Originally posted on Kingdom Harbor:
When Sarah was a little girl, she loved to dance and twirl barefooted across the soft green grass of her childhood home and feel the soft blades in between her toes. One day she noticed a small solitary yellow dandelion growing up amidst all the green and thought, “How beautiful!”…
A repost from 2008. I was doing the annual spring yard clean-up this past weekend. My wife had done most of the raking and left them in neat piles for me to come behind and bag up. I’m a manly man, so I didn’t think I needed to wear work gloves to pick up a … More Cursing the Fall
Several years back I was raking leaves in the late autumn sun while Keri pruned a rose bush. When I reached down to grab a big pile of leaves to stuff in the bag, my fingers grasped a handful of thorny briers Keri had tossed under the leaves when I wasn’t looking. As the thorns … More Sermon: Suffering & God’s Providence
Woke up to some sad news today. Rachel and I began blogging around the same time (back when I was chasing web traffic). She became famous, and I’m still writing to you three people out there. The Christian world lost a big voice and good person today. From CBN News: Rachel Held Evans, a popular … More Rest in Peace, Rachel
“Men invent means and methods of coming at God’s love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God’s presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do … More QUOTABLES: Brother Lawrence on Prayer
by Skye Jethani The use of pre-written prayers carries many benefits, as we’ve been exploring over the last few days. They guide our often wandering minds to focus on God. They instruct us to think rightly about our Lord with a depth we often lack. They can also remind us that communion with God is … More Consumer Faith & Magic Spells (Skye Jethani)
“It may be that God has the eternal appetite of infancy.” -G.K. Chesterton I had a great conversation this week about the role of imagination in spiritual growth. We spoke a bit about how children tend to be more open to new things than adults. (I recently wrote about Abby’s 4-year old “StarryEyed” infatuation with unicorns.) … More The Role of Imagination in Faith
Are original, spontaneous prayers the only prayers that come “from the heart”? Why do many Christians look down upon recited or written prayers as inferior? In a recent sermon I mentioned this aversion to “recited prayers” and preference for so-called prayers that come “from the heart.” I think this phenomenon is very new and modern, … More Spontaneous vs. Recited Prayers
Do you ever feel like your prayers are ending up in a vacant building somewhere with no one there to respond? A couple years ago I decided to hit record on my iPhone microphone during my 5 minute walk down and up our long driveway to get the mail. I was trying to find little … More Mailbox Podcast: “Pizza & Prayer”
Repost from 2018. -JB “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, TEACHING in the synagogues…and he HEALED every kind of disease and illness” (Matt 9:35). My sermon text for this Sunday is Mark 1:29-39 which displays Jesus’ powerful healing ministry, first with Simon’s mother-in-law, and then “the whole city was gathered … More Q&A: Why do prayers go unanswered?
Do you ever worry about things? Do you ever get frustrated? Do you have to interact with difficult people some days? Do you have to make decisions each day? If so, then you are only one small adjustment away from a rich prayer life! Despite the fact that I’m a “professional Christian,” i.e., a pastor, … More Prayer: Attentiveness to God in the Mundane
As we’re thinking about prayer this week, I’m reposting this scene from my “Father’s Cabin” series detailing my imaginative weekend retreat with Jesus. Enjoy!
This Sunday my sermon is on prayer. Here’s a repost. Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. … More Inhabiting the Lord’s Prayer
This piece by Shauna goes along with my Easter message this past Sunday. Thanks for sharing this, Keri. -JB Holy Saturday. We live next to the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. We walk by it dozens of times a day, and those doors are always, always open—no matter how early I’m leaving for a flight, … More Holy Saturday (Shauna Niequist)
This Thursday we will gather in our home for our first HouseChurch gathering of the spring. We will share a meal, fellowship, hear the apostles’ teachings, celebrate the eucharist and pray for Thy Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. The shades will be up and our doors will be unlocked and … More Locked Doors, Deflated Hearts
Driving through the Colorado mountains in our minivan last month, our family got a great kick out of holding our breath as we drove through the tunnels that drill their way through the mountain. After a suspenseful moment of darkness, the light would appear up ahead, and a few seconds later we would be laughing … More The Journey Through Easter Mountain
We recently watched the movie Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) at MainStreet which is a stirring account of the last days of Paul’s life before he is martyred in Rome. In our discussion time afterwards, someone rightly pointed out that persecution isn’t just ancient history or an early church reality; more people today are dying for their faith … More The Persecuted Church Today
“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the Cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples and stood … More He Suffered For Us (by John Stott)
Why did Peter refuse to let Jesus wash his feet? One possibility is that Peter was embarrassed for Jesus. He didn’t want to see his rabbi, his master, take such a humiliating role. Maybe he was trying to protect Jesus from his own undignified behavior. That is one possibility, but I don’t think it’s the … More Jesus’ Humiliation & Ours (Skye Jethani)
You cannot be part of the Evangelical Covenant Church family very long before you come to know the story of Dr. Paul Carlson, a medical missionary to Congo (1962-1964), who gave up his life in service to Jesus. Here’s his story: Doctor Paul E. Carlson, or Monganga Paul as he was known by the Congolese … More Martyrdom of Paul Carlson, Covenant Missionary
CHICAGO, IL (April 16, 2019) – COVENANT COMPANION | by Stan Friedman It took only a few moments for the Notre Dame Cathedral to change the life of Covenant pastor Don Johnson. Johnson and his wife, Martha, were celebrating their fifteenth wedding anniversary in 1990, when he entered the cathedral as “a dumb tourist.” “When I … More Covenanters Reflect on Cathedral Fire
The Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions is one of the oldest and most notable early Christian texts. It survives in both Latin and Greek forms, and contains a first person prison diary of the young mother and martyr Perpetua. Scholars generally believe that it is authentic although in the form we … More The Martyrdom of Perpetua (203 AD)
As we wrap up the “CrossRoad” series, let me share a collection of great quotes on cruciformity or, a life shaped by the cross. Imagine each quote as a friendly sign or enticing billboard by the side of the road to help keep us on the Narrow Way and from veering into a ditch or … More CrossRoad 6: Cruciformity Quotes
Source: The text below is the full story, from around 160 AD, of the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor (modern Izmir in Turkey) devoted to Roman worship. The account is in the form of a letter from eye-witnesses to other churches in the area. It … More The Martyrdom of Polycarp (155AD)
The climax of every Asian food experience is breaking open that fortune cookie to gain new insight our own imminent futures. I keep waiting to open the one that says, “Your love for deep-fried Cream Cheese Puffs will shorten your life.” But my fortune this time was: YOU WILL BE A LION IN YOUR NEXT … More CrossRoad 5: Lamb Power in a Lion’s World
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