Nebuchadnezzar was unhappy. The ancient Babylonian king had had a disturbing dream and needed to understand its meaning. He called in his seers and advisers, but he knew they were sycophants who would try to flatter and praise the king with their words. He was disturbed enough by the vision he had ... Continue reading
Our bodies, our souls
What does it mean to be human?In an earlier age, that question would have been answered with a conviction that we are a temporal manifestation of a spiritual reality, finding our beginning and end in a sovereign Creator who fashioned us and set us loose in the playground of his designs on ... Continue reading
Winter and the presence of God
A gray ooze has devoured the horizon and wrapped the sky in a damp, claustrophobic dreariness. The sun has been swallowed up; beneath a tinplate damp life shivers, slapping arms and stamping feet to stay warm. A monochromatic twilight robs the desert of its color, while an icy wind rips the last few ... Continue reading
The Red Badge of Courage
[G]radually [the young soldier] ... found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly. He was gleeful when he discovered that he now despised them. ... He felt a quiet manhood, non-assertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He knew that he would no ... Continue reading
Good bye sunshine
I need to laugh and when the sun is out I've got something I can laugh about I feel good in a special way I'm in love and it's a sunny day Good day sunshine... — Good day sunshine, The Beatles As if it isn't enough that oil is flooding the Gulf of Mexico and volcanoes are erupting in Iceland, ... Continue reading
Hemmed in, hiked out
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. — Acts 18:5, ESV Back when I was in college, I had a good friend who lived on the North Carolina coast. Brack and I owned a small sailboat together, and whenever I could ... Continue reading
Amber
Yesterday, I put my dog to sleep. She was Amber Golden Waves of Grain, or just Amber to us, a very light golden retriever whose silky fur glistened like gold in the sun and whose eyes danced with joy whenever she was near us. Amber's expressive eyes always telegraphed her feelings. I'm bored: play ... Continue reading