“As the deer pants for the water brooks… ”Psalm 42, Son’s of Korah Panting. The dry swallow of an animal in search of water, tongue lolling in the mouth, perhaps running as it catches a scent of moisture, bounding through thicket, urged on by a desperate longing. An untamed instinct, pushing itself to find what…
Tag: Prayer
Light to Dark Edges
I accepted Christ in the winter of 1979. That summer I worked for an Italian mason who swore a blue streak, and demanded relentless labor from his crew. The work didn’t bother me, but the environment of foul language and temptation had my new faith on the ropes. So, I called Mary Anne. A couple…
God Is Not An Answering Machine
One of Satan’s darkest schemes involves elevating prayer as the center beam of life, love and mission, but wrapping it in a veneer of duty. When prayer becomes less than love, it becomes just another discipline, or function, that gets in the way of our devotion, instead of enhancing it. Stop for a moment and…
A Beggar, and the beauty of Advent
I was standing in line for coffee, when to my left appeared a homeless man. His stench overwhelmed a normally aromatic space. People fidgeted, and he went straight to the counter, leaned in and spoke with the manager. I overheard him ask for a cup of coffee. The manager shook her head, and the beggar…
“He Sets A Table…”
In the immortal 23rd Psalm, David pens words that comfort believers, warm skeptics, and stop everyone who see’s beauty in poetic muscle. Did these strophes spill from his heart one night while he guarded his sheep? Did he hear the sound of an enemy to his flock, and stare down menacing red eyes in pitch…
The Day I Lost My Son
“I can’t see KJ!” Moments before, we had arrived at the beach and gotten settled. I remember Ginnette saying, “the water looks rough today.” I grunted, not actually listening to her words, only the sound of her voice. I was already on my second page. But now her words lifted my head. She was standing,…
Forty Days, Eighty prayers, One God, At a burning Bush
Discipline in the Christian life is tricky, because the fuel for it can fall on the side of either legalism, or infatuation. Legalism doesn’t end well, because the gas for the journey is our own determination. Infatuation is short lived, too, because it depends on bursts of inspiration, which hardly ever come long enough, or…
An Ember Of A Fire From Another Era
Today students across America got up even earlier than normal, splashed sleep from their eyes, and stood around their school’s flagpole—and prayed. I walked to the high school in our neighborhood, and met my friend, Ms. Rivera, head of discipline there. Her previous job was in a prison. She had invited me to attend See…
Like Two Boys In A Boat
Yesterday, I watched two young boys in a rowboat, Pulling at oars in the stern, Paddling wildly to make progress, Perhaps out for a day of fishing, But fighting hard against the wind To find a place, where the fish might bite. They looked determined, Amidst the choppy water, Unbridled and unconscious strength, Free, Together….
Thirty Years Later…
During our first assignment with Cru, Ginnette and I lived in an apartment over a feed store in a cute little town called Excelsior, MN, a western suburb of Minneapolis. Our weekly date night cost three bucks, and very little shoe leather. (Seven steps to the left of our door—dollar theater, followed by a shared…
The Myterious Power of Secrets
You didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell. “I build relationships through evangelism, rather than for evangelism. Am I saying that I take the first opportunity to share Christ with perfect strangers? Yes, most of the time. Does it feel awkward at first, like I’m about to fall off a cliff? Almost, every time. What…
First Kiss
My first kiss was with Brenda, at Regina Vaccaro’s seventh grade party. Little did I know, my brother JoJo watched us, steaming mad. Even then he was in love with her. He and Brenda were married right out of high school. Four days after that kiss I was a bachelor again. Not only because of…
To Sir, with love 