In the almost ONE YEAR we’ve been on various shelter in place orders, I have to admit it was the sourdough craze that really tipped me over the edge in my feeling of utter unaccomplishment. I hadn’t taken up running! I absolutely hadn’t yet learned a language.
Read MoreHave you ever tried to control the outcome of something so much that even though you recognize no matter how much you think about it or stress out, there isn't much you can do that will actually change the outcome?
Read MoreJacob is born making a selfish power grab (literally grabbing the heel of his brother, Esau). And then he deceptively tricks his father, Isaac, into giving him Esau's blessing - who trades it for a bowl of stew. Yet in spite of Jacob's selfish behavior & his own human frailty, God still earnestly desires to bless him, as we see during Jacob's dream in Genesis 28:13-17:
Read MoreIn Luke 15 we find Jesus explaining three parables to the crowds. The parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. After the shepherd finds his sheep, the woman finds her coin, and the father receives his lost son back into his arms, there is great rejoicing.
Read MoreAs I write this, I’m feeling what I imagine many of you are feeling as well, kind of hopeless. Not inspired or optimistic, tiptoeing our way through 2021. I have a lot to be thankful for but it is easy to forget all of that with the flurry of activity that seems to be shot out of the social media firehose every day. And then I read Luke 14 and was thinking about the man Jesus healed.
Read MoreWe start our devotional today with Luke 14:1-24, where Jesus speaks about feasts and banquets! I know that Christmas & New Year’s celebrations looked very different for us due to the pandemic! Oh how we long to be invited again to each other’s homes to share a feast around the table!
Read MoreToday my wife is scheduled to be induced into labor for our first child, and as I’m considering what life is going to be like as a father, I can’t help but think about what I was like as a kid. I was the youngest of five - two half siblings, a foster sister and a full brother - and with that amount of chaos in the house my Dad didn’t have enough time to explain his reasonings for everything.
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