Soon, You say. “I am coming soon.” From here it doesn’t look that way, it looks as though we waste and languish while You delay. Too soon the innocence fades, too soon children grow and pipes break and garbage piles high. Too soon hearts cool, joints swell, beauty flees, and boards begin to rot. Too … Continue reading Soon
(Five Minute Friday) When following Jesus, the needs tend to chase after you. Like when you get into a boat to sail away and be alone, and you arrive on the other side only to find the need waiting for you, hungry. “Send them away, Jesus,” you say, a little desperately. You don’t have anything … Continue reading Have
Easter Sunday Matthew 28 The first time, You chose those outcasts of society, the shepherds. While the world slept, they saw Your angels. They received the most astonishing news, and they ran to a place where, impossibly, they found You, in a place where You were not supposed to be. But there You were, human … Continue reading Kingdom Still Coming
Good Friday Matthew 4, 26, and 27 Let us go back to the beginning. To the wilderness. Remember? Jesus: distressed, thirsty, weary, alone. Three times the enemy comes. “Show them who You are.” Be glorious. Powerful. Adored. Three times Jesus turns to His Father. He knows Who He is. He is here to bring the … Continue reading Who He Is
for Mitzi The rooster’s crow marks the night of your failure. It starts with your pride. “Even if everyone else forsakes You, I never will. Never.” “You will.” His face is full of sorrow. “Never! Even if I must die with You, I will never deny You!” You die, all right. The rooster’s crow marks … Continue reading Rooster
Matthew 21:12-17 When the temple of my heart becomes a space for doing business, a busy place where, to keep up appearances, things are bought and sold— when, for instance, I sell my peace to please another, or buy approval with time that should be Yours, when I set up shop and turn communion into … Continue reading Temple
Matthew 21:1-11 and 26:6-13 Two kinds of worship. The first is a party, like a parade on the best day. It is crowd-surging, branch-waving, song-singing happiness. It rushes like a sparkling river, buoying the King along on its cheers and proclamations. Here He comes! It carries everyone right into the center of things. The second … Continue reading Two Kinds of Worship
Matthew 16:13-20 I bet you gave your mama fits, Peter. I’m guessing from the very beginning you were all action, movement and words responding to the impulse of the moment. Passionate Peter, feeling everything so deeply and immediately, I bet people wondered what to do with you. I bet you wondered yourself. You lived your … Continue reading Hope for the loud-mouth
Matthew 14 When you follow Jesus, the need around you will always be greater than what you have to give. If you look at that need awhile, you will feel overwhelmed. You will want to send the people away to find nourishment elsewhere. “Why?” Jesus will say. “There is no need. You feed them.” And … Continue reading Only This
Matthew 13 The Kingdom of Heaven: It comes among us like seed thrown wide and wild, everywhere. It springs up on the road, in the rocks and thorns, in the deep soil. It grows and grows, because that’s what the kingdom does—it spreads, sprouting in every nook and cranny, thriving wherever it finds a faithful … Continue reading A Mingling of Metaphors
View from the Valley 