At the Intersection of Theology, Nature, and the Arts
A PILGRIMAGE TO BETHLEHEM ON CHRISTMAS EVE John 6:35, 40 and Mark 10:46-52 Today as we look at the sixth chapter of the gospel of John and at the tenth chapter of the gospel of Mark, we’ll be examining the meaning of Christ’s coming into the world in terms of new life, abundant life, and …
Today's entry in the Our Daily Bread devotional begins with this: "I have always enjoyed the wit and insight of Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz. One of my favorite cartoons drawn by him appeared in a book about young people in the church. It shows a young man holding a Bible as he tells a friend …
Continue reading "Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa Preparing to Reopen"
The following was originally published on September 7, 2012 on my website, The Rockery (www.the-rockery.com). On August 29, 2005 at 6:10 a.m. Central Daylight Time, Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the United States as a Category 3 hurricane bringing with it devastating floods, battering winds . . . catastrophic destruction. More than …
Continue reading "How Could a Loving and All-Powerful God Allow the Catastrophic to Occur?"
I am often asked for recommendations of devotional materials. Topping my list is Devotional Classics. (I've mentioned DC elsewhere on this site but want to reemphasize it and a couple of others today). I've used this book in my seminary and church-based classes on spiritual formation and development in the disciplines of the faith. I have …
“Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous”--Isaiah 7:11 (NIV) Ahab went out to meet Elijah. The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, “So it’s you, old troublemaker!” “It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government—you’ve dumped God’s ways and …
Oh, how I enjoy being gently wakened by a soft breeze and a sound river of birdsong just as the sun is rising! Our Creator knit us together in our mothers' wombs and He knows us better than we know ourselves. He delights in bringing this treat of peace and pleasure for our senses before …
“The greatest problems of our time are not technological, for these we handle fairly well. They are not even political or economic, because the difficulties in these areas, glaring as they may be, are largely derivative. The greatest problems are moral and spiritual, and unless we can make some progress in these realms, we may …
Continue reading "Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth"
“Rise, let us be going” (Matthew 26:46). In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; …
Luke 11:33-36 Richard Rolle (1290-1349) writes, in his The Fire of Love, about the spiritual flame that feeds the soul: “I cannot tell you how surprised I was the first time I felt my heart begin to warm. It was real warmth, too, not imaginary, and it felt as if it were actually on fire. …
Christ is building His kingdom with earth’s broken things. Human beings want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth’s broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take …
Continue reading "Christ is Building His Kingdom with Earth’s Broken Things"
DFG Hailson 