Oak and Oat
Oat and Oak October 2024 Matthew 21:16 Y’know what I think, Grampa?” Bailey squiggled her 10-year-old self onto the recliner, snuggled up next to her grandfather. She was warm and fragrant from playing. Her...
Convocation of Flies
Convocation of FliesIsaiah 14:12-27 1 Peter 5:8 James 4:7 Ephesians 4:27September 2024Shielded within a sphere of light, tall, broad of shoulder, sun-bright in white robes, Mikha’el and Gavri’el watched the convocation below. A foul taste came to...
Sprinting In LaPaz
Sprinting in La Paz August 2024 Matthew 13.22 Ecclesiastes 9.11 Today was no different. It’s the crunch of the sand or maybe breeze in the palm trees, waves lapping on the shore, whatever. Every time I step off the blacktop onto the sand, the memories click,...
The Third Day
July 2024 Matthew 28:1-4 Dust filtered into the darkened tomb, silently erasing the signs of mourning. The cold body lay on the bier, lovingly draped in a linen burial shroud. Outside, Roman legionnaires, eyes juddering in the dawnlight, await this, the third day....
Barbershop Duet
Barbershop DuetJune 20241 Peter 3:15 Squinting against the rain, his thoughts anywhere but where he was going, Roger Berlingson caught the red and white candycane out of the corner of his eye just in time to avoid whacking it with his head. Good thing it was there. If...
T. Tom
Matthew 5.38-39 Romans 1:17-19 Six o’clock Saturday morning, T. Tom awoke just as he did every Saturday morning. He was ten years of age and everyone called him T. Tom, his dad, his grandparents, aunts and uncles, even his friends. Everyone except mother, Maggie...
Light-Bearer
John 1.5 | John 8.12 | 1 John 1.7 “Remember in the Bible where Jesus saw Nathanael, when he said, ‘Behold, here is an Israelite in whom there is no guile?” “Um, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry? Yeah.” “Well, that’s what I thought about Chris first time I met him....
Mary’s Boy
Luke 2 The house was spare, but clean and warm, and as I entered, she welcomed me with grace. Her loving smile spoke the words of her heart. Mary beckoned me to a table, one of rough-hewn edge and finely finished top. Strong and sturdy, it was a table of substance and...
White Hat
White Hat Matthew 28:19-20 As if the whap-whap of the windshield wipers wasn’t enough to drive him nuts, the squint-eyed headlights that made short, wrinkled stabs into the night just made it worse. “Lord,” he said, “gimme a break. Been driving for six hours....
LESSONS FROM THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY
LESSONS FROM THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF JESUS' EARTHLY MINISTRY—LUKE 5:1-11 (CSB) As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret. He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing...