Learning to love others the way Jesus loves us
Part three of three In this final revisit to Habakkuk, the thing that stood out to me is the importance of in -person church attendance for knowing God in community. It's something I didn't consider before lockdowns and I wonder whether the slow return to physical fellowship plays a role in the Western world's current… Continue reading Choosing Joy
I wrote a four-day reflection on the book of Habakkuk in January of 2020. I had just begun my second semester at UNLV. There were whispers of a strange new virus coming out of China, but no hint at how that news might unfold. Reports of anger, division, injustice, and violence dominated the nightly news.… Continue reading Revisiting Habakkuk
Sometimes God's answer to prayer is us. remix: Hanna-Barbera/Justice League Wonder Twins (CC BY-NC-SA) My brothers and I grew up in the 1970s. Saturday mornings were for cartoons of fantastical places and magical powers (and the occasional monster-puppet.) Typically, some distraught character would cry out for help and in the blink of an eye, a… Continue reading Activate!
James 5:13-20 This passage made me think. This section of the letter is where some current religions get the idea that prayer equals manipulating God for physical healing and that staying sick or continuing to suffer is the fault of the sufferer for a lack of faith. But this teaching is wrong. It is not… Continue reading Raised to life everlasting
Then Jonah prayed. Jonah 2 What does it take for us to turn to God? Jonah had to book passage on an outbound ship, survive a terrifying storm, convince a bunch of sailors to pitch him overboard, and get swallowed by a great fish where he was tangled in seaweed and looking death in the… Continue reading Jonah: When all else fails
He stands at the window, looking as far in the distance as his aging eyes can see. The road twists away to his left, toward a trade route that branches out in all the directions of the wind. As always, the road is empty in this early morning hour, just before the sun breaks the… Continue reading Solitary
Defaulting to Grace 