(First published July 24, 2009.) Jesus told stories. A lot. We think about them as parables, looking at all the angles, trying to squeeze as much as we can out of the story. I think, sometimes, that we may work too hard to tie every part of the story to some deep lesson. I am […]

(First published June 10, 2009.)  Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this…. Jakov was a man with a passion. He knew pearls. He had spent his whole life looking at pearls, looking for pearls. He could tell where they came from. He could tell what they were worth. Jakov knew what it was […]

Sunday night, Nancy and I sat in a church sanctuary to listen to the Concert Choir from Bethel College. We sat about halfway back. Which was perfect for the double choir arrangement that started the concert. With a double choir, usually, there is one choir in the front of the room and one in the back, often […]

We agreed on Saturday night that last week was a crazy week. Everything was a little bit off last week. People had been unusually cranky. We felt a little foggy. For each of us, we had assumed that there was something in our lives that was askew. And there had been personal changes and challenges. […]