Healing: Much More than Physical

In looking over the scriptures from the Lectionary for next Sunday, I see several different aspects of how our lives are changed by the touch of God. We tend to struggle with many things in life, including our physical health, but also with

A Foretaste of Suffering -- and More

One of the stories we don't like to focus on during this time is told in Matthew 2:13-18. There, we read about infanticide: the killing of the young male babies by Herod's troops in the vicinity of Bethlehem, after the wise men visit

'To Feel With'

Do other people irritate you? Poor driving, thoughtless comments, and in many other ways, we can feel like others need to 'get their act together' on the parts of them that we don't approve of (we could include 'ending a sentence with a preposition' to the list), or just

Jesus and Inconvenience

This month, The Lovely Joanne is wearing a dress every single day. Now, us guys don't think about that much, but in December, the cold wind has a way of, let's say, swooping in under a dress and cooling you off in ways you didn't really want. Besides that, finding a different dress for each day and the right accessories with it (again, guys, not our normal thought process) can be

Grief and Grieving, Part 3: 'Stages' of Grief

For those of us who have lost a loved one or a relationship, we know the pain of loss. Someone from whom we had gained comfort, companionship and love is suddenly (or slowly then finally) gone. That loss hurts! We try to figure out what we might have done differently to not suffer the loss, or get angry that the person is no longer here, or we try to

Messing Up God's Artwork

This morning The Lovely Joanne told me in her endearing way, "Well, you're stuck with me forever, so you'd better just get used to it." By which she was telling me she loves me and is not interested in ever being anything but married to me. Which is really a good thing, because I

Stress and Relief

After reading several thousand Facebook posts from people in my Friends list from all over the world, I'm beginning to think that a lot of stress in life is caused by trying to be right all the time. We get irritated, we feel threatened and frightened, we feel unloved, unappreciated and alone. Often it's not a huge life-threatening situation, but something simple. I don't like the way my wife just spoke to me or questioned my plan for a project. Sometimes we get upset because we think

Doing it for Him

My niece is a Registered Nurse. Her career is all about taking care of the sick and the dying, and for her it's a very rewarding career. But she can tell you, the

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

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

The End of Conflict

Last night some friends and I discussed part of a book called "Life Together." A German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about church life, during the Nazi persecution of the Lutheran church in Germany during WWII.  Brother Dietrich realized that if the church didn't

God Always Makes the First Move

Isaiah 65:24 says "I will answer them before they even call to me.  While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!"  And this is a statement from the same God who says earlier in the same passage that he had been reaching

"God Is" Equals "God Does"

Why did God send his Son into the world? John 3:17 answers that "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him."  But why did God become

We Are His Kids -- Advent #1

Advent is the time the Christian church celebrates the coming of our Savior. The basic story is that the Son of God willingly took our flesh into his own Person, becoming God-and-human, so he could experience our own lives just like us, live without any sin and willingly give himself, out of

Thoughts on Veteran's Day

In the Western World, November 11 is known as Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day or Veterans' Day. All of those have to do with remembering the devastation of war and our occasional relief that one of them is over. Today was no exception. I honor and appreciate

Children and Jesus and Welcoming

Jesus was impressed with children. Not because they knew how to do cartwheels, but because they approached the world without pretense, and accepted others at face value. In Matthew 18, Jesus calls a little child to him and says “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." More than that, Jesus said in verse 5, "And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Now, that is a big deal -- welcoming Jesus, personally,

"With Appreciation"

The Lovely Joanne just had a birthday, and she received cards from friends and family all over. It's been a blessing to be remembered by so many. She and I make it a practice to remember as many birthdays and anniversaries as we can keep track of, and to say some

Humility and Trust

To be frank, I don't know if I want to trust you. I've trusted people before, and some of them betrayed me, gossiped, and made fun of me. Some of them abandoned me, just hung me out to dry and walked away. So if I ask you to pray about something, or open up and tell you about my problems, what will you do? Or maybe this is you, asking me

Love WHO???

Sometimes I don't understand Jesus. He's just a little too 'out there' for me. He's famous for the Sermon on the Mount, but that is a challenging piece! I mean, he takes the old command "don't murder" which is fairly straightforward, and makes it impossible with "don't call anyone else an idiot." Is that fair? (Maybe he only said that because he didn't have to deal with the drivers around here.) Not only that, he tells us we should love, not only our neighbors and friends, but even our enemies. That can't be realistic, can it? Maybe he had something else