In One God, the Father Almighty
10/10/12
 
            “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  (Deut. 6:4-5) 
       &...

Cogitations
The Well-Grounded Pilgrimage: Perseverance & Preservation
08/30/12

The Well-Grounded Pilgrimage is so expansive a topic you’ll spend your lifetime exploring your daily walk with Jesus (remember Luke 24:13-53?). We’re called by God to a lifelong pilgrimage to being “transformed by the renewing of your mind&...

Cogitations
On Taking Vows
06/16/12

“I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” (Psalm 116:13-14) Our second daughter is getting married and I’ll be doing the honors, which has me cogitating on taking vows. The Old Testament ...

I Don’t Get It
06/01/12

I don’t. Take the story of the Exodus (Ex. 1-14). God visited ten plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians for enslaving the Hebrews who’d only come to their country as invited guests generations earlier to escape starvation (Genesis 37-50). Generations later new leadership decided to make slaves of the ...

Cogitations
The Struggle to Love
05/11/12

“Love” is not only God’s primary commandment; it’s the most common. So why is it so difficult to obey? An on-line Bible program says the word “love” occurs over 500 times in Scripture. Many are directives from the Lord of love (1 John 4:8, 16) to love: to love Him, ...

On Being a Stumbling Stone
05/11/12

“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall” (1 Peter 2:8a). Picking up our last discussion, you introduce people to Jesus and let Him build the friendship. But what do you do if they find Him offensive? How can this be? Isn’t Jesus the gentlest, meekest and mildest-...

Cogitations
Life Among the Dead
04/19/12

Plymouth, Massachusetts has been burying people since 1620. Since we live nearby, around Easter we spent a sunny afternoon perusing gravestones in the oldest cemetery. It seemed a good thing to do at Easter. Sure enough, before long a pleasant walk turned into an unplanned spiritual exercise. Ancient ...

Cogitations
Holy Undeserving
Good Friday & Easter, 2012

You don’t hear the word “holy” these days except in a place name (“Holy Trinity Cemetery”) or as an exclamation (“Holy mackerel”). You do hear another word frequently: deserve, as in “getting all that you deserve.” Holy Week, the ...