Sorry I haven’t blogged for so long. I’m hoping this once-per-quarter entry will pick back up again now that MY BOOK IS FINISHED! It is at the editor’s now and should come back to me mid-week. After that, I will make the needed corrections, format it for the publisher, and they will make me a book. It feels like I’m …
Have you ever hurt someone so deeply that you’ve done damage? Usually wounds result in defenses. Defenses result in more wounds. The relationship, that maybe has lasted years, dies a painful death. When a close friend, who knows the deep parts of us, is suddenly (or sometimes subtlety) stripped from our hearts, the exposure is a raw vulnerable feeling of …
I met a man in Rwanda, a prison chaplain named Thomas. Thomas serves in a prison that houses some of the perpetrators from the Genocide of 1994. Many of the prison chaplains in Rwanda serve some of the very people who murdered members of their own families. These men and women are the truest kind of heroes. Thomas told a …
Remember when you could buy WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets at 7-Eleven? For so long it was such a catch-phrase that it lost its meaning entirely. It helped us remember that Jesus would not slap the clerk who gave us the wrong change, or run over the person who cut us off in traffic. Jesus, we know, would not …
As I work through the Book of John in the New Testament, I’ve discovered a common theme that I never noticed before. Jesus talks a lot about who He is. In John 6, the crowds ask Him for a sign so they know how to believe Him. They reminded Jesus about how God provided them manna from heaven to sustain …
So what does this really mean? Why is this day so important to those of us who follow Christ? Why is this about so much more than bunnies and eggs? Why? Because the resurrection changes absolutely everything. The cross was God’s mercy. Jesus paid our debt. It’s like someone paying off your mortgage after you have lost everything in a …
Peter has always been one of my favorite disciples. Between Peter and John, I always get a good laugh when I read the Gospels. Peter, the impulsive, passionate, will-try-anything-once guy finds himself in trouble a lot. Remember when Jesus asked him to walk on the water? Without thinking, he jumps out of the boat and walks on the water. Then, …
Having grown up a Gentile, a non-Jew, I have never fully grasped the full impact of what this Good Friday means. Recently, I have been studying the book of Hebrews and have learned some things that shed huge amounts of light on the significance of today. Good Friday is the day we reflect on the death of Jesus and what …
As I continue to read through the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, I come to the passage in John 13 when Jesus is washing the feet of His disciples. When He gets to Peter, a powerful conversation occurs. Peter feels uncomfortable allowing Jesus to serve him in this way. He stops Jesus and says, “Never shall You wash …