That third one really caught me attention. Why would Jesus write his name on the individual pillars? While I was thinking about this, God showed me an image from the 1999 Pixar movie Toy Story 2, where the underside of Sheriff Woody's boot is seen and we could read the name "Andy" written on it. That name indicated belonging. Andy was his kid. He belonged to Andy, and Andy was letting the whole world know it. Woody belonged to Andy and we belong to Christ Jesus.

These losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts lived together in fellowship at Rooms of Grace, and Jay Turner became their leader. He helped them with recovery, led them in Bible Studies, and helped them find jobs and get vehicles. Jay hosted a fellowship dinner on Thursday nights, and started doing church services on the second Saturday night of every other month. The inaugural service was August 9. We had a baptism in a horse trough, under a carport during a heavy rain.

Is it a problem for us to solve, or is it a God-problem-- like making crops grow?

Make peace with God, and with each other. Hug the ones you love, and leave no unfinished conversations...

We didn't get to see all the family and friends that I wanted to see, but we will try again the next trip.

My wife and I have been together for twenty-six years, but this is our first Thanksgiving...

I used to live in Azerbaijan, where hospitality really WAS a core cultural value. Having a Guest was a BIG DEAL...

Have you ever had an "I done goofed" moment with God? I did, just this morning! But I'll get to that in a minute...

Maybe God has made promises to you, but all you can see is the locked door? "Stop doubting and believe."

Sometimes, God answers prayers while we are just living our lives. While we are sleeping.

The Father didn't want to hear his son's excuses, or apologies. He just wanted to hold his son, overwhelmed with the joy of the homecoming.

God told his prophet Hosea to get married and have children.... So this was three pregnancies and a weaning... During this time frame-- crying babies, sleepless nights ("Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?"), it is only recorded that God spoke to his prophet on three occasions-- the birth of each child. Why? Because it was not yet his mission to be a prophet to the nations. His mission from God was TO LOVE THAT WOMAN AND BE A FATHER to their children. That was his mission... No matte

But what I am really wondering is, how did the other women treat her? David was already married to at least three women, and presumably had concubines as well. Six sons were already born to him in Hebron from six different women... So here is the new girl, and she's pregnant with their husband's baby. And now she's married to him too. Goody. So how did they react? Did they welcome her with love and compassion as a sister-wife? Or did they slut-shame her, leaving her alone to

Friends, we usually think of the desert as a place of pain. As a kind of punishment. A lonely place. But... that's not what the Desert is for. It's for intimacy. Hosea 2:14-15 (NIV) reads: "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of Hope." Has God led you into the desert? Embrace it. It's a privilege, not a punishment...

Many times, Christians seem to think that we should have a pain-free life. Like perhaps suffering or pain must be God punishing us for our sin. And maybe if we were spiritual enough, maybe we wouldn't be hurting so much. But Scripture doesn't teach that. In Isaiah 53, the Message tells us about God's son, the Messiah Jesus, "Still, it's what GOD had in mind all along, to crush him with pain." Over and over again, Jesus told his followers that he was going to Jerusalem where

This morning I was turning some things over in my mind that God has been showing me-- things I didn't understand (and still don't.) I was asking God about timing, and he showed me a scene from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the C.S. Lewis book, not the terrible movie.) He showed me the lion Aslan and the girl Lucy having an intimate conversation off in the distance. "Please Aslan," asked Lucy, "What do you call soon?" "I call all times soon..."

I watched a good movie today. Avatar: the Way of Water. Maybe it's not actually a good movie, but it resonated with me. I love movies, and it think this is the first movie, ever, that touched my heart as a Father...

Sometimes New Years Eve can be a lonely night, filled with self reflection, and perhaps feelings of loss. Of wondering where God is. Or if He even cares? Yet the Bible references even babies in the womb as being part of God's plan, and on His mind...

They were having an actual PHYSICAL "mountain top experience" with the risen Christ, and STILL, "some held back, not sure about worship...

"Then there was a sudden movement. A woman, an old babushka, pushed herself through the crowd to the Russian soldiers guarding the pavement and said, "Let me through." Then this bent old woman rushed across to one of the gaunt German prisoners, and everybody held their breath. What was she going to do? Slap him? Spit on him? She reached into her shawl and took out a crust of black bread, which she then pushed awkwardly into the pocket of the soldier, so exhausted that he was