Broken Stones

When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” ~Mark 8:23

One of the defining things about me is the amount of times I’ve been burned. Whether it be a friendship, relationship, co-worker, job. Whatever the situation, I believe it’s safe to say most of us have been hurt by some thing or some one at some point. You can’t help but be shaped by the things with which you’ve come face to face. And so as I was younger, lacking faith and a strong foundation in Jesus, I [Read More...]

hola.
i believe it was socrates (sow-craits)johnson from bill and ted’s excellent adventure who said, “know thyself.” well socrates, i fully intend to.
i’ve come to a point in my life where i am not all that concerned with hearing about my negative traits. i’ve actually come to the point of wanting to know more of them and even embracing some of them. i want to know the things that other people think about me and just won’t tell me. seriously, i can handle it!
over the past couple of months i have been involved in a group that has allowed me to [Read More...]

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD ~Jeremiah 29:11

At one point last year I gave my brother directions for putting new spark plugs in his car. After putting them in his car was running worse than before. Spark plugs now-a-days come “pre gaped” which means the space between for the spark is already set at the right spacing for the car they are made for. I never trust a machine, and so I told my brother to check the gap before putting each one in. I had forgot to mention pre-gapping to him so when [Read More...]

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; ~Isaiah 40:31

I don’t fly very often but when I do I generally fly at night. The atmosphere seems quieter and I usually nod off until we land. On the rare occasion that it is day time, I’ve had the unfortunate circumstance of bad weather and cloudy skies. All this translates in to me not being able to see outside the window and enjoy the view.
Friday as I took an early morning flight to Denver the skies were clear across the country and [Read More...]

hola friends,
i had a brief, but great, conversation with my friend jeremy yesterday when he visited my workplace. we were talking about the bible and some of its apparent contradictions. since jeremy is the pastor of his own community in hingham i will not speak to anything he said, but as you might assume, i am not too shy to let the world wide web know my current thoughts on the matter.
a little background to start…i have, for a few years now, come to embrace the teachings, life, death and resurrection of jesus as the benchmark for which my life should [Read More...]

Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones. ~2 Kings 3:16-19

My pastor used the above passage in his sermon last week and [Read More...]

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ~Psalm 147:3

Lord, I don’t understand.
My heart is heavy and my eyes burn. I hear the rain falling outside my window and wonder why it’s falling on everyone. Will it stop?
I’ve always known that pruning was painful and I’ve seen some light pruning over my years but nothing like this. Your shears are cutting deep and further back than I’ve ever seen. Many it seems are falling prey to the pleasures of this world. You’ve pruned and they’ve withered and fallen away.
Satan has tricked us, each in our weakest point, in [Read More...]

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ~Phillipians 4:7

I saw it in her eyes as I slowly made my way down the line at the wake. It’s not something you can really put your finger on, not something that you can tell someone how to get or explain when you see it. I can only quantify it as “You know it when you see it”. Her eyes weren’t empty. She had just lost her son at 17 to a terrible disease but there was life still there as [Read More...]

i saw this sign on a church yesterday: “do you remember them? do you remember jesus?”
at first, since i’m a little dense, i had no idea what the sign was saying. then, my lovely and brilliant wife explained to me that it must have something to do with memorial day.
the sign reminded me of a question that i was recently asked by a fellow peace-seeking friend of mine from school. he asked me if killing another human being could ever be done with integrity. what do you presume i said??? probably not what you think. i said, “sure it can. [Read More...]

On Tuesday night I was lucky enough to attend on of the 12 open forums across the country hosted by the Lausanne Movement. If you don’t know about Lausanne you can read more about how it was formed on their about page. These “12 conversations, 12 cities” were set up to generate awareness of the upcoming CapeTown 2010 Congress. This is the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelicalization.
Headlining the panel included singers Derek Web and Sara Groves, author Os Guinness, and the co-founder of Bloodwater Mission Jenna Lee
Some times you feel disconnected from reality in your desires. Amongst some close [Read More...]