Months ago, my wife’s friend plugged a book on social media, The Book of Job: Seeing God through the Ashes, by Melissa Lees. I felt curious for some reason (God?). Perhaps the topic piqued my interest. (People aren’t exactly rushing to exposit Job). Whatever it was, I downloaded a copy to my Kindle. I rarely read modern Christian…
Tag: Christianity
Away
Photo by James Bellwood *** Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was sill alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East” (Gen. 25:5-6). Isaac was the promised heir from Abraham’s own body (Gen….
Heart View
I have mentioned that I’m in a season of rest. The Lord has limited projects and study. Sometimes this has left me feeling bewildered and directionless. Now and then I ask the Lord if there’s something else He wants me to start doing since most of what I used to do has stopped. I haven’t…
Resurrection: Transformation and Increase
Illustration by Patrick Murphy This past weekend, a piece of mine was published in our local paper. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full article. The article was adapted from a section of my booklet, Christ in the Feasts. *** Easter Sunday is just past. Christians celebrated Christ’s resurrection from the dead. (We…
The Hebron of God
“Burial of Sarah” by Dore Genesis 23 opens with the death of Sarah. Abraham, being a foreigner, asks the Hittites to sell him the cave at Machpelah for a burial site. The Hittites offer to give Abraham the land because he is “a mighty prince” but Abraham insists on paying the full price (Gen. 23:6,…
Overlooking and Undervaluing
As a “baby Christian,” I attended a discipleship/ministry school. As we prayed to end class one day, the Spirit fell. Prayers and worship erupted spontaneously. During the joyful pandemonium, I felt a hand on my shoulder. A friend had a prophetic word for me. The Lord said He was putting a spirit of Stephen on…
Life through the One New Man
Early in my walk with the Lord, I attended a prayer meeting at church. As we prayed, Adam’s formation came to mind: I imagined particles of dust swirling together, sculpting Adam’s body in mid air (Gen. 2:7). When the body was formed, God breathed life into the whole of him. Adam rose to his feet….
On Loving God–Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux was a monk in the 11th and 12th centuries. Bernard enjoys wide appeal. After reading his classic, On Loving God, I understand why. This book has a refreshing, simple focus on loving God. It is not a work of dazzling theological argument but evokes 1 Corinthians 8:2-3: “If anyone thinks he knows anything,…
Patrick the Slave
From his brief autobiography we learn that…the Irish, then called Scots, began swooping down on the English coast, sailing up the rivers, raiding the settlements, and carrying off plunder and slaves. Among the captives was Patrick. So Ireland’s patron saint was not Irish! He had been reared a Christian. His father was a deacon, but…
WAKE UP!
I just watched “The Matrix,” a film set in a dystopian future. People create artificial intelligence, which turns computers and machines against us. We lose a war with the machines. They start farming us and using our bioelectricity as a power source. To keep us unconscious and compliant, the machines wire everyone to a neural-interactive…
The Voice of One 