Posts from July 2023

Positively inclined. Generally, we find ourselves positively inclined toward someone who is special to someone who is special to us. “Oh, you’re a friend of my friend so & so? Well, by all means, come on in! And now what can I do for you?” I think this is at the root of Paul’s appeal to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus. “Philemon, I have a special place in my heart for…

Have you ever had one of those dreams in which you find yourself in that dream sinning against the Lord? Perhaps egregiously? And knowingly? From time to time I have. If you’re like me, when you awake you have a sense of relief that it didn’t really happen. But there’s also a startled-ness as you think, “Oh, my! Could I actually do that against my Lord? Grieve so deeply…

Barb and I have been camping with our grandkids this week. We’ve had some wonderful times with these young ones and our hearts are full to overflowing. But the matter of freedom has come up a time or two: Why can’t we go to the river by ourselves? Why can’t we ride our bikes on the big road? Why do we have to have a grownup with us? (Ad nauseum? Well, not…

Pleading the Mercy! When someone you know has taken some ill-advised turns in life and then comes up against some degree of crisis, how do you pray? I’ll confess that sometimes I pray rather consequentially. “Lord, so & so has done such & such and now the consequences have arrived. Plow deeply, Lord, that he/she may learn the lessons well and not take those…