Archive for January 2022

DAILY READING Acts 6:1-7 FIELD NOTES My mother-in-law had a clever way of solving disputes between her two children when it came time to divvy up the last pieces of cake or pie. She would say to them, “One of you slice, and the other one choose.” This helped the one slicing to be fair…

DAILY READING Mark 1:14-20 FIELD NOTES Every time I read this section of Mark, I can’t help but to imagine what was going through the heads of the apostles when Jesus approached them as fishermen. He tells them that they will become fishers of men, which they had no clue as to what that meant.…

DAILY READING John 1:14 FIELD NOTES Sometimes the hardest part of a journey is just after you begin – when things become routine, when the novelty wears off, when the celebrations for having begun the journey have ended – but you still have a long, long, long way to go. This is precisely the place…

DAILY READING Matthew 5:13-16 FIELD NOTES Howard Thurman, explains in his poem, The Work of Christmas, that is it now, after the celebrations, that the work we are called to as Christians begins.   The Work of Christmas When the song of the angels is stilled,  When the star in the sky is gone,  When the kings…

DAILY READING Matthew 2:1-12 Matthew 3:13-17 John 2:1-11 FIELD NOTES Today and every January 6th is the day that Christians celebrate Epiphany. This is the 13th day of the Christmas season and celebrates the day that the Magi or three wise men came to pay homage to Christ. The United Methodist Church explains that “[t]he arrival of…

DAILY READING Luke 10:38-42 FIELD NOTES To be honest, this passage in Luke makes me uncomfortable. I am more like Martha than Mary and I find it troubling that this busyness, this work in service is not exalted. I am good at being busy, I am not good at being still.  However, the Scripture reminds…

DAILY READING Philippians 4:4-8 FIELD NOTES From the sermons of A.W. Tozer:  It is something of a happy paradox that while the thoughts deeply affect the will and go far to determine its choices, the will on the other hand has the power to control the thoughts. A will firmly engaged with God can swing…

DAILY READING Job 42:10-17  FIELD NOTES In this last part of the Book, we see Job restored and being made whole after praying for his friends. Job’s friends had made the error of assuming that Job’s suffering was caused by a great sin he had committed. Even though the counsel of his friends had caused…