This post is also available as a podcast: https://anchor.fm/teague-mckamey/episodes/Sabbath-e1k2hr6 Sabbath This is what I would do— if Mammon’s pointing shadow didn’t turn the world into a sundial— I would wake when I woke. I would read in the morning shadows, making room for a cat between my blanketed knees. I would get up when I…
Tag: prayer
A Demon’s Advice on Prayer
The following is something I posted in 2015. I was reminded of it when talking with a friend about how we both felt overwhelmed by people’s needs. This is a particular problem in our age when mass media and social media can make us aware of needs and problems half a world away, things we…
Where Has Goodness Gone?
My pastor, Roger McCune, wrote the following article for the religion column in our local paper. It is a short article, but heartfelt and very timely. In a time when many react to the socio-political climate by fighting fire with fire, Roger approaches it with forgiveness and repentance. This is a message I wish everyone…
A House of Prayer, Not Politics
I saw the sign pictured above outside a church the other day. It got me thinking—thinking about how easily Christianity is reduced to a set of political opinions. Sometimes, people allow faith to dictate their political views. But too often, I fear, it’s the other way around: political ideology defines the boundaries of faith. Religion…
Not What I Want
Picture from “The Passion of the Christ,” a film by Mel Gibson. “Not what I want but what You want” (Matt. 26:39). I have been meditating on these words of Jesus. He said them to His Father just before being brutally executed. I see in these words the entirety of walking with God in this…
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….
What Is the Gospel?
Ministering to the poor and homeless is not the gospel. Speaking in tongues, prophesying, and moving in other gifts is not the gospel. Pro-Christian political activism is not the gospel. Intercessory prayer is not the gospel. Healings and miracles are not the gospel. Tradition is not the gospel. Creation care is not the gospel. Evangelizing…
Prayers to Santa
Our local paper publishes letters to Santa written by children in the community. Here is one of the more hilarious examples: To Santu, Mii krismislist I wont usiinsset end a ulabkot u snacset. I wont to sekrokuoil huntr u skoodr bag. (No, your font isn’t scrambled. I typed it exactly as written). The letters cover…
A Demon’s Advice on Prayer
Recently, I began re-reading CS Lewis’s classic, The Screwtape Letters. For the uninitiated, Screwtape is a series of letters in which a senior demon, Screwtape, instructs a junior demon, Wormwood, on the finer points of capturing a human soul. The letters begin when Wormwood’s subject is an atheist; they end after Wormwood’s subject becomes a Christian and later…
I Believe in Science!
I follow a couple blogs that do a lot of outreach to atheists. They are Hardwired and See There’s this Thing Called Biology… Both of these sites feature engaging authors who are incisive and quick-witted. I laugh as much as I think when reading their posts. These blogs never disappoint when it comes to generating discussion, often with die-hard…
The Voice of One 