Scripture Reflection
Here I share the fruits of my personal reflection on the Word of God, whether I’m reading along with the lectionary readings for that week or exploring a particular book of the Bible. Enjoy the posts that appear below; you’ll find them with the most recent first. If you’re looking for something in particular, try typing a topic, book of the Bible, or other keyword into the search field at the bottom of the page. Topics I write about frequently include those listed below:
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Would you consider prayer a desperate measure?" I wasn't expecting that question at the start of this interview on "prayer in desperate times"! Ben Akers, who is Director of Formed at the Augustine Institute in Denver, invited me to talk on Formed Now! about how the Psalms teach us to pray when times are rough. The idea came from my little ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
“Hope in God.” “Have Faith.” “Hang in there — God’s got this!” For real? Are these phrases (which I hear so often now, with so much distress in the streets) — are these pious phrases just “opium for the masses,” as Karl Marx famously declared of religion? When I can’t get a break; when my child is sick and may ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
I’ve heard it said that the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet), with its curving shape, represents the way a repentant heart “bends” before the Lord in supplication. When it’s blown, it has a unique sound that can trumpet victory or a mournful wail. In the liturgy of Rosh Hashanah, today’s Jewish “Feast of Trumpets,” three types of blasts make up the ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
Sometimes there's not enough of me to go around. The kids need help. A loved one dies. The dryer breaks, or the car. Taxes are due and a deadline zooms and no, I can’t possibly help you today. My own needs are too great … I’m stretched as far as I can go. Sometimes there's not enough of me for ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
I sat on the bed while my Great-Grandma braided her waist-length, snowy white hair and piled it like a crown on her head. She turned to me, twinkling: “Now what does today have in store for us?” Later, as we talked, she turned and patted my knee. “It’s so nice to be with someone my own age!” That’s my last living ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
Talk about final. There was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. (I Kings 18:29, ESV.) The prophets of Baal had been at it all morning and most of the afternoon, hopping around the altar, calling on their god, slashing and cutting themselves into a frenzy. They begged their god of lightning to send fire to light the ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
A line of thunderstorms crashed through our area two nights ago. Eighty-mile-an-hour winds ripped trees out of the ground, took down power lines and severely damaged several nearby homes. As I picked my way through the debris that covered our driveway, I kept thinking, “Lord — this could be broken glass and twisted metal, bits of storefront and stolen goods.” ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
How do you get from LUV to LOVE? How do you move from “sure, I love Jesus” to “Lord, I love you!” That’s the question Jesus asked Peter in their post-breakfast heart-to-heart on the shore of the Sea of Galilee: do you (really) love me? Jesus had risen from the dead, and he had just amazed his disciples with a ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
Another dull gray day, another day of self-isolation, and it’s getting harder to keep the spirits up. Whatever happened to joy? Jesus wants our joy to be full (see John 15:11). And it’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. Joy should be the hallmark of a Christian: a kind of identifying aura that others can sense; something that spreads ...
Read the full post ...
Read the full post ...
