Good morning... One of my blog posts from this week felt meaningful when it was crafted around 3:00 am, but when I re-woke and re-read the words, my soul crinkled her nose, "This one is a dud." I told myself, "Everyone has times when hearing God is a real stretch. I think these words came from me, not from [...]
Good morning... In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus' closest friends fell asleep. His request of them had been clear, "Please stay awake while I pray." Yet they fell asleep again and again. Instead of an angry reprimand, with grace in his voice Jesus spoke understanding, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41b, NIV). This sentence [...]
Good morning... Fortunately, I forgot how to spell the name of the garden where Jesus prayed, after the last supper, before he was crucified. I tried typing it a handful of ways, but spellcheck nixed me again and again. I googled "Gathsamany" or "Gathsamane" or "Gethsemany" and finally I found my way to the correct spelling. "Gethsemane." Jesus prayed [...]
Good morning... I read this Bible story aloud to our Listening Group. The well that Jacob had dug was still there, and Jesus sat down beside it because he was tired from traveling. It was noon, and after Jesus' disciples had gone into town to buy some food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. Jesus [...]
Good morning... Several months back I read aloud to a Sunday school class the Message translation of John 15:4. I asked people to ponder, "What word or phrase most tickles your heart and grabs your attention?" “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear [...]
Good morning... Proverbs are words of wisdom spoken to guide us. I met an interesting one this morning. Proverbs 26:1-2 in the Amplified Bible says, "Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a [shortsighted] fool. Like the sparrow in her wandering, like the swallow in her flying, so the curse without [...]
Good morning... Millions of people around the world turned out for hundreds of simultaneous gatherings on Saturday. More than one million people joined marches in the United States, including hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March on Washington. “Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy,” President Trump tweeted. “Even if I don’t always agree, I [...]
Good morning... "The silence of God is the greatest test of our faith," says German theologian Helmut Thielicke. Yet, he continues, "The silence of God and Jesus is not of indifference. It is the silence of higher thoughts. God is fitting stone to stone in His plan for the world and our lives, even though we can see only [...]
"The silence of God is the greatest test of our faith," says German theologian Helmut Thielicke. Yet, he continues, "The silence of God and Jesus is not of indifference. It is the silence of higher thoughts. God is fitting stone to stone in His plan for the world and our lives, even though we can see only a confused [...]
Good morning… After hosting in my home our Friday Bible study, I turned on my TV to watch the inauguration coverage. I caught the end of President Trump's speech, followed by words from a rabbi and two ministers. In the thirty minutes of air time I witnessed, God's name was spoken repeatedly. Then my mind drifted to this thought, [...]
