“Don’t talk to strangers.” It’s what my mother told me all the time growing up, and I’m sure it’s what you tell your own children. Strangers aren’t safe because you don’t know them.
Do Not Resist an Evil Person
April 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment
How do you respond to someone who does not behave as a Christian ought to behave, whether they are or are not a fellow Christian? The easy answer is to quote Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, “turn the other cheek.”
A Quiet Life: Living at Peace with One’s Self
April 12, 2023 by Leave a Comment
One great embarrassment of Christians is that we talk so much and so loudly. Interviews and conversations of all kinds often remind us of a pride of lions feeding, snapping and snarling, each lunging in for a moment and then getting shoved aside by others.
Crossroads: My Shepherd
March 27, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Most of the time, I associate this Psalm with funerals. I don’t like to read this Psalm because it brings to mind sadness and pain. And yet, this Psalm is all about peace.
Crossroads: Fishers of People
January 23, 2023 by
Going fishing takes patience. You have to wait awhile (sometimes a very long while) before the fish start biting. First you put something on your hook that you hope the fish will want to eat. Then you plop that hook into the water and you wait. Sometimes you may move it around some, but you have to wait for the fish.
Crossroads: Remembering the Saints
November 7, 2022 by
On All Saints’ Day, we remember the important people in our faith. We remember people like Abraham and Moses. We remember David. We remember Peter and the disciples. We remember Paul.
Crossroads: How Can We Find Joy in the Lord?
August 29, 2022 by
There are days when I feel close to God and days when I don’t. There are days when I absolutely know that I am following God and doing what God wants me to do, and there are days when I’m a bit unsure.
A Holy Threshold
April 20, 2022 by
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? The only human with clean hands and a pure heart will, and he will never lift up his soul to what is false.
Crossroads: The Empty Tomb
April 18, 2022 by
I’ve believed in Jesus for as long as I can remember. I was in church almost from the moment I was born, and I don’t remember believing anything different.
The Great
March 30, 2022 by
Great. That’s a word we’ve heard again and again in recent years. Conquerors and strongmen throughout time fancied themselves as great.
Crossroads: Waiting on the Lord
March 14, 2022 by
I find myself anxious a good bit of the time. I worry about what will happen, whether or not something will actually occur, and if things will turn out okay. It seems like Psalm 27 was written for worriers.
“Come and See”
March 9, 2022 by
After witnessing the weeping of Mary and her surrounding community, Jesus is greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved (v. 33). But he does not weep himself until the people entreat him to “come and see” where Lazarus’s body has been laid (v. 34).
Crossroads: Everyone
March 7, 2022 by
My granddad loved to fish. And I wasn’t a fan of fishing. In fact, I thought fishing was pretty boring. But one day he talked me into going fishing with him for a tournament. We have pictures to prove that I caught a fish that day (that I wouldn’t touch).
Persecuted
March 1, 2022 by
There are people all over the world who are being persecuted—truly persecuted—for righteousness’ sake, for the sake of their faithful witness to their relationship with God and to the ways of God’s kingdom.
Hunger Pains
February 15, 2022 by
After five days of camping, hiking, and high ropes courses in the scenic foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, the first thing I wanted to do was take a long, steamy shower. The second thing I wanted to do was eat.
Opened Heavens
February 1, 2022 by
Jesus’ baptism somehow prompted an amazing representation of the thing that Jesus’ life in its entirety was about: the barrier between heaven and earth was penetrated and the way from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven was opened.
Crossroads: God’s Great Plan for You
January 31, 2022 by
As a child, I never liked to see people unhappy. I always wanted to do what I could to help. When I was about five, we went to a local nursing home to sing for the residents. While we were there, we met a lady in a wheelchair who really wanted to go home.
Crossroads: The Body of Christ
January 24, 2022 by
Talk about a time in your life when you had to work as a team with others. Talk about what your role was and how each person had a different role. What were you trying to accomplish?
Crossroads: How Big Is God’s Love?
January 17, 2022 by
I can remember saying “I love you this much!” as a child, with my arms open wide. I’m sure you’ve seen children do this before: they open their arms as wide as they can and say “I love you this much!” Or they give you a bear hug and squeeze and say the same thing.
Crossroads: Why We Baptize
January 10, 2022 by
I have loved Jesus for practically my whole life. I grew up in church, and we were there pretty much every time the church was open. At seven years old, I told Jesus that I wanted him to be my Savior and I was baptized.
“Trust Me”
December 15, 2021 by
I lay on a gurney in a hospital emergency room. Two fire ant bites had caused me to break out in welts, with my ears ringing loudly and my airway getting tighter by the minute.
Favored One
November 24, 2021 by
There she sits on the dusty ground, more child than woman, wearing much-mended hand-me-downs. Calloused hands are cooking bread on heated stones.
Crossroads: Thanksgiving
November 22, 2021 by
This is a time when families gather together around a table filled with food, and remember all of the things for which they are thankful. Some years it’s easy to remember the blessings you’ve been given. But other years, it seems as if nothing has gone right.
“I Hate Your Festivals”
November 16, 2021 by
Take a moment to think of your favorite hymn or worship song. Now take another moment to think about your favorite annual worship service.
Crossroads: Giving Generously
November 15, 2021 by
Has there been a time when you didn’t have much, but you still gave to the church or to someone else? Talk about that sacrifice: how it felt, how you had to step out on faith, etc.
Crossroads: God Is Our Refuge
October 25, 2021 by
Last week our devotion was on times when it seems like God isn’t there. This week’s psalm is a reminder to us that God is always there and that God is our refuge.
“What Is It?”
October 13, 2021 by
When evening comes, and quails fly into the hunger-stricken Israelite camp, it must have been something like Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.
Crossroads: Small
October 11, 2021 by
Has nature ever just wowed you? Have you ever felt small when looking at the ocean or the stars? Talk about a time when you felt awed by something in nature.
Crossroads: The Answer Is Prayer
October 4, 2021 by
I’m a worrier. It’s who I am. I worry about test results, about family members and close friends, about the future, etc. Sometimes my worry feels overwhelming. And so I pray.
Crossroads: Children
September 27, 2021 by
“Children should be seen and not heard.” “Go sit at the kid’s table.” Did you hear things like this when you were a child? Maybe you were taught that you should sit quietly and not interrupt the grownups who were talking.
Just the Way You Are
September 8, 2021 by
Like millions of kids who grew up between 1970 and 2001, our son watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood almost every weekday for many years. Generations of kids loved and trusted this caring adult who spoke directly to them in the most personal and respectful way.
God’s Feminine Side Is Plain to See
September 7, 2021 by
Any half way decent theologian will tell you that God is decidedly not an old man on a throne in the sky. That this image of God persists somehow in the popular imagination, most likely has to do with some language we find in the Bible and the layers and layers of patriarchy involved in the whole shebang.
Crossroads: Do Something
September 6, 2021 by
Theory and practice are two very different things. I may believe that I can do something, but until I actually do it, who knows whether or not I can?
Crossroads: What Should I Ask For?
August 23, 2021 by
As a child of the 90s, I cannot tell you how many times I watched Aladdin. It was one of my favorite movies.
Crossroads: Watch What God Does
August 16, 2021 by
Have you ever been in a foreign place where you didn’t know what to do and how to act? Most of the time, when we are in places like these, we watch others to see what they do and how they act.
Crossroads: Roots
August 2, 2021 by
Today’s Scripture is all about our roots growing in God’s love. How do you feel about your life’s roots? Have they grown deep in God’s love?
Crossroads: King of Glory
July 19, 2021 by
The LORD Almighty is the King of glory. The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it. Praise the LORD! Sometimes we forget that everything is God’s and that God created everyone.
Crossroads: Our Guide
July 12, 2021 by
We recently finished Everest VBS. As the leader of Base Camp Sing and Play as well as Summit Celebration, I was known as a Sherpa. A Sherpa is an expert guide on Mount Everest whose job it is to guide climbers safely up and back down Everest.
Crossroads: Giving
July 5, 2021 by
One of my favorite stories of giving comes from one of the children at church. At six years old, she received a dollar from the tooth fairy for losing a tooth. But she didn’t use that money to buy something for herself.
Crossroads: The Storms of Life
June 28, 2021 by
I was always terrified of storms as a child. The thunder scared me the most, and my mom could never convince me that the thunder couldn’t hurt me.
Crossroads: God Knows
June 7, 2021 by
Talk about a time in your life when you felt invisible, when you felt like no one else knew your pain and it seemed like you were on your own. Did you turn to God?
Crossroads: Holy, Holy, Holy
May 31, 2021 by
God is different from everything else in our universe. He is the Creator, and the only One who is holy. I am most reminded of God’s holiness during communion and during Holy week.
Crossroads: Being a Witness
May 17, 2021 by
My grandmother calls herself a “scrap baby.” She was born in 1928, on the cusp of the Great Depression. Because she was the baby of her family, she always received the scraps.
Crossroads: Friends
May 10, 2021 by
I was at school when I got the call that she was gone, and a friend of mine found me crying in the hallway. He comforted me and then we went our separate ways.
Crossroads: Staying Connected
May 3, 2021 by
I have always loved wisteria. I know that it’s a parasite, but it has always been beautiful to me. One of my favorite parts of driving to my grandparents’ house as a kid was driving past the beautiful wisteria growing in a patch of trees.
Crossroads: Compassion
April 25, 2021 by
How do you show compassion for others? Did you help others when you were a child, or is it something you have started recently?
Crossroads: A Blank Slate
April 19, 2021 by
It’s no secret that I loved school as a child. One of my favorite parts about going back to school was buying school supplies. Even if I had pens and pencils at home, I wanted new ones for school.
A Dark Day of Rest
April 13, 2021 by
The disciples, the women who had been following Jesus, and the other followers of Christ rested on the Sabbath. Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body on that Friday and placed him in a tomb.