Special Utensils
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves … will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. ~ 2 […]
Deception is never harmless and often lasting
It seems harmless. A phrase posted on a Facebook status. It’s not true, but it’s part of a game. You post something that is nonsensical or hard to believe about yourself and then the comments start rolling in. What? What are you talking about? The trick is, everyone who comments then has to post one […]
Finishing touches may not kill you
Finishing touches will kill you. Do you want the line to go up or down? the name to be this or that? is this darker or that? Should we label it or leave it alone? describe it in the caption or put it on the figure? And really, should this be positioned before or after, […]
March Madness: only one team gets the trophy
The orange team scores and the crowd explodes. The blue team answers back with a 3-point bucket and their fans jump to their feet. There is stomping and shouting, hugging and clapping. Frenzy in the fieldhouse! It’s madness; march madness. This is single elimination folks. Win, you move on. Lose, you go home. The NCAA […]
Portion management
There are so many people “watching their weight” these days. They are not eating this, cutting out that; substituting for this, selecting out that. We study and read “the latest” about what’s in and what’s not in nutrition. Everybody has got advice, and it’s for sale. We’re desperate. Billions of dollars desperate. And we know […]
Turning water to scotch
So what if Jesus turned water to wine. I turn water to coffee every morning! Okay. Irreverent, I know. But true confession. That’s what I was thinking this morning as I scooped that delightfully fragrant, just ground lusciousness, into the filter and then poured the clear fresh water into the reservoir from my pitcher. Flip […]
On-going
“Come” Oh, how much heaviness there is in that word: come. Grudgingly, we drag ourselves over into the compliant pile. Hauling our stuff with us. We wipe our brow, let out a sigh and, just as we are poised to rest on our laurels God says, “Follow me” What an invitation: follow me. But I […]
Leave no doubt
What if we forget? What if we don’t get around to it? What if we’re afraid?…to tell them…until it’s too late. I live among the self-sufficient. Everybody’s “got this.” “I’m good,” they say. They don’t need my help, don’t entertain my suggestion, don’t want my advice. In fact, accepting help taints their ‘I can do […]
Don’t get too comfortable
People who are sitting comfortably are happy to speak up. From their seats they shout, “We’ve always done it this way.” “Why can’t they see?” “Whatever happened to?” “They just need to!” And they often land on, “How come I can’t get any respect?” Comfort breeds inertia. And to these, it may feel very much […]
Staying the course
It’s so hard to stay on track. What with everything pulling us this way and that. Attractive things. Tempting things. Necessary things. They all tug at our sleeves insisting we pay attention. Perhaps this is something of the sense Jesus had in the crowd when the woman who had suffered hemorrhages for years touched the […]