Counselor: What’s the problem? Bart: For starters, I didn’t feel safe getting on the boat to begin with! Counselor: Why? Bart: Because I don’t feel safe on boats in general. And because I could see that the weather was bad (and getting worse). And we were all tired! Sailing while tired and sleepy is essentially […]

We had a secret meeting this morning. Secret? Yes. Secret how? The meeting was at 6a —> and thus it lurks in the shadows of the “social geography” of the day. To schedule a meeting at such an hour is to operate in a window of time that exists outside of the mainstream of public […]

Judah, son of Leah (Part I) The instinct to keep the shameful details of my story hidden was very strong. On some level, the decision to reveal the truth was (and is) a mystery to me. Certainly, there are moments when I wish people didn’t know, but ultimately I doubt I had much of a […]

Simeon (a.k.a. “The Rock”). An apostle. What’s Simeon’s story/track record? Good? Bad? What were Simeon’s credentials? Was Simeon qualified to be an apostle? Hmmmm… Simeon is writing to people who have OBTAINED something. What have they obtained? FAITH. They have obtained faith. What kind of faith? …Faith that is of equal standing with the apostles […]

Smalls says, “Y’all are my brothers! We’re family! You are my joy and my crown! I love y’all and I long to see y’all and to hang-out for days on end! I love how you’re standing firm in the Lord. You are my beloved friends!” Then Smalls says, “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche […]

I was chatting with my friend Justin this morning, and he was telling me that HE WASN’T FOLLOWING A BIBLE READING PLAN THIS YEAR! So of course I started composing an email to our Presbytery’s moderator and stated clerk to report this dereliction of duty. But before I could hit “send” on my indictment, Justin […]

Here’s the question… Why do the nations rage? Why do people scheme and plot? Why do people expend all their energy attempting to manage and manipulate? It’s vanity. It begets, at best, a fleeting and flimsy ILLUSION of control, and an ephemeral imitation of joy. People scheme and strategize. People scroll and take mooncalf counsel. […]

Soren: I don’t think you should be dismissive. Wilder: Hmmmm… Soren: Let me ask you this, WHY are you disposed toward dismissiveness? Wilder: Honestly? Soren: Honestly. Wilder: Because I feel defensive. Soren: Instead of being defensive and dismissive, perhaps you should simply notice these inclinations, and name them, and then decide on a better course […]

Last time we observed that Jude was talking about duplicitous and perfidious people who are “hidden reefs at your love feasts, and they feast with you without fear (shepherds feeding themselves); waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of […]

Now Jude wants to remind people of something they once fully knew. Like telephone numbers. Or directions. Or cursive. Or waiting. Or spelling. And here’s the thing that people once fully knew – – – > that Jesus of Nazareth saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not […]