Addictions combine a strange and strong desire with an inability to function well with it and distress without it. We’ve all seen the damage that some addictions can bring, like substances, sex, food, or self. But let’s flip the script, right here.
Read MoreDisciples Must Die
Many of us feel pulled in numerous directions. Family members and friends and bosses make requests and demands. More come from spiritual concerns, while our own desires call to us, to relax, succeed. We try to juggle them but drop as many as we catch. Then Jesus made it more difficult with an impossible demand, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot…
Read MoreFish by Faith, Not Sight
As you read this post, I’ll likely be on a stream like the one above. So please take a look at the pic. A close one, and focus at the middle of the pool just below the horizontal line of white water, just below the good sized rock. See any trout? Peer closely…
Read MoreI Know Boats
Some time ago I sat in a harbor-side café, watching the seals cavorting on the docks, the boats bobbing with the gentle waves. Identifying the various styles and types, enjoying their beauty and the functionality. It came to mind that I know boats. But perhaps true knowledge requires something deeper…
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When I Took Jesus Too Seriously
I never thought I’d write a title like that. To me, American Christianity’s greatest struggle comes with not taking the words of Jesus seriously; we prefer following our desires and cultural values. But a recent event showed my error. Here’s the backstory. Jesus taught…
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The Fremont Tree
A Good Bed?
Trees intrigue me with the lessons they yield about following Jesus. The terms “Christ follower” or “Jesus follower” have grown in usage lately, for the good. Why? They require action. Following. Too often, “Christian” refers to what we believe, to the nation we live in. But following goes deeper. On that stroll with John through the redwoods of Cowell State Park near Mount Hermon, we found the Fremont Tree. A sign read that “legend claims that in 1848, Col. John C. Fremont slept here.” Fremont’s “bed” reminded me of what Jesus once said about beds, …”
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Image from SB Nation
Transcending Political Differences
Honestly, as venomous as current politics have become, they can’t match some of the past. Like 1804, when the sitting Vice President of the US shot and killed the former Secretary of the Treasury. Two other founding fathers, close friends in the Revolution, became bitter enemies, slandering each other far more than we see today. Make no mistake however…
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Stretch Yourself
The pic above represents of one the most rewarding and stupid decisions of my life. Back in high school, I got a lot of A’s, but never one in physical education—you had to be a super jock in regular PE, everyone on sports teams got them. Dad had razzed me a lot, so I bet him $5 I would my senior year. Distance running came fairly easy on a regular PE class level, so I checked out cross country. The best 10 ran varsity, the next 10 junior varsity. I figured…
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