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Settling into the Rhythm of Waiting
From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for Him. Isaiah 64:4 ESV Sheltered between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Bay of Fundy boasts the world’s highest tides. Every six or so hours, the land is blanketed by over one hundred million tons of seawater and then exposed again as the water recedes. Like a tub of water in constant motion orchestrated by the sun and the moon, the tide pulls in and then retreats, exposing creatures and causing boats to sit tilted on the sandy bottom. Stand in the Bay…
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Engaging in a Prickly World
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV It seems the world is a bit prickly lately. Perhaps this is my observation and it only applies to southwest Michigan, but for some reason, I’m thinking it’s endemic. Plenty of confounding reasons for humans to be wound a little tighter than days past, so many in fact, I am not even going to list them. You can find them for yourself by typing the letters “Daily News” into your favorite search engine. It is possible to avoid…
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When Your World has Shifted; Is Restoration Possible?
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, and the great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. Joel 2:25-26 Like a student waiting out a tornado warning in the dark hallway of a school building, there are times when it is safer to pull in tight, cover your head with your own hands, and be still while the ties that bind your world snap one at a time. Life is not very tidy. And quite…
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Baby Steps; Discerning the Movement of God
At the beginning of your (Daniel) pleas for mercy, a word went out. Daniel 9:23 ESV Every single breath, a miracle, biochemical pathways dependent upon exact translation of amino acids from RNA, sequenced in order, folded perfectly, matched exactly to a receptor, up regulating, down regulating. Microscopic machines driven by chemistry, and ultimately tiny, tiny waves of energy. We are walking, breathing miracles, always at work, even while at rest. Don’t believe in miracles? Our eyes often scan the horizon of our lives watching and waiting on a miracle, fretting that the God who created us has absentmindedly left us to our own devices. Sixty-four beats per minute, my resting…
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Maintaining A Perspective of Hope; Multi-Generational Sowing
“For here the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered their labor.” John 4:37-38 Inhabitants of the free world stopped and gasped this week, breathing through their social media outlets with a call for prayer. A shattered republic standing in a pool of blood, blood from centuries of humans battling for the right to rule and the blood of foreign men and women dressed in battle fatigues, fighting for something. Something sometimes defined, sometimes not. My heart broke for strong, intelligent, steadfast women, children, a generation of young people who…
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The Great Interruption; Encountering Jesus Christ
As he (Saul) neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord,” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:3-6 Saul’s (soon to be Paul) blinding encounter with Jesus Christ may be the most prominent encounter story recorded in the Bible. Saul is en route to Damascus, comrades and letter bag in tow. He is intent on deterring the radical Jesus…
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Sacred Stories; Perseverance and Hope
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked for us. Hebrews 12:1 The words to Nightbirde’s (Jane Marczewski) chart climbing hit, “It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok, if you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright”, roll through bringing relief like thunder from a summer storm. Her stunning smile carries a story and a sacred song, “the voice we all need to hear right now”. An admission of hopeful questions and acceptance that not all answers are meant for…
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Mary’s Lamb; Behold the One Who Takes Away the Sin of the World
“Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 Our last glimpse of Mary interacting with her son is recorded in John 19:26-27. She is near the cross, where he hangs cruciform, held in place by metal stakes, his breathing raspy, heavy with effort. She is being held up herself, by the other Marys, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Three women clinging to one another as they witness the unfathomable, their Jesus, fulfilling a purpose Mary would not have chosen for her beloved son. Jesus calls to his mother and to John, “Dear woman, here is your son, ” and to…
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It’s Just a Dream; When God Plants a Seed
“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Genesis 45:8 I feel spring in my bones, not just warmer air and longer days, the birds noisy in the morning. I feel restlessness stirring in my heart, I want it to hurry up already. I run it out, begging the terrain to pound against the soles of my shoes. I am not running because it feels good. It does not. I feel the impact against my joints as I run, I will feel it later. It is the rhythm I am after, the rhythm of breathing and of the pavement hitting my feet. I engage in the…
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Digging Out; Where Does Your Help Come From?
I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 The boy’s day starts long before his sister or I consider waking. Winter brings challenges to our West Michigan home, primarily in the form of a relatively long driveway built on an incline. There is a slight curve in the middle, identifying those who belong to this driveway and those who do not. Experience is required to navigate both an entrance to and an exit from the home that sits atop the hill, experience or a four-wheel drive vehicle. The boy’s…
