“Home For Christmas”“I'm dreaming tonightOf a place I likeEven more than I usually doAnd though I know it's a long way backI promise you...I'll be home for ChristmasYou can plan on mePlease have snow and mistletoeAnd presents on the treeChristmas Eve will find meWhere the love light gleamsI'll be home for ChristmasIf only in my dreams”“I’ll be home for Christmas . . . .”  It was something of a pro...  Read More

This from Eugene Peterson:“Worship is a meeting at the center so that our lives are centered in God and not lived eccentrically. We worship so that we live in response to and from this center, the living God. Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives. We...  Read More

“Along the way . . .”That’s what she said.  Actually, she said, “Along the way, I began to love . . . .”  We’re just beginning to get to know one another.  Actually, I am just beginning to get acquainted with her.  I am reading her book, “The Ministry of Ordinary Places.”  Her name is Shannan Martin.  I feel pretty ordinary, myself, and feel like I live in a pretty ordinary place, so the title gra...  Read More

“The Discipline of Waiting”The promise . . . that’s really all they had.  Of course, then the resurrection.  There is that!  The promise was given in John 14:16,17:  “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth . . . .”  A promise.  The promise.  In John 20:22, Jesus “. . . breathed on them . . .  and said, ‘Receive the H...  Read More

“Absence makes . . . ““Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” we say.  Really?  Where did that come from?  With just a little research I discovered that it was first noted in 1602 in a less direct way.  But, “. . . many believe that it was Thomas Haynes Bayly who brought the notion to life in his poem titled Isle of Beauty which appeared in his two-volume work Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems in 184...  Read More

“Old Paths and New Ways”If “the hopes and fears” of all the years were met in Bethlehem at the birth of Christ, it must be said that the “worst of hell” and the “best of heaven” were met on the Cross of Christ.  And -  I’m thinking out-loud now - if Christ carried the day at the intersection of hopes and fears – and He did - , He most certainly carried the day at the intersection of the “worst of ...  Read More

“Just This Much”While there are few hints in the Bible about the 40 days between the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension, I cannot help but think that the disciples were remembering and trying to understand, processing if you will, all that Jesus had said to them.  It would seem to me that the last words of Jesus would have been most on their minds.  What we call the Upper Room Discourse (John...  Read More

“Come and See”This from Earlham College in Richmond, IN:  “Earlham College is inviting admitted students and their families to participate in a first-of-its-kind interactive driving tour of campus.The ‘Experience Earlham: Living and Learning for Good’ tour is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 10. The event is an opportunity for students to taste test the College’s dining services m...  Read More

“Betwixt and Between”Sometimes I get to thinking about things for which there seem to be no definitive answers.  I won’t go into all of them lest someone accuse me of some untoward theological aberration, but I will venture to put this one before you today:  What did  Jesus and the disciples do between His resurrection and His ascension?  Ever thought about that?  It seems that it was a sort of “b...  Read More

“Unfamiliar Places”Scripture reveals that Jesus made 10 appearances to the disciples and others between the time of His resurrection and His ascension.  Perhaps the most intimate of those appearances is recorded in John 21.  That day began with His feeding some of the disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and ended with His personal conversation with Peter.  It seems that it was a lengthy ...  Read More

“After these things . . .”Scripture Reading – John 21:1-14It is eight days, at least, (John 20:26) since Jesus was raised from the dead.  The passing of time is not all that clear at this point, but we at least know that much.  Perhaps more time has passed as we come to the events in John 21, one of my favorite post-resurrection stories.  “After these things . . .” it begins.  Almost like a “once ...  Read More

“News Break . . .”Acts 2:14-36We interrupt our regular programming with this from our reporter in Jerusalem:  “A Galilean Jew named Jesus was executed by crucifixion for alleged crimes against the state by the Roman government; three days later God raised him from the dead, and he is now the world’s new emperor.” (Brian Zahnd. “Beauty Will Save the World.)“He is now the world’s new emperor!”  Wow!...  Read More