Let’s face it: when Jesus said He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword, He wasn’t kidding. And the Good News He proclaimed wasn’t happy “fluff” designed to make people feel good. Jesus the teacher – rabbi in the culture of the day – appeared on the scene some 2000 years ago and […]
Today’s blog includes input from my friend and guest-blogger, Jen Haefner. “It is funny how much I take for granted. I know I am blessed, but I think sometimes I forget how incredibly blessed I am.” My friend Jen took the Trek to the Manger with us during Advent. Her Trek baggage was heavy […]
They were gathered along shore and night was falling. The water pounded past the rocks at flood-stage pace, though their hearts pounding in their chests at the prospect of tomorrow was keen competition for the river. Thousands of men, women and children waited and some tried to sleep, if their anxious hearts would let them. […]
Just this week I began to receive Christmas cards in the mail. Kind of late, really. But then, my own cards are still a to-do list item, so who am I to talk? I received a card today from my dear friend, Bob. Bob’s Christmas letter began like this: “My days are very routine and […]
I awoke on Thursday morning to thunder. Not altogether unexpected in northern Arizona, even in December. I lay in bed listening for raindrops to follow the house-rattling bass, but there was no rain. Only thunder. Not so unusual, right? Thunder without rain. But looking out the window confirmed the bizarre phenomenon that I’ve only experienced […]
I can be a bundle of nervous energy at times (I know, I know… excessive coffee consumption doesn’t help). I can seemingly curl up into a little ball of my own mental activity, focusing solely on what’s happening inside my head. This is where God found me two weeks ago, sitting in the window seat […]
Traveling this week has meant I’ve held a number of menus in my hands. Some have sported precious few (and painfully pricey) options. Others offer so many choices that I find myself overwhelmed and quite unable to choose. The menu tells us much about the establishment, doesn’t it? And about its target audience – its […]
It’s PINK Tuesday and I am on the road… again. In the air, rather, and en route to the gathering of some of my favorite kinds of folks – youthworkers. Tired. Overworked. A little cranky. A little crazy. (Sounds a LOT like ME!) You can ask them – my family will tell you that […]
A revolution began on November 9, 1918. As Eric Metaxas writes, in his bestselling book “Bonhoeffer” (2010, Thomas Nelson): “In a moment, the Germany of the last fifty years vanished. But the mobs milling around Berlin weren’t satisfied. Revolution was in the air.” Revolution was in the air and the angry crowds on the streets […]
Some of you know that the closest thing I’ve had to a career was the seven years that I spent working for the YMCA in Wichita, Kansas. One of the things that the Y did very well was training, and I completed a battery of core classes that were taught nationwide to young Y professionals, […]