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.
Lynne recently spoke about empathy and also about bringing spiritual practices to life.
Lynne was interviewed recently for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills.
Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.
"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader
"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping
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