Proclaiming a word from God should not be easy. I am not a prophet in the Old Testament sense of the word. Hebrews 1:1-2 makes it pretty clear that in times past God spoke through the prophets but now he speaks through the son – through Jesus. So, the men and women of God who were given a “Thus says Yahweh” message relevant to specific realities are no longer the means of communication. Continue reading →

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe there are conspiracies out there. I just don’t see them everywhere. And there is an important truth about conspiracies. Not all conspiracies are bad. Oh, to be sure, plenty are. Evil forces will join forces and lay traps in an attempt to advance their own means. They conspire against others because they hate or because they care more about themselves. But there are good conspiracies as well. No really! Continue reading →

There once was a farmer who lived south of a dam. After a couple of dry years, this farmer decided that the corps of engineers was too slow in releasing water. His land was suffering after all. They didn’t release near enough water and they waited too long to release what little they did. Those stingy corps of engineers folk don’t really know what they’re doing. Continue reading →

The other day, my wife and I took our grandchildren to Fort Lincoln State Park. One of the things in this park to see is an On-the-Slant Village. It is a replica of how the Mandan Native Americans used to live. The dwelling places were mounds constructed with wood and covered with earth. Our grandson was a little hesitant to enter. Continue reading →

We don’t like to be inconvenienced. Well, it is more than that really. We expect life to be fair. And we want a God who will orchestrate everything to our liking and wealth and well-being. Well? Don’t we? So, if there is a message in the Bible that says, “Hey, life is hard, get used to it” we want to tweak it to mean something else. Surely, Jesus meant the opposite when he said that if we follow him we will be hated; persecuted; crucified; die. Continue reading →

Just for argument’s sake, let’s say you don’t like the president of the United States. Not as a person necessarily, but as a president. And let’s say with every new day and new policy you are shouting out “ENOUGH!” You feel like you are being wearied to exhaustion. And just to be clear I am speaking of any president; whoever may be president. Continue reading →

A few years ago, Cindy and I were hiking up to Lake Serene in Washington State. This was a long hike that meandered up several feet in elevation. Can you say, “switchbacks” boys and girls? Sure, I knew you could. As we were hiking, people coming back down kept telling us, “Its not far now.” And as we hiked and hiked and heard over and over again, “Its not far now,” we questioned whether or not we should just turn back. But we didn’t. We stayed the course. We believed that Lake Serene was really up there . . . somewhere. Continue reading →

Just so you know, Ahaz is not the hero of the story. As a matter of fact, when you read about him in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28, he is kind of horrible. The account in 2 Kings tells us that he made his son pass through the fire, which means he burned his son as a sacrifice to some god or other. He burned incense in the high places. Continue reading →

Sometimes it can feel like trying to convince a cat that it should not scratch the furniture. When we had a cat, no amount of trying to reason with him worked at all. We reasoned with a spray bottle. We reasoned with catnip. No matter what we did, the cat just went on clawing the furniture. Often he would sit there looking at you and when you finally looked at him, while gazing into your eyes, he would claw the couch. Continue reading →

How do you describe the presence of God? How do you convey the majesty of heaven? And what about heavenly beings? Is it possible that the descriptions, few and mysterious as they are, are not intended to be taken literally? And is it possible that the person given the vision was allowed to see what was needed in the moment? What you see and how you see may be difficult to communicate; to put into terms that make sense; that convey the essence of the vision.

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