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Baby, It’s Cold Outside!
The past few weeks have been cold. The temperature wasn’t above 20 degrees and the wind chills were dozens of degrees below zero. It’s been cold, cold, cold. I’ve been thinking about the cold weather lately. As I look back at the sentence I just wrote, it strikes me how revealing it is. The fact that I have the ability to think about the cold tells you that I am privileged. I am privileged to have a warm home, a…
The Power of Silence
We are enamored with noise. Ear-splitting crashing noise. Soft background noise. The noise of talking. The noise of busyness. The noise of escape. The noise of anything that keeps us from facing the reality of life that we are trying to avoid. While this noise can be a source of joy, blessing and life, it can also become a distraction from hearing and experiencing God. And that is a problem. Habakkuk’s prophecy starts with Habakkuk’s questions of God. Habakkuk is…
The Revelation of Prayer
Dennis Kinlaw is one of my heroes. I first heard him preach and spent time with him when I was a college student. I had the privilege of studying with him during my years at Asbury Theological Seminary. Since then, I have cherished times of sitting under his ministry and engaging him in conversation. Dr. Kinlaw wrote numerous books but one has been particularly helpful this fall as I’ve been working through the Minor Prophets. If you want to read…
Thoughts about Being Judgmental Christians
Christians in North America have a reputation for being judgmental. Sometimes this moniker is unfair. We are considered judgmental because we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, or because we believe that there is such a thing as right and wrong, or because we take our faith seriously. But far too often, we are considered judgmental because we are. The problem is that our judgmental spirit is hurting us and hurting our witness to people who…
The Day of the Lord
When conversation among Christians focuses on the Day of the Lord, it’s usually bad news, and for good reason. There are many prophecies in the Old and New Testaments that speak of this day as darkness, destruction, consequences and judgment. Scream in terror, for the day of the Lord has arrived—the time for the Almighty to destroy (Isaiah 13:6). For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies (Jeremiah…
When Heroes Die
It’s difficult to watch our heroes die. People who have influenced us have a special place in our hearts and when their lives on this earth come to an end, we find ourselves feeling a bit lost. I find myself in this place as two men who have been very influential in my life have died in the past couple of months. Dennis Kinlaw is one of my spiritual heroes. Out of the thousands of sermons I have heard in…
We Planted a Garden
We’ve been talking about it for a number of years. We took a first step last year: we planted some peppers, tomatoes, beans and herbs in pots on our deck. Since last year went well, we decided to take the plunge this year and plant a garden in our backyard. Our biggest concern is the soil in our yard. It’s all clay and rocks, which is obviously not conducive to a successful garden. Therefore, we decided that if we are…
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