Good evening, friend! Every parent thinks their newborn is beautiful. But truth be told, some newborns are a little bit “beautiful-er” than the others! As enthusiastic and proud as I was of my inaugural sourdough bake, when I look at it a little more dispassionately, I realize that my loaf was in the less “beautiful-er” […]
Read More… from Sleep on This: The Bread Chronicles‚Äîleaven (May 6)
Good evening, friend! Wow—did I strike a chord! I had no idea how many of you were bakers—or pretending to be bakers… or hoping to be bakers. But it sure explains why I can’t find bread flour or a dough spatula to save my life. (WinCo came through on the flour!) And a Danish dough […]
Read More… from Sleep on This: The Bread Chronicles ‚Äì what have you done for me lately?
Good evening, friend! One of my goals during this COVID-19 recess is to improve myself. Cyndi and I are taking online Portuguese lessons so that we can communicate with our beautiful new daughter-in-law, Deb. (Cyndi is more diligent than I; I am constantly playing catch-up!) But here’s one that I’m taking on all by myself: […]
One of the things I try to teach my young colleagues is the importance of being nimble in ministry. When cultural shifts occur, too often the church is scrambling to keep up, much less get ahead of those changes. The gospel message is timeless but you MUST remain light on your feet in order to […]
Good evening, friend. I hope your soul is well! A dear pastor friend of mine suffers from terrible scoliosis, curvature of the spine. It was a problem all his life but finally reached a point where he was so bowed and pained by it, that he had to take radical steps. It required brutal surgery: […]
Good evening friend! “Do all things without grumbling or disputing…” Philippians 2:14 I want to hover over this verse fragment for a couple of days. Because there are few things more thermostatic in a season such as this than the way we choose to speak. Like that dial on our wall with which we control […]
Good evening, friend! When I began to claw through my post-surgical haze, I realized that I was in the recovery room being cared for by a nurse. My most vivid memory was the shakes. I was shivering—uncontrollably. The tremors were so violent that it was actually frightening. I managed to ask what was happening to […]
Read More… from Sleep on This: Fear and trembling (April 28)
Good evening, friend! I have physical proof on my body of my past misadventures. My left shoulder bears the stitch marks where I fell on an upright surveyor’s stake, driving it into my shoulder. My right knee has three slight slits that mark the access points where the surgeon grafted a piece of my […]
Good evening, friend! As you’ve driven across the new Narrows Bridge, you could not have helped noticing the cable anchorage on the west side. This monstrous, MONSTROUS structure, a small part of which is visible above ground, secures the enormous suspension cables in place. Each of these monoliths consists of 22,000 cubic yards of concrete […]
Good evening, friend! I usually begin this evening note by asking, “How is your soul?” Tonight, I want to ask, “Are you hopeful?” I’ve been reflecting a lot on that word, “hope.” I didn’t realize just how prominent a theme it is in scripture. I know that I’ve never spent more time thinking about hope […]