Like Trees Walking

When the Kingdom Is Hard to See

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The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew (from the Maestà), c. 1308-1311, Duccio di Buoninsegna. The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew (from the Maestà), c. 1308-1311, Duccio di Buoninsegna. The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.  Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

~ Mark 1:14—20

Jesus’ response

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”  Strange that these two things are together: John being put into prison and Jesus preaching the good news.  John, Jesus’ cousin, came out of the desert wearing clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. Continue reading When the Kingdom Is Hard to See →

Spirituality

Rest: an Essential Spiritual Discipline

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Photo via Unsplash via VisualHunt.com
Photo via Unsplash via VisualHunt.com

Our world runs at a breakneck speed! Busyness seems to be both the universal complaint and the modern badge of honor.  Our jobs demand huge chunks of our lives and many other admirable pursuits clamor for our time.  Even children seem to careen from one activity to the next.  Plus, as Christians we know we should be involved with our church!  So we try to fit it all in, and our calendars become full, and we get less and less sleep. We hope that our constant activity will achieve success, honor, security—maybe even God’s glory—but as we scurry to the next appointment we think, “How can I get off this treadmill!  Is this the way God wants me to live?”

Continue reading Rest: an Essential Spiritual Discipline →

Like Trees Walking

Blind Disciples

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Parachute Dummies
Parachute Dummies, mixed media on canvas, by Grace Carol Bomer. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”  

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

~ Mark 8:14-21

I love the book of Mark!  I feel at home in the world it describes because the disciples don’t seem to see any better than I do.  I find that reassuring.  But, I’m not sure that most Christians are reassured by that.  In fact, I was a little afraid to have people read the first two posts.  They’re gonna think that I’m just not a real Christian, because if I were, I would see clearly.  And when I say I’m a pastor they will probably think that I’m a liberal postmodern blind-leading-the-blind charlatan!

Continue reading Blind Disciples →

Advent

The Quiet Gift – Christmas Eve 2016

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Mary Places Jesus in a Manger
Mary Places Jesus in a Manger. From “The Boys of the Bible,” by Hartwell James, published by Henry Altemus Company, 1905, 1916 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
I read somewhere that in December of 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground and into the air at Kitty Hawk. Thrilled over the accomplishment, they telegraphed a message to their sister Katherine.  They didn’t have texts and email then.  They said, “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news—for the first time in human history, man had actually flown!

Continue reading The Quiet Gift – Christmas Eve 2016 →

Like Trees Walking

The Blind Man Continued

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Blurred I by Charles Betz. See his blog Here.
Blurred I by Charles Betz. See his blog Here. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

This is the second installment for the Like Trees Walking series.  To read the first one, before reading this, click here.

The picture of that man as he stood before Jesus—touched by the healer, obviously changed, but disappointed and still functionally blind—is a powerful image. I don’t know how long the period of “half-sight” was for the blind man. Perhaps only a few moments, for Jesus did touch the man again and give him full sight. But what if it had been a long time? What if it had lasted the rest of his life? Would he have taken his place among the villagers, learned to use his new “sight,” forgetting his disappointment; forgetting that he couldn’t see clearly? Would he have told and re-told the story of his healing? The townspeople would want to hear his story—his encounter with Jesus. Certainly, something had happened. The blind man hadn’t been able to see at all before. Even if he could only “half see” his life would be easier, richer, and fuller after. Continue reading The Blind Man Continued →

The Poor

Why I Messed Up the Clean Design of my Blog

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An African boy standing in the doorway of his home. The photography of Compassion International shows the dignity and hope living within the poor despite the oppression poverty inflicts upon them.
An African boy standing in the doorway of his home. The photography of Compassion International shows the dignity and hope living within the poor despite the oppression poverty inflicts upon them.

I was pretty pleased with the look of the theme I had chosen.  The writing was presented in a clean frame.  I had decided not to put a widget panel on the right side.  You may not be aware of this unless you are familiar with WordPress, but you have the ability to create a panel on the right side of the web page where you can put things like Follow Me buttons, a place to register for a newsletter, etc.

I decided not to put anything more on the page to keep the clean design.  And then I got the annual reports about the children that Claudia, my wife, and I sponsor with Compassion and World Vision.  I Continue reading Why I Messed Up the Clean Design of my Blog →

Spirituality

Fish Stories

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Sprague Lake Brook Trout By Daniel Mayer (Mav) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Sprague Lake Brook Trout By Daniel Mayer (Mav) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
With a great deal of anticipation I loaded my fly rod into the back of our station wagon and drove to a familiar steep valley where a small spring creek meanders through farm land.  It was a hot September afternoon—the season of the trico hatch—and my friends had been torturing me with stories of their success on the local streams.  The Continue reading Fish Stories →

Advent

The Visitation

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The Ghost Station by Christopher Crouzet via Visual hunt / CC BY
The Ghost Station by Christopher Crouzet via Visual hunt / CC BY

The night was cold.  Kelly could see his breath as he trudged across the parking lot to take the nightly readings on the gas pumps.  Jim was inside behind the counter.   He had just finished mopping.  “If we’re lucky we may get out of here on time tonight,” Kelly thought.  He was anxious to get home.  His day job started at 6:00 AM and he needed some sleep.

One by one Kelly read the meter on each gas pump.  He wrote the numbers on a familiar form, held by a worn clipboard, then reach into Continue reading The Visitation →

Like Trees Walking

The Blind Man

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Healing the Blind Man by Edy Legrand
Healing the Blind Man by Edy Legrand

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village.”

~ Mark 8:22-26

 

You are sitting listening to your friends talk excitedly.  Jesus has walked into your town.  You have heard the stories of what Jesus did in neighboring towns.  In one he healed a deaf and dumb man.  In another he healed a woman with a menstrual disorder—a nasty condition that no doctor could cure.  And you have heard rumors that a little girl was brought back to life.  “Certainly Jesus can heal you!” Continue reading The Blind Man →