Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day. June 6th, 1944. The Allied invasion at Normandy, France, was a key point in World War II, and certainly worth commemorating. Below is an article I wrote a couple years ago, following our family’s own commemorating of the events of that day. It seemed a good way to…
Special
This morning, as I passed a line of cars heading the other direction, waiting for their light to turn green, I began to notice the faces of their drivers. Most were nearly expressionless. Some seemed to have more than driving on their minds, faces betraying the distraction. Other faces were relaxed, even smiling. As the…
Real Power
Strength. Power. Might. Words that have impact, weight, gravitas. Vivid pictures of great force and ability prominently display on the screen of our minds. Big, overwhelming, unstoppable, unbreakable. Powerful. We love strength. We need it. The events of our lives remind us so often that we lack control, ability… power and strength. And so we…
Strength In Weakness
If you’ve spent any time around Jesus, you’ve probably noticed that he sees things backwards; upside-down. His vision of how the world operates is counter-intuitive, counter-culture, and counter- most all of our own natural bents. Jesus took his backward thinking all the way to his own, un-protested execution. He was silent before his accusers.1 Jesus…
A Grain of Salt (What Does That Mean?!)
“Take that with a grain of salt,” says your friend regarding somewhat dubious news. “I’d take that draft rumor with a grain of salt,” says the NFL Draft Expert, who says a lot of things. (Most of which apparently need salt…) But what does it mean? Why do we say that? Where does it come…
I’m (Not) The Awesomest Person Ever
I’m really good at a lot of things. I think I always have been. My sister-in-law once called me “golden boy”, or something like that (even before I was her sister-in-law), because everything I touched “turned to gold”. And yet, I’m really not awesome. I wish I was. I would have lots of uses for…
Christians Being Christian
I am not very comfortable in “Christian” settings. For a long time now, I’ve said that I “don’t like Christians”, but that’s meant to be at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I know that Jesus is life, that there is no life outside of him; and for me, everything I do, and see, and experience runs through…
Possessive, Plural, and Plural Possessive (Apostrophe Apostasy!)
The English language can certainly be confusing. Add grammar and punctuation to that, and there are all sorts of possible dangers ahead. Today I’d like to specifically address the use of (or rather, the non-use of) the apostrophe when pluralizing surnames. You see, in far too many communications from individuals and organizations, the apostrophe is…
Jesus + Nothing = Everything
A good friend of ours read a book a while ago and thought that I might enjoy it, too. She was right. What I most enjoyed about this book was it’s emphatic emphasis (is that a thing?) on the singular fullness of Jesus. (Which, I’m sure you already gleaned from the title.) The concept is,…
There Is No Sin In Him
Buckle up, pardners… this may get a little heretical. (Just warnin’ ya!) In many places within the pages of the Bible we read that Jesus was without sin. He who had no sin became sin for us… He is the spotless lamb… He faced all the same temptations we do, but he did not sin….