Have you ever noticed that sometimes God leads us into places that we wouldn’t necessarily choose for ourselves? Think of Moses and the nation of Israel. Deliverance from bondage in Egypt: emotional high! Trapped by the Red Sea: frightening low. The parting of the waters: jubilation! Journey into the wilderness: discouraging, unending dryness. When I […]
Disappointment. Discouragement. Frustration. All are words that often characterize our responses to difficult, if not impossible, circumstances. As I look back over my life I see so many difficulties and impossibilities. Why, I ask, is it that life always seems to be so hard? Why are there always so many challenges and so many limitations? […]
I like to paddle my kayak on a a quiet evening, listening to the birds chirp and the fish splash. I like fresh fruit and I like dark chocolate. I like to hang out with friends and family. I like trips to the ocean—a place that I’d actually like to live. I like to watch […]
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) Jesus spoke of four types of responses people have in receiving the life of God’s word. Some have become hardened from being trampled by the world—they understand nothing. Others receive the word with excitement, but lack the depth of resolve to stand the rigors of opposition. The […]
It is day 50 of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill with no foreseeable fix in sight. In spite of the fact that the current cap is helping to siphon a significant volume of oil, it is also revealing a magnitude to this spill that is far greater than we were initially led to […]
When we were kids my cousin Michael and I used to love those mid-winter, Saturday afternoon TV flicks. Some were westerns. Some were monster movies. All involved action, pitting the forces of good and evil against each other. The world was a safer place because good always won out in the end. Seriously, that’s what’s […]
I was embarrassed and quite thankful that nobody else in the room was aware of my failure (or were they?). There I stood staring at the primary election ballot suddenly realizing that I didn’t have a clue about some of the candidates running for certain offices. To be honest, it’s happened before, but for some […]
Summer is almost upon us and the time is here for the amusement parks to open and the carnivals to begin popping up in the north. Walking through the midway at a county fair or local carnival is a totally unique experience. Oh the smell of greasy hot sausage simmering on a dirty, fly infested grill! […]
On September 10, 2001 the world didn’t necessarily seem like such a great place, but in retrospect I guess it wasn’t really all that bad. On that day the twin towers still stood as symbols of American strength and supremacy. How things have changed since that time! How I wish that 9/11 had never happened! […]
A new round of elections is quickly approaching, but not fast enough for my tastes. Voting is certainly a privilege, but I find the grossly negative TV ads to be totally gagnaminous. And how I wish I could say something more positive about some of the conservative Christian (of which I am one) dialogue I hear about […]
