Latest Posts

Leadership Longevity

To read more in my series of reflections on 2 Samuel 6:;1-18, click here and here. David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the Ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 2 Samuel 6:10 When the day started, David was full of hope. After a long road of battle and loss, grief and sorrow, he was finally taking his place as king in Jerusalem. But he wanted his reign… Read More

Little Seed

for so many little acorns waiting in the dark. Little Seed   Silent little seed Deep in the dark Buried.   Decaying little seed All that you once were Decomposed.   Surrendered little seed Still and waiting Hoping.   Poor little seed Silence stretching long Inertia.   Surprised little seed Life is thrumming through you Upward.   Tough little seed Pushing through your casket Breakthrough.   Blinded little seed Emerging into brilliance Light.   Growing… Read More

Urgency-Averse

See last week’s devotion for Part One: Prudence Urgent: requiring immediate action or attention.   He inquired of Arioch the king’s deputy, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. So Daniel went in and requested the king to grant him time, that he might disclose the interpretation to the king.  Daniel 2:15-16 I learned to be urgency averse from a tiny book called Tyranny of the Urgent by the… Read More

The Power of Praying Honest Prayers

My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:1   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Mark 15:34 Honest praying is no insult to God who knows all. He knows our hearts anyway. Every speck. Every little corner we think we’ve shrouded with sheets of shame, concealed with camouflaged control, partitioned off behind panels of performance,… Read More

Lament for the Logical

For M, and all who worship God with logic. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6 I have lived among watchmen in many lands. Watchmen who keep guard at night, gates tightly locked, while families sleep safely inside homes surrounded by walls crowned with barbed wire.  Watchmen who… Read More

Waiting is a Weapon

...after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then… Ephesians 6:13-14 Standing is a kind of waiting, and waiting doesn’t feel very victorious in the middle of a fierce battle. It certainly doesn’t feel like a weapon.  Armor does. Belts and breastplates and shields do. Helmets and swords sure do. Recently I visited castles and towers famous for battle, filled with armor and weapons. The imagery is strong in my mind. But waiting? What kind of… Read More

Let’s Begin Again

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.  Isaiah 42:8-9 St. Francis of Assisi loved the tau symbol of the cross. As the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it signified for him not merely an ending, but an… Read More

Spoiled and Reworked… in the Potter’s Hand

For my friends at the Soul Care Institute, with gratitude And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Jeremiah 18:4 “We don’t get just one chance to learn something.” This is how Stephen W. Smith begins Day 3 in his transformational guide, 30 Days with the Potter. His words are helping me make sense… Read More

Unruly Child of Mine, O My Soul

ready for battle with stick and sword But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.Psalm 131:2, NIV His flaming cheeks were damp with tears, skin clammy and sweaty from the fight. Those long eyelashes everyone admired were clumped together like little dragon spikes framing big blue eyes clouded with frustration. Sweet chubby fists clenched at the side of his blue… Read More

You Never Know What Someone Else is Going Through

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19, NET). “You never know what someone else is going through” sounds like a mother’s well-worn admonition to her children. I know I say it often to mine, and the words ring true if we stop a moment to think about it. In our fast-paced, busy culture, we race past one another, forming immediate… Read More