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Decluttering Your Life
Some of the time spent on my phone or my iPad is spent looking at houses that need to be decluttered. There will be closets that are so full of junk that you can’t get to anything you might want to use. There are kitchens that have counters so full of items that there is no room to place another thing or from which you could work. I like to read about the methods used to help with this problem and see the finished product. You know the method: boxes for keep, donate, throw away. Call me crazy if you want to, but there is something satisfying about seeing the…
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I Admit My Privilege
No, I’m not talking about that other kind of privilege that people seem to be so concerned with in recent years. Since the Bible has nothing to say about skin color, I think it is absolutely crazy for our culture to be so obsessed with it. Instead, I’m talking about a privilege that is available to everyone and that is far, far greater. It is one that I used to hear described as a “privilege” more often than I do these days, but maybe we need to get back to using that description. In fact, this privilege provides doors of opportunity and communication that nothing else can. Do you want…
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Cluttered Desks
Having lived on my own now for almost 2 years, I am convinced that there is no more difficult task than keeping a desk clear of clutter for more than about 2 days. This is something that anyone who has seen my desk at the church office or (especially) my desk at home knows about me. I am writing this just after making yet another attempt to clear off the church desk; it’s still not totally clear, but it looks much better than it did before. It’s not that the clutter doesn’t bother me – believe me, it does. It’s just that every time I have a chance to clear…
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Two Preachers, Two Texts, Two Perspectives, One Suggestion
It is not unusual for me to get text messages. I’m reasonably certain that this is not unusual for most (if not) all who will read this. However, there was something unusual about two texts I received recently on the same day. In the morning, I received a text from a friend and brother of mine who has been preaching for a number of years. Like me, he is no longer a young man. That, along with the fact that both he and his wife are dealing with some serious health issues, has made it necessary for him to make the difficult decision to no longer preach on a full-time…
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Week of January 27 “Into the Heart of the Bible” and “Something from the Margin of My Bible”
This week, Leah shares the first of two videos on the Period of Conquest in the Bible. Even if you watch below, please take a moment and subscribe to her channel on YouTube. You can watch the video below or by clicking here. On the margin notes podcast, Adam shares an important devotional thought for the opening of Exodus 15. To listen or subscribe, click here.
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The Water Cycle
I still remember the day I heard the concept. I was blessed that year to have inclusion students in the classroom of a fellow Christian. We were studying the water cycle. Valerie said something to the effect that “All the water on earth has been here from the beginning because it’s all recycled.” Mind blown. The same water that Noah dealt with during the flood, that Elijah prayed would be withheld and then given again, that the Lord said falls “on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), is the same rain that falls on our heads. It changes forms, but it goes through the cycle over and over, watering…
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A Presidential Funeral, John Lennon, and Acts 17
Whenever a United States President dies, it is international news. The funeral services are also an occasion to remember the leader and to show a certain level of unity that is rarely seen in our culture. Such was on display recently when former President Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. However, at the memorial service in Washington, DC, there was a combination that seemed more at home in ancient Athens. Per the request of Carter (I have read that this request was made a number of years ago), the song “Imagine” by John Lennon was not only played, it was performed live by a couple of music artists.…
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Learning from the Master
I recently adopted an Aussie lab puppy named Baxter. At three months old, he is a bundle of energy and has been a great addition to my house as well as an occasional terror. We had a few pets over the course of my childhood, but Baxter is the first dog I have had on my own. As such, while I am training him, he is also training me in some significant ways, many of which have biblical parallels and spiritual implications. To create an exhaustive list would take much longer than one article, but there is one that has stood out among the rest in these first few weeks…
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It’s Not Just about Coaching Styles
A recent conversation about a couple of basketball coaches made me do some thinking. It didn’t take long for my thinking to go way beyond college basketball. I started thinking about how parents relate to their children, how elders and preachers relate to the congregations they serve, how bosses relate to employees, etc. As I thought about all of that, I began to realize that some individuals who are in positions of some authority focus on mistakes. The emphasis seems to be on what was done wrong, how someone didn’t live up to expectations, etc. A great deal of emphasis is put on things done, not done, or not done correctly.…
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Week of January 20 “Into the Heart of the Bible” and “Something from the Margin of My Bible”
On Leah’s YouTube channel this week, she finished a two-part lesson on the Wandering Period of Bible history. You can watch it below or click here to watch on YouTube. On the “Margin of My Bible” podcast, Adam shared a note about the placement of Numbers 7. Listen to the episode here.
