spirit ⁽²⁷⁸⁾

Zechariah 3:1–10; Matthew 9:1–8; Revelation 22:7–17 Most parents have to tell their children to clean their rooms. There are those rare exceptional (weird) children who clean up their rooms on their own. There are also those parents who have conditioned their children to behave in…

1 Samuel 16:1–5; Luke 14:28–33; James 4:13–17 (read online ⧉) But mouse-friend, you are not alone in proving foresight may be vain: the best-laid schemes of Mice and Men go oft awry, and leave us only grief and pain, for promised joy! Still, friend, you're…

John 17:1–11; Ephesians 1:17–23 (read online ⧉) I thought how ironic it was that I’d dismissed dog meat as a cultural idiosyncrasy in Vietnam; that “who I am to judge?” extended to Islamic laws in Uzbekistan and Buddhist temple restrictions in Cambodia, but not to…

Psalm 109:1–7; John 5:41–47; Acts 18:9–18 (read online ⧉) Tar and feathering is a few hundred years old. They did not really use tar (usually), but other sticky substances. It also was not just feathers, but other garbage that people tossed at those being cast…

Psalm 138; Mark 1:14–16; John 16:5–11 (read online ⧉) Some of you know just how simple our faith really is. On the other hand, within its simplicity is great complexity. The tension within that “entertains” theologians, and can drive the rest of us a little…