The Splintered Tree

The Splintered Tree Years ago, after a storm in the mountains, I walked through the damp, needle-strewn soil and saw the damage that had been exacted by the lightning the night before. I saw a tree blasted apart and immediately thought of an aspect of my life.  ...

Raw Beginnings in the Gospel of Mark

The Raw Beginnings in the Gospel of Mark   Though I’ve read through the Gospel of Mark at least 40 times (and in three languages), this time reading the first two chapters struck me in a new way, with its rawness, its almost-violent use of language.   There...

About Those Pink Hats– A Christian Woman’s Reaction

After I saw all those pink hats, and found out what they meant, I did what I never thought I'd do. I decided– and announced publicly– that I was going to start wearing a head covering while praying or speaking publicly at church. From most ancient of...

A New Year, a New Beginning

  I have a friend who is suffering. Here is the prayer I wrote and prayed for her today: I pray she will awaken and say today, “This sorrow is a little less acute, the spiny edges of it have worn down a bit, and I know a new thing. I can feel something as I...

The Sodom book: Archaeology or Junk?

Come on, admit it. You're afraid that a new book on an archaeological discovery that validates the Bible is going to be some kind of pseudo-science junk, right? So read these endorsements (click on the link below):   Discovering the City of Sodom...

The Principle of Contravention

This is an excerpt from a lesson in a series, and “drills down” to some of the principles that we must adopt if we are to have the mind of Christ. Specifically, we must factor into our thinking the fact that, without our knowledge, God contravenes or...