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In: Abuse, Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, Idols, Poetry, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

In my mid-teens, I wrote the following poem: The Box I locked my heart in a tin box And threw away the key. I ran from all like the fox, But someday it will return to me.   Though I lost my tin box in my flight, It returned to me to my surprise. But alas, where is the key? Without it, there is no hope for me.   So I must ask: Who has my key? Would you please return it to me? Guess who had the key? When I look through the poetry I wrote in my teens, the ones not dedicated toRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock! Psalm 137:8-9, NKJV These shocking words are more likely to be quoted by atheists than Christians. Most with even a cursory knowledge of the faith knows this flies in the face of our teachings on revenge. If you’re reading it in a version that renders “Happy” as “Blessed,” understand why the NKJV turned “Blessed” into “Happy.” Too many verses–many of them right in the Psalms–describe God as gracious, loving, and full of compassionRead More →

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In: Abuse, Family and Friends, Grace, Suffering

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12 Grief often causes a “circling the wagons” reaction, automatically drawing together what is left. Sometimes we’d been letting the busyness of this age rob us of time with a loved one we’d always had a good relationship with. When that loved one dies, and we realize our mistake, such regret wells up, we feel compelled to warn everyone around us to stop letting busyness rob us of relationships that are far more important than the trivial things we’d pursued instead–or at least they seem so in theRead More →

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In: Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

What do you do when it’s your turn to share, your time to minister, and you’ve got nothing? What would you hear of? That during a power outage, I got the rest of the Christmas decorations up? That I’ve been struggling with nightmares and migraine symptoms lately but the dreams weren’t so bad light night and my head doesn’t hurt so much today? Should I complain for you, let you know how hard it has been to restrain the crankiness that sometimes accompanies this? Should I pour myself out when my strength is gone? Perhaps I could swing controversial, hide my state of “nada” byRead More →

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In: Faith, Family and Friends, God's promises, Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

November 27, 2014 is Thanksgiving in the US. It is a day when Americans gather around a big turkey feast, thus it is also known as Turkey Day to those who forget this day is about more than food and football. It is about remembering the first settlers’ difficult fight to survive a harsh winter, one many of them lost. The first settlers managed to bring in a successful harvest the following autumn and celebrated this by holding a traditional English harvest festival. It is that event which the Thanksgiving feast commemorates. The original community who gave thanks to God for their life-saving harvest had buried over half ofRead More →