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Creating an Ishmael
In the book of Genesis we are introduced to a man named Abram and witness God’s blessing and calling upon his life. As their relationship develops Abram voices his concerns over having to leave all that God gives him to a servant, because he has no heirs, and God makes Abram a promise. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall…
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January
Of all the months, January holds the most distinct position of announcing big change. It leads us into the new year and is keeper of all those well-intentioned resolutions. January reminds us that as each year passes, we grow a little older and perhaps a little wiser. Winter may officially come in December, yet where I live, January also harbors some of the coldest weather we endure. Sure it’s just a month with nothing more magical than it’s orderly place in the rotation, but in many ways January can set the tone for where our focus lies throughout much of the year. For me personally, January also holds memories of…
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If My Life was a Reality TV Program They Watched in Heaven
For many, including myself, the idea of God watching over us night and day, like a super-powered Santa, may seem a little absurd or hard to grasp, but what if we consider our lives running like reality tv with no breaks or pauses, and the All Mighty watching, maybe with a few of the Apostles. What would they be saying as they watched you?
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And Then There was Grace
When God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him (Genesis 2:7), God knew man would fall. He saw the depravity of the human condition long before that sixth day of creation, yet he created us anyhow. When God spoke to Abraham in the desert wilderness and told him to count the stars illuminating the unpolluted expanse of darkness overhead (Genesis 15:5), he knew the Israelites would wander far from him like an unfaithful bride, yet he made a promise to Abraham despite this. For thousands of years we see God’s children fail him time and again. They drew near in one generation, only to…
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What God’s Provision Really Looks Like
We all know what it feels like to be in need: humbled, broken, even broke. The trials of life show no favoritism. In one way or another, we will all experience our share of pain and heartache, and in those times of crisis we may turn to God, whether it’s something we normally do or not. So if we call out to God on our darkest of days, what can we expect? Many say prayer works, yet there’s an entire population of disheartened souls out there wondering why it didn’t work for them. Maybe their loved one still died, their partner still left, they continue to struggle in addiction or…
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The Value of Gratitude
For me, Thanksgiving has always announced the arrival of the Christmas Season. It’s like crossing a bridge from autumn into Christmas, and Thanksgiving is the grateful troll that guards the passage. On one side of the bridge everything is in a state of fading shades of orange and brown, but on the other side the world sparkles and glows with a little more glitz every year. Of course not everyone lives by my holiday timeline, so many have already had their trees up long enough for the ornaments to need dusting. Though even for those decorating well before my personal kick-off, Thanksgiving begins the anticipatory, month long celebration of the…
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The Villain and the Victim
One morning when Jesus sat teaching in the temple courts, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in the act of adultery. The scriptures don’t mention her name, where her partner was or how they discovered her sin. We’re told only this one detail, which according to the law of Moses, had the power to end her life at that moment. The crowd pressed Jesus emphatically for his response in the matter, though rather than fall into their web of deceit, Jesus does some mystery artwork on the floor and tells them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to…
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Straight Up and Over: navigating the faithful journey
In the movie Homeward Bound three family pets decide to make their way home after being left temporarily with a family friend. As they escape and set out for a mountain range in the distance, the old retriever, Shadow, tells his companions, home is straight up and over, assuring them they would be home by dark. How many of us can relate to their despair as they crested the ridge, and looked out over an expanse of mountains and wilderness, instead of their cozy, suburban neighborhood? Is it really so different when we believe God has called us to something and we set out on that adventure, expecting blue skies…
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Just a Taste
My little man is a big fruit eater and absolutely loves almost any kind of fruit, especially berries. As he’s getting older he now has the ability to invade the kitchen and search at will, frequently opening the refrigerator and climbing inside to find fruit. There may be blackberries from two weeks ago, with white fur growing on them, stuffed behind the bread and last night’s leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes, yet he’ll see them from three feet below. It was during one of these recent raids, he discovered my fresh bag of cranberries in the produce drawer and asked about them. I explained they were cranberries, but they weren’t…
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Only the Best
Tonight as I was feeding my littlest miss and cutting up her broccoli, I paused to consider what I was doing. I think most probably prefer the broccoli flower over the stem, though for me it goes beyond preference. I love broccoli, but I don’t want to eat broccoli stems and it’s crazy annoying to open a bag of broccoli only to see that half the bag is stems. I willingly pay more to avoid this disappointment. Yet, as I was cutting up broccoli for the miss, I was giving her all the flower and eating the stems myself. It’s what I always do. Sure it’s a trivial act of…
