Review of Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old, Compiled by Marian Le Blanc, Illustrated by David G. Klein, The Plough Publishing House, copyright 2002 “Their looks responded with that indefinable expression which always follows when a speaker has uttered the thought which has been slumbering in the hearts of his listeners.” (p. 79) …
It was Christmas Day nearly thirty years ago. I was on my seminary internship in a small town in rural Nebraska. The season had been hectic and those last few days especially challenging for this pastor-in-training, but there was a plane bound for Chicago in my very near future and so there was a lift …
Luke 21:25-36 I spent several hours in the E.R. the other night — this time not because I had been called. No, instead, I was on the other side. I’ll spare you the details, but I was suffering a severe gall bladder attack. After they diagnosed it and addressed my pain, they sent me home …
John 18:33-37 I has been ringing through my mind these last days — the cry of the people in 1 Samuel. You remember it. They are in the land which was promised to them. They have been watched over and led by a series of Judges — some of whom did better than others. And …
Mark 13:1-8 The world ended that day. With that phone call. That startling news.That deepening realization. The world ended that day. Or at least it ended as you had known it. I am so deeply aware of this right now for I am in the midst of a stretch of funerals. Some expected. Others not. …
Mark 12:38-44 Truly, my whole life — including the years I have served as a pastor — I have heard the story of the widow in Mark’s Gospel as a story of sacrificial giving. It is a story about generosity. It is an image of one who gave all that she had. This drama and …