For a gardener, like myself, March is an in-between month. The dried, gray-brown stalks on the oak leaf hydrangea, left over from last autumn, stand at attention, like a proud, old war veteran in his outdated, ill-fitting military uniform. And like a Continue Reading
February 24, 2013
Considering a Call Amidst the Clamor of Bigger is Better
Dear Students of the Pastoral Ministry: Charles Haddon Spurgeon had it right when he commented on Zechariah 4:10: "It is a very great folly to despise 'the day of small things,' for it is usually God’s way to begin His great works with small Continue Reading
February 15, 2013
Growing in Joy all the Way Home
The introduction of Paul's letter to the Philippians begins not only with Thanksgiving but with a prayer for the believers in that beloved church. And within that prayer we are able to discern what St. Paul desired for the Philippians. He desired that Continue Reading
December 4, 2012
Christ: His Life Our Supreme Goal
I took our daily devotions tonight from the reflections of F.B. Meyer and his preaching of the centrality of our Savior in a true religion: "Christ is the all and all in–all of our holy religion...not ceremonials, nor the life of active philanthropy, Continue Reading
November 27, 2012 7 Comments
Advent Readings and Lightings: Pastoral Preparations for the Coming Season
I wanted to give an aid for congregations and pastors, particularly those in free church backgrounds, who want to move away from the commercialization of the season to focus on the Incarnation. That is a hard sell to be sure. But the way to do it is Continue Reading
October 4, 2012
Delighting in the Law?
"I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart" (Psalms 40:8 ESV). I read the passage this morning and then began to move from Psalms to the Old Testament reading, and then to the New Testament. I had other early morning planning items Continue Reading
September 7, 2012
GIVING IT UP FOR GOD: Preservation and Risk in the Kingdom of God (Luke 17:32)
There Is a rather popular phrase (no doubt of spurious origin, although that is a guess!) that has come into the American vernacular. That phrase is, "giving it up…" One may "give it up" for a comedian as he comes on the stage to give his monologue. One Continue Reading
September 3, 2012
A Prayer for the Unity of the Tribes of the Church
they said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?" (Judges 21:3 ESV) Oh Father, as the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 20 and 21, turned against Thee and Thy People and the blood Continue Reading
