Broken and Beloved

God uses our brokenness for His glory Kintsugi, literally "joining with gold," is a centuries-old Japanese technique of fixing broken ceramics. When a piece of pottery breaks, the pieces are put together, not with invisible glue so no one sees the flaws, but rather with gold lacquer so that the fracture is obvious. These repaired… Continue reading Broken and Beloved

Everything is Secondary, part 3

Political affiliation must be secondary to our affiliation with the people of God. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9-10). "For our boast… Continue reading Everything is Secondary, part 3

Personalities

And how they affect grace I haven't thought much about personality types in a while, but I read a post the other day that got me thinking about how personality may influence how we extend grace to each other. For example, on the ever-popular Myers-Briggs spectrum, I am an INTJ. It's consistent, too, across both… Continue reading Personalities

Fear is not all-powerful

God has prepared us for this very thing-Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! It's cold here in the South today. Nothing like what my friends in the North and Midwest experience, but when the temperature is below freezing for most of a week, these California-born fingers struggle to move. I can't sit close… Continue reading Fear is not all-powerful

O ye Heights of Heav’n

Third Sunday of Advent The King of Glory will return to reign over His garden Kingdom. In the beginning, God made a garden. Yahweh Elohim (יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים) caused every tree that is pleasant to look at and filled with healthy food to spring up out of the newly created earth. In the middle of the… Continue reading O ye Heights of Heav’n

O That birth Forever Blessed

An Advent devotion: Peace O that birth forever blessed, when a virgin, full of grace, by the Holy Ghost conceiving, bore the Savior of our race; and the Babe, the world’s Redeemer, first revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore! This is He whom heav'n-taught singers sang of old with one accord, whom the Scriptures… Continue reading O That birth Forever Blessed

The Limits of Human Wisdom

War, Job, and the presence of God Along with much of the West, I was horrified by the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7. After being there more than 30 years ago, Israel captured my heart in a way few places can. The holiness of the place is unmistakable with so much of… Continue reading The Limits of Human Wisdom

גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה

9-25-23 Yom Kippur (G'mar chatimah tovah) "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites” Leviticus 16:34 Today is Yom Kippur, the most holy day of the Jewish calendar. It is the day named Atonement by the Lord Himself, set… Continue reading גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה

When the pastor goes off script

It's fire. https://www.youtube.com/live/_8VjAwfZeNg?feature=shared

4’33

Lamentations 3:25-28 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is… Continue reading 4’33