Crispy Bacon
February 8, 2018 DAILY READING Psalm 50:1-6 1 Kings 11:26-40 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 6:10-24 FIELD NOTES Have you ever roasted garlic or onions on the stove or cooked bacon or fish in your house? As these ingredients heat up, your whole house starts to smell of their pungent fragrance. It permeates…
Read MoreToo Much Talk of Miracles?
February 7, 2018 DAILY READING Psalm 102:12-28 Job 6:1-13 Mark 3:7-12 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 6:10-24 FIELD NOTESAll of this talk about miracles raises some questions for me. Job is one of my favorite books of the Bible because in it, Job asks some of the deepest, most challenging questions of God. In the book,…
Read MoreSmall Acts of Love
February 6, 2018 DAILY READING Psalm 102:12-28 2 Kings 8:1-6 Acts 15:36-41 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 6:10-24 FIELD NOTESWhat struck me in our readings today, specifically in Acts, is something small, really a minute detail. Acts 15:36 says, “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every…
Read MoreFears
The Open Window
Healing Priorities
February 3, 2018 DAILY READING Matthew 12:9-14 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 4:19-27 FIELD NOTES In this passage, the Pharisees are trying to set a trap for Jesus. He has entered the Pharisees home turf—the synagogue—and they confront him (a staged scene, I suspect) with a man who has a “withered hand.” Since most of the…
Read MoreGiving Up to Give More
February 2, 2018 DAILY READING 1 Corinthians 9:1-16 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 4:19-27 FIELD NOTESFrom this passage, we learn that some apostles felt the freedom to take advantage of their status and rights. They married and received financial payment for their ministry work. They were afforded certain privileges and they took them. Paul doesn’t see…
Read MoreJesus, United by Thy Grace
February 1, 2018 DAILY READING Galatians 5:2-15 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 4:19-27 FIELD NOTES“Jesus, United by Thy Grace” Jesus, united by thy graceAnd each to each endeared,With confidence we seek thy faceAnd know our prayer is heard. Up unto thee, our living HeadLet us in all things grow;Till thou hast made us free indeedAnd spotless…
Read MoreSent Home
January 31, 2018 DAILY READING Mark 5:1-20 This weekend’s reading: Daniel 4:19-27 FIELD NOTESWe often use language of being “sent” in the Church to talk about the ways that God calls us out into the world to proclaim the message of Christ. And this is undoubtedly a vital and crucial part of being a disciple…
Read MoreWhat’s at the Bottom of the Pit
January 30, 2018 DAILY READING Psalm 35:1-10 This weekend’s reading: Luke 16:19-31 FIELD NOTESIn Biblical literature, Psalm 35 is what’s called a “complaint” Psalm. There is great danger all around the psalmist. There is distress and trouble and when you read the first ten verses of Psalm 35 you can rightly guess that the psalmist…
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