Having Thanksgiving as a national holiday ranks as one of the top things that make me proud to be an American. I love everything about the occasion – the gathering of family and friends, the feasting on favorite foods, and the pause before the all-too-often craziness of the Christmastide to come.
Of course, the best is the pause…..
God has an interesting way of speaking to us through what appear to be coincidences.
This past week in the class I teach at church we came to Acts 15 where the original “first” Church in Jerusalem met to discuss the prospect of incorporating non-Jews into the ranks of the followers…..
I wish I knew the name of the author of the poem below. No matter how you feel about the results of the 2016 election, it seems like an appropriate meditation.
God, because you made the world and intended it to be a good place,
and called its…..
As Election Day approaches, I find I crave some antidote to the acrimony of this campaign and the unavoidable anxiety it has raised in all of us about its outcome. Thinking about this gnawing sense of apprehension has sent me back to CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. There the mentor…..
This story reminds us that when God asks us to do something hard, the Lord will supply us with the assurance we need to accomplish it (Judges 6-7).
He looked like an ordinary man, but it struck me strange that I’d never seen him before. Neither had I seen him arrive;…..
In the next two weeks I turn to the Old Testament where examples of people asking for God’s help abound.
In this imaging of Ruth 1, I focus on Ruth’s boldness. Naomi thought having sons would bring her happiness. See what God had in mind instead.
By my…..
An imagining based on Luke 7:1-10
I’ve known Quintus for several years now, ever since he replaced the centurion originally stationed here in Capernaum. Though called in an official capacity to monitor the construction of our synagogue, he had struck up conversations with some of the other elders and me, impressing us with…..
In last week’s post I talked about how Jesus tended to heal people who actually asked for help. In the coming weeks I’d like to imagine the circumstances behind some of those New Testament narratives. I begin with my imagining of the story told in Mark 5:21-34.
Once upon…..
I heard a marriage counselor speak once about how easily we romanticize marriage by expecting our beloved to read our minds. He mused that perhaps during our courtship we could “finish each other’s sentences,” but most of the time, we need to learn to articulate what we want from…..
I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the person trapped on a rooftop in a flood who proceeds to reject aid from rescue workers because, “I’m counting on God to save me.” It’s a good example of confidence in the Lord gone wrong.
Dependence on God is a different brand of reliance.
The…..