Hard Pressed but Not Crushed

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also…

David & Michal

One of the high points of King David’s reign was when he brought the ark into Jerusalem.  Priests carried the ark into the city of David.  Wearing a linen ephod (priestly boxers), David danced and leapt around worshiping with abandon.  The people blew the top off the city with shouts, praises, and trumpet blasts.  It was…

The Only Truth I Know

Simon & Garfunkel “I stand alone without beliefs.  The only truth I know is you.” —Paul Simon, “Kathy’s Song” Paul Simon wrote the above lyric for a woman.  “Kathy’s Song” is a love song par excellance.  Yet every time I hear this line from the song, I cannot help but think of the Lord.  Over…

The Seventh Day

“God Resting on the Seventh Day” (19th Century German Engraving) This is the account of the heavens and the earth in the day when they were created. Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha),…

That which Flows

Sketch by Patrick Murphy: http://inspiredsketch.blogspot.com/ That which flows forever from the extremities and from the guts of the wounded cosmos sustains That which flows forever from the memory and from the friction of the nail against the flesh of love remains That which flowed with the anguished cries and with the salty sweat of a man…

Arise!

The following is a poem made by splicing Song of Songs 2:10-13, John 5:25-26, and John 11:25. *** My lover spoke and said to me, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will…

Mosaics, Quilts, and Piles of Socks

What should church “look like?”  How should we “do church?”  I hear these and similar questions bandied about regularly.  There are lots of different answers.  Some say we should “do church” like they did in the New Testament.  In reality, there was no single New Testament way of “doing church.”  There was a mosaic of…

The Myth of Heaven (?)

Our Pastor is preaching through 1 Corinthians.  Today we started chapter 15.  Paul is dealing with a Corinthian coterie that says there is no resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12).  It’s possible this was a group of Gnostics.  Gnostics said the body was meaningless.  It was only a house of corruption imprisoning the spirit.  Bodily resurrection would…

Bloom without End

Photo by Carrie McKamey If you’ve followed The Voice of One at all, you know weakness is a theme that comes up regularly.  I’m thinking about it again tonight.  Weakness usually comes to mind when personal failures or shortcomings break out of me like a caged animal.  Or when it seems my soul is surrounded…

The One

Recently, our family has been listening to the soundtrack of Frozen.  It’s my daughter’s favorite movie right now so we’re all into it  🙂  One of the songs (sung by princess Anna) is about a ball happening that night.  Anna sings that she is excited to meet everyone.  Then she adds, “What if I meet THE…