'contemplating' Tagged Posts

Fire Up Your Faith Life

“You may not know how badly you needed silence and solitude until you get to know them.” Quiet time has been among the most important keys to my health in ministry thus far. I begin my day either first thing in the morning, or first thing in the office, with bible reading, reflection, journaling and prayer. I use the SOAP method I wrote about it here. I am always looking to adjust my spiritual disciplines to the current needs of…

Windows into Heaven and Flowering Trees

In response to hearing that amidst a famine God was about to act so that the very next day food would become so cheap no one would believe their luck a lord said to the king “Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?” (2 Kings 7:2, KJV) The poetry in that stopped me today. Partly because I can hear the longing in the man’s voice, the voice of one who has had trouble feeding…

Into the Routine

I love this time of year, the moment after Christmas when things go back to normal. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas and all the hullabaloo that go with it are awesome, the food, the time with family, the extra time with my brothers and sisters at the church, the tree, the food, the lights, the food. All of it can be fun and good but it leaves me tired and ready to get back into routines. Right after Christmas there…

So My Dog Peed on a Tree…and I Thought of God

Being a preacher means that everything that happens in my life is filtered through a strange lens that asks whether or not this is something I could preach about or use in some way to further proclaim and explain the Gospel. I don’t do this consciously, it just sort of happens. I used to practice this sort of thinking, hoping that with time it would just come automatically, like that airline pilot who had practiced emergency landings so many times…