“Heated Conversations” In one of the early seasons of The Simpsons, there’s an episode where the Simpson family (minus the father, Homer) attends church one cold Sunday morning. The church’s furnace is broken and everyone is sitting in the Sanctuary rubbing their hands together—their breath fogging the air. At one point in the service the … [Read more…]
Unscheduled Stops In our family, we love a good road trip. Part of the magic of trekking across this vast landscape we call America is leaving room for new adventures that might present themselves as we roll along. A few years ago, as we were driving through the Southwest, we saw that we were closer … [Read more…]
“Stop Persisting” “Mom,” my 16-year-old said, looking down at me on my hands and knees, pulling armfuls of dead leaves from beneath a thorny bush. “You know the wind’s just blowing the leaves back under there, right? I think you need to stop aiming for perfection.” With a sigh, I looked at the leaves scuttling … [Read more…]
“Useful” Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21 For Christmas this year I received the book Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, by Bono (the lead singer of the band U2). Most of the … [Read more…]
NEW YEAR, ONE WORD: POSSIBILITY Each year, I like to choose one word to anchor myself as the world hurtles around the sun for another 365-ish days. This year, I had planned on choosing the word flexibility, as it seems to be something God is asking of me a lot lately. But then, a simple misinterpretation on … [Read more…]
“Defending His Territory” They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Luke 5:33 This week our family is spending a couple days at my sister-in-law’s house in Liberty, MO. The kids are hanging out with the cousins, we’re … [Read more…]
“When It All Sounds Like Noise” Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense… The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. … [Read more…]
“In Harm’s Way” Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.” Psalm 16:1 While looking through some of the Psalms this morning I came across this passage and my mind lingered on it. Does that ever happen to you? You read something, and for some reason your mind just gets stuck on … [Read more…]
“Advent Thoughts” A few years ago I was introduced to a group of pastors and churches that labeled themselves as “The Advent Conspiracy.” This group seeks to recover Advent as a time of reclaiming and practicing Advent as a time of waiting and preparing for the implications of the coming of Christ. This group has … [Read more…]
“Confessions of the Pastor’s Wife: When Serving Makes Your Quads Scream In Protest” Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.” Colossians 3:23 Recently, we held a service event at church cleverly called “Leave the Leaves to Us.” You can likely guess what it entailed–lots of raking and … [Read more…]