Birds and flowers (Matthew 6:25-34)

The daffodils are growing in front of our house. In a month they will be bright yellow. Except for the ones that are white. Except for the ones that are pastel yellow. There will be more than last year. We didn’t plant the extra ones. [Note: this wasn’t written in February]. The finches will be […]

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Relationship rewards (Matthew 6:20)

“Store up treasure in heaven.” That’s what Jesus tells us. Don’t spend your energy on stuff that gets eaten up by financial declines so that you panic about how much less you are worth this week than last week. If the measure of your worth is your portfolio and the value of your portfolio declines […]

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A prayer for Transfiguration Sunday

God. We would love to be on a mountain, away from all the confusion, and completely present with you. To see you glowing, to be aware of your power, to be aware that you are aware of us. That would be awesome. To have the confidence that Peter had, the confidence that Jesus was full […]

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Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18), part three

Okay. Here’s the deal. I want to talk about fasting. I want to talk about what the reward is. I want to talk about this incredibly cool image that God paints in Isaiah 58 about fasting not being about being selfish and simply not eating the food you have, but about sharing a meal with […]

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Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18), part two

Fasting isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be difficult. It’s supposed to be challenging. Intentionally refraining from something that is important to you, which is essential to your well-being, is a difficult thing. The longer the fast, the harder it is supposed to be. Spending forty days fasting, as Jesus did, has to […]

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