I’ve reached the book of Judges in my personal reading schedule, and if there’s ever a time when it seems like things are going off the rails for the Israelites, it’s here. Someone, particularly whom I can’t recall, described reading a particular author (Thomas Hardy) as watching a car accident happen in slow motion and…
Category: Scripture
Interactions with Jesus
One of the simple pleasures of my life that has an outsized impact on my overall wellbeing is participating in the small group Bible study available through my church. I haven’t always been able to participate, and I know there will be times in the future when it again won’t be an option, but it’s…
Eyes Up!
The state department of transportation in my area utilizes electronic message boards to convey what it considers to be useful information or helpful reminders. Sometimes it is indeed useful – missing person alerts, detours and delays, traffic issues, and weather alerts – and sometimes the messages fall into the realm of punny safety tips. Recently…
Psalm 107
As I read through the Bible, particularly the Psalms, familiar chapters and passages feel almost like friends. There’s always something new that I hadn’t seen before, no matter how many times I’ve read it. Every time I read Psalm 107 though, I’m struck by the beautiful picture of the Lord’s goodness, providence, and faithfulness. What…
The Heritage of Those Who Fear Your Name
There are certain passages of Scripture that never fail to bring to mind particular individuals. Psalm 94:19 always reminds me of an older woman who shared with me how precious that verse became to her after the tragic death of her granddaughter. When I read Psalm 40, I think of a teenager at church, who…
Held Fast by a Holdfast
Last week I drew a bit of inspiration from a current read, essentially a guidebook on the animals found between the tide lines on the Pacific coast. I’m revisiting that same book, Ed Ricketts’ Between Pacific Tides today, on a slightly different topic. A couple of days ago, I began the section on open rocky…
Shame
We humans are like hermit crabs sometimes. (Never dreamed I’d ever think that thought, let alone write it in a public venue, but I also didn’t expect to make any connections between a 1930s guidebook on the inhabitants of Pacific tidelines and Fernando Ortega songs, and here we are. Comment here or send me an…
Shadows
Fall has arrived here in northeast Ohio, marked most significantly at my house by leaves: the brilliant orange, red, and yellow hues as they stop producing chlorophyll, the massive piles we’ve raked already, and the quantities that still linger both on the ground and as yet unfallen on the trees. The air has not yet…
A Call for Discernment
Last week I briefly touched on the “Instagram worthy” Scripture quotes, and this week I’m going to take a hard look at another that I’ve seen cropping up more and more often over the last couple years. You’ve probably seen it too, and I will freely confess that it sounds great: “The Lord will fight…
On the Psalms
My companions have become darkness.1 Not the cheeriest of phrases by any means, and not likely the expectation for the closing of a conversation (which it is – a conversation with God), or the topic of a sermon preached on Mother’s Day. (Nor is that a hypothetical example; a pastor, who shall rename nameless and…