Tag Archives: Christianity

Not for the Faint of Heart

I teach a children’s Sunday School. It is not for the faint of heart, and not just because you might get hit with a spitball or handed a “cootie.” (“Could you squish this, teacher? I found it on my sister’s head.”) Last semester, we worshiped by singing a song called, “Sing Wherever I Go.” SomeContinue reading “Not for the Faint of Heart”

Loving Leviticus

Leviticus gets the short end of the stick. Pastors rarely exhort congregants to start their Bible reading in Leviticus. Adjectives for the book abound: boring, dense, antiquated, dull.  To most, it is a list of rules for an ancient people who weren’t able to keep them. But David found treasure in the book of Leviticus.Continue reading “Loving Leviticus”

A Holy Calling

6,646 feet above sea level, I saw a flower on Logan’s Pass in Montana. Bees and butterflies took nourishment from it, and so did I, in a way. In a field of wildflowers, this one held my attention and reached above the highest mountains to gather sunlight. It did not cause itself to germinate orContinue reading “A Holy Calling”

Ears You Have Dug For Me

It’s the time of year for sappy sentimentality to croon out of every radio and department store speaker. As soon as I hear anything about Christmas shoes, old lovers in grocery stores, or chestnuts, I wish I could close my ears. Yet I have my own sentimental list of things I do around the ChristmasContinue reading “Ears You Have Dug For Me”

Let’s Try Again

Before the whole fishy incident, God gave Jonah this command: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before Me.” Obviously, Jonah did not like this command, and he attempted to flee from the presence of the Lord. (Mistake #1.) You’ve probably read how thatContinue reading “Let’s Try Again”

20 Chickens and the Good Samaritan

I put an ad on Tradio looking for giveaway chickens or roosters, and I was inundated with calls.  The inflated price of chicks competed with the inflated price of eggs this Spring, so instead of buying chicks, I waited. Perhaps someone would have extra chickens in the Fall. They did. After our homeschool group onContinue reading “20 Chickens and the Good Samaritan”

The Lost Art of the Missionary Story

When Jesus sent His disciples out two by two, they cast out unclean spirits, and they called for people to repent of their sins.  They were excited when they returned to Him with the world’s first Christian missionary stories.  Missionary stories aren’t in vogue any more. My favorite one, written by Amy Carmichael, a missionaryContinue reading “The Lost Art of the Missionary Story”

On Praying for Your Pastor

I prayed for my pastor today. He had crawled up into the church’s playground equipment and was scrubbing graffitied profanity with a magic eraser.  As I watched him scrub, I thought of the many times people brought him their sins, cloaked as problems to be solved. Instead of offering magic erasers, my pastor gave theContinue reading “On Praying for Your Pastor”