dialogue with my daughter

Uncategorized Apr 14, 2021

That tiny little bundle of a babe turns forty years old this week.  As most of you know she also recently published a book: “All the Time: Daily Devotions Finding Faith in the Everyday Moments.  In honor of her momentous day, I present this imagined dialogue with my...

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resurrection's happened...thanks be to god!

Uncategorized Apr 07, 2021

“When Lazarus was raised, Jesus wept, and I’m betting Lazarus wept too.”                              Charles Stanley

Healing is happening all the time, yet we barely bat an eye.  We’re...

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living by the law....but which one?

Uncategorized Mar 31, 2021

God’s people of the first covenant were given ten rules by their Lord.  They then multiplied them into thousands—hedge around hedge of regulations to govern and restrain them from breaking the first ten.  We as Christians could be guilty of doing that too, with our...

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hugs

Uncategorized Mar 24, 2021

My son-in-law asked me for a hug.  I’d just been hugged by his oldest son Campbell, and Ben wanted some of that action.  So, masked and standing in my family room, we hugged while Campbell looked on.  It was the first such hug in a year, I think.  “For everything...

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loving with tongues or eyes?

Uncategorized Mar 17, 2021

“With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.”  Psalm 89:1

I operate as if loving someone involves only my mouth…that if I can say the right thing, they will know that they are loved.  But the Biblical writer James talks about the tongue as...

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from pain to gain

Uncategorized Mar 10, 2021

Years ago, a neighbor came to my door fighting mad.  My kids were playing out back, and they were screaming and hollering and having a great time.  That wasn’t the source of Pete’s complaint.  He was angry that our dachshund Brandy was jumping around and barking at all...

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dry riverbed

Uncategorized Mar 03, 2021

Flooded with angled sunlight
and the nearest highway’s white noise,

the stones line the riverbed,
tumbled down by torrents that have traveled on

and left them high and dry.  Distant houses dot
the mountain base, infiltrating the wilderness

with green lawns and desert planting--
faux...

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dark corners and slashes of light

Uncategorized Feb 24, 2021

Every person’s life has dark corners and slashes of light… a realization that has made me reticent to talk about “sin” in any context other than my own.  Every self-destructive behavior that alienates us from another, every carping criticism leveled at a group or...

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unsolicited advice

Uncategorized Feb 17, 2021

It’s that time of year again; I’ve been considering what to give up for Lent.  Giving up chocolate seems too easy and self-serving.  My chocolate cravings would abate after a few days, and I would no longer experience its loss as a prompt to pray.  I might actually lose...

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my sheep hear my voice

Uncategorized Feb 10, 2021

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.”  John 10:27

The way Jesus speaks here is weirdly subtle.  I think that I’ve always subliminally read this as “my sheep hear my voice and THEY know ME.”  But that’s not what Jesus...

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