The Voice of One

Four Wills of the Cross…and Other News

Recently, I decided to take a blogging break. It’s been awhile. So for a few weeks, I won’t be posting. It’s been kind of busy lately, and I haven’t had as much time. Plus, I’ve dusted off some old projects that I’d like to give more focus. Hence the blogging break. In the meantime, I’d…

The Son—Come Hell or High Water

Genesis 29:14 through 30:24 tells how Jacob came to have wives and children. Jacob first works seven years to marry Rachel but his father-in-law, Laban, sneaks his older daughter, Leah, into Jacob’s tent on the wedding night. Jacob is furious but receives Rachel also after celebrating his wedding to Leah for a week. Then there’s…

Crosshairs

In the wake of the school shooting in Florida, social media is flooded (again) with memes, posts, articles, and factoids for or against guns. Personally, I see guns as one of many social scapegoats. A gun is a neutral thing, not intrinsically good or bad. It can only be as good or bad as the…

Who Are You, Lord?

Lepicie, “Conversion of St. Paul” This post from a couple years ago is on my mind so I thought I’d repost. *** “Who are you, Lord?” This was Paul’s question after Jesus struck him blind and stopped him in his tracks (Acts 9:1-5). Paul was on his way to Damascus where he planned to continue…

No Answer

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a couple phrases: “God answered my prayer” or “God didn’t answer my prayer.” It’s common to hear both of these. I’ve said them and heard others say them countless times. Let me preface the rest of this post: I’m not given to semantic arguments. Communication is an (often clumsy) art….

Impossible People: Os Guinness

Recently, a group at church decided to read Impossible People by Os Guinness. I didn’t need a lot of convincing. Some liken him to C.S. Lewis because of his intellectual clarity on matters of faith. That sold me. Impossible People examines modernity’s challenge to Christian faith, a challenge Guinness believes is the most significant ever…

One Flock, One Bride, One Man

After Bethel, Jacob resumes his journey to find a bride. He travels to the east, a land associated with man’s fall, Cain, and Babel. Abraham left the east by faith. Spiritually, it is the land away from the Son (Gen. 25:1-6). When Jacob arrives in Haran, shepherds are gathering sheep near a well covered by…

The Nativity Within

I had the following article published in the religion column of our local paper last weekend. My original title was “The Nativity Within” but the paper re-titled it for whatever reason. The important thing is that I got to share Jesus! *** Happy New Year! I hope everyone is enjoying the shiny, new gifts they…

Following, Losing, and Living

Art by Patrick Murphy The following is a meditation on Luke 9:23-24 from my personal journal. *** “If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will…

God with the Smelly and Beastly

With Christmas just past, I’ve been thinking about one of the names by which Jesus was announced: Immanuel, “God with us.” “God with us” was a prophetic name first uttered by Isaiah in a prophecy (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew tells us Jesus fulfilled this prophetic appellation when he was born (Matt. 1:23). Jesus’s birth as a…