Shame Is Defeated

Our culture is good at handing out shame. Some parents use it to control their children, and in the entertainment industry, shame is a common source of humor at someone's expense. We

Plants and People Grow

It's planting season in our part of Colorado, but even if you start seeds indoors under lights, it's a slow process. If you've ever gardened with children, you've seen them put

You Belong!

What if your life was filled with horrific circumstances, suffering abuse and neglect and anger and hatred from all the people around you? What if your despair at the life you were unable to escape led you to commit acts

Oh, For Joy!

I can't get over it. There was something going on in the minds of all the followers of Jesus after he was crucified and then raised out of the grave, that keeps coming back to surprise me and to make me,

Holy Saturday

We sat in that room all day. We men sat pretty much in silence scattered around the floor, not trying to talk, not knowing what to say. The women were huddled together in the corner, sometimes whispering to one another then breaking out into quiet sobbing. Mary Magdalene started

Pain and Good

This morning I pinched my finger in a cabinet door and yelped at the pain. Then I remembered what today is. Today is Good Friday in the Christian calendar. "What's so good

Dirty Toes and Messy Hearts

On Thursday of the week he was to die, Jesus did something no one expected. During a meal with his disciples, he got up from the table and began

Enduring the Cross

Holy Week helps us rehearse annually the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ for us. This morning, while reading through Matthew's account of Jesus' last week, my mind turned to what must have been on the Lord's mind those last few days before his cruel death. Walk with me for a bit, will you?

Crucifixion was a horrifying death, yet Jesus knew that was