When Jesus broke the bread
We do communion because Jesus said so, and it's meaningful even though we don't know everything it represents. But what if we understood more? What bread did Jesus break? What did it mean? I heard something as a kid about how kids participate in the Jewish Passover and it changed things for me, deepened them …
Continue reading "When Jesus broke the bread"
Pizza Prayer Person
Pizza Reality One It could have not been awkward, but it is. My wife and I have returned to New York, to the church I grew up in, as visiting guest speakers because once upon a time we were missionaries so we must have stories to tell, and also because, why not? Leadership likes us. …
Jesus as Poetry
We've heard it, read it, know it. But when I put Jesus' words into poetic form, His artistry makes the words feel alive to me. I just keep looking at it. All the parallels jump out at me. The word "abides" sits in the center, surrounded by Jesus and us. I could go on, but …
Foreshadowing in the Bible Video
Foreshadowing in the MCU Video
2 Verses to Peace with God
I used to not like Paul's letters. Then I started to put his super long sentences into pictures like these, and to break his lines as though they were poetry. Not only did it become easier to memorize, but now I can meditate on a few words at a time. "...and raised to life..." "since …
In Christ, I am God’s friend
Jesus says, "I'm changing your status with God. It's not service without knowledge anymore, without seeing the big picture or understanding the details. Now you're in Our confidence. You are Our friends." Does God say this about the cherubim? Angels? Archangels? No. We are humble creatures. We have could not have named God our friend. …
The Right
Here's a thought: as true as the Bible is in what it says about Jesus, it is just as true in what it says about us. It is no less true for us. The Bible simply tells the truth. Jesus is God's Son. In believing--not just acknowledging as fact, but believing--we are given a right. …
God’s Call, Strive to Enter, The Impossible Claim, Faith in Jesus
In less than 1 hour, here are 4 Bible-based videos relating:
God's Call for humanity to return to Him;
some of Jesus' teaching on judgment;
15 prophecies (written hundreds/thousands of years before) about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection and how they were fulfilled;
and Jesus is God's Son and God's free gift to us.
The Impossible Claim: 15 Prophecies about Jesus
Here are 15 prophecies written about Jesus. They were written hundreds--some thousands--of years before He came the first time.
Prayer: Jesus’ Relationship Ring
Prayer: It’s About Frank, Not Darrel
When God Says No and then Makes Wine
"Anyone thirsty?"
The End of the World as She Knows It
My youngest daughter says today in the car, “I hope the world ends before I die.” Curious, I ask her, “What do you think that would look like?” She answers, “God comes down and says, ‘Alright. That’s it. Everybody get on the bus...’”
Beyond the Mountain
We start a video series on prayer.
Proverbs 11:30
I'm beginning to enjoy having a Bible app. Hopefully using it to make pictures like this will get me back to memorizing verses. http://www.bible.com/100/pro.11.30.nasb
Learning to draw close
These songs encouraged me to draw close to God during my teen years.
Psalm 37 the Lord will guide
http://www.bible.com/100/psa.37.23-26.nasb Thinking about my son headed off to university. Praying his steps will be established and the Lord will guide him. Coming to peace with trusting God with one of my kids, even though I've dedicated him, given him back to God many times over.
Lasting Impact
These three songs, also from my childhood, have had a lasting impact on me as well.
The Shape of My Heart
A few weeks back I started putting together some medleys of songs that I either heard as a child or played during youth group. These songs I must have learned during chapel in elementary school. I think the theology of the lyrics helped to shape my heart.
COVID-19 Diary: Caring for the Birds
"Look, Dad! The birds have come!"... I went to see Lars last night around seven...
COVID-19: Tuppence A Bag
I don't always wake up with a song in my head, but today I did and it was, "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag." And so I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to find Lars and leave some granola bars for him.
COVID-19: Week 2: What do you mean, Why?
...And nobody puked. ...I spent nearly 8 hours alone in our hall bathroom... I read a 500 page book!
It’s an area we call… the Twilight Zone
Gloves on, I push my cart past the security guard, past the bleaching station and toward the sliding doors. The normal whoosh as the doors part before me is the last normal sound I hear. The store is silent. No music coming down from the ceiling high above. No chit-chat between employees. No kids hanging …
COVID-19, Spring Break, Days 5, 6 & 7
Sometime after lunch I realized that God was talking on Thursday... They were only letting so many people in the store at a time... The hymn melodies rang back in echo off the mountains...
COVID-19, Spring Break Day 4
I've decided to not grow a beard... I was laughing so hard, I almost cried.... Blood gushed from my youngest daughter's forehead like a fountain...
COVID-19, Spring Break Day 3
I'm thinking I'll set some sit-up goals. Push-ups too. And maybe I'll grow my beard. That's something to do. ... "It's so obvious Christ is coming back soon," he said. "The wars, the famines, the pestilence, the unrest, the earthquakes... all happening like Jesus said."
COVID-19, Spring Break Day 2
I wore one of these masks in my own home today... It's hard, trying to just do the simple stuff while answering all the questions that no one has any real answers for yet... I keep telling the kids, "Live in the day. Tomorrow has enough worry of its own."... I'm thankful she still has a job to go to, but I am concerned she doesn't get burnt out.
COVID-19 Spring Break, Day 1
My wife has been named point person on the health authority's COVID-19 response team for our city, and her office-mate is point person for the two communities to our east. Please pray. As I understand it, they'll be working with and advising the municipal authorities for the duration of this... situation. They'll both need wisdom, yes, and healthy immune systems. Am I concerned? Not in a panicky way, no, but my wife was already near-exhausted before this change in her assignment. I do want her to get her rest.
Why so downcast, O my soul?
A song (melody) written while on a missions trip, although the words are applicable at any time in life. From Psalm 42:11, NIV. Visit my Music Page
Under the 24th Eve
For those on the street this December
French Fry Failure (*last time?)
French Fry Failure No, Lars and I aren’t smoking a bag of weed. It’s Five Guys fries. A couple weeks after Lars’ birthday, I decide that if I don’t get called into work I’m gonna go to Five Guys and order two large fries for lunch. The girl shovelling fries into the paper bag asks …
What Change Time Yields
I first sat on the curb with Lars a few years ago. He wouldn't look at me, or talk to me, or accept anything from me. The most I got out of him was, "No thanks." I quickly learned to not hand him money or food, but to simply leave it on the sidewalk for …
Broke Down
You know when you go grocery shopping and you get that cart with the bad wheel in the front? The one that sticks, or lumps along, or pulls your cart to one side? Sucks, right? Imagine pushing that cart down the road as you leave town with everything you could find while scrounging through dumpsters. …
The Square in which I “Live”
I drew this while covering a study hall. I needed to express what I felt when being with Lars, what he must feel, and I wanted to engage the students in conversation. This is actually my third attempt at this drawing, all in the same class. The first two were too disproportionate. I wanted the …
Is that Jesus?
My son saw me loading this sketch and asked, "Is that Jesus?" A Jack and Lars Update I haven't seen Jack since some time in October. I was in Tim Horton's, frustrated that I needed to get a job and couldn't just make it happen, angry that any job would take away time from me …
There was an old lady… a sex-change, homeless old lady…
There Was An Old Lady... A Sex-Change, Homeless Old Lady Just as I'm walking out of Rona, pieces in hand to fix my kitchen sink, she enters. She who had been a he. I recognize her from when I was sitting on the sidewalk with my buddy Aaron and Lars. Today she's wearing a long …
Continue reading "There was an old lady… a sex-change, homeless old lady…"
Faces of Jesus: Lars & Christmas
Faces of Jesus: Lars & Christmas Today Lars has survived our first serious frost. I asked him today how he spent the night. "Right here." Under the awning of the building where one can go inside and choose carpet and flooring. I handed him my typical Nature Valley granola bars and a five dollar bill, …
Winter’s First Blast: Homeless Survive?
Jesus, I want to look at this guy and see You, but that's hard anymore. You, at least occasionally, I can understand.
We Would Help–and WE’RE “Church People”
Aaron and I are sitting on the sidewalk, talking to Lars, and apparently this old woman feels like we have sympathetic ears because she begins to unloaded her story. "The market is squeezing the seniors out onto the streets!"
The Devil, My Daughter, and the Town That Almost Cares
My daughter is teary-eyed as she gets in the car. The only religion off the table for the kids to choose from was Satanism. Witchcraft, okayed. Voodoo, okayed. "I had to switch groups and I broke down crying in front of the whole class."
Making Jesus Proud
My daughter and I share a dream. (Technically, it's a family dream, but this daughter talks about it the most, prays with me the most about it.) We call it: The Breakfast House. What is the Breakfast House? The BH is a place where missionaries who have no home, or for whatever reason can't go …
Homeless Jack needs prayer. Now.
Jack needs prayer. Now. I had planned on taking my time with this story and do my best to relate my experiences with Jack so that you’d feel like you knew him as well as I do. But now there’s no time for that. You’ll just have to fill in the blanks on what you’d …
Sometimes Life Stops You So You Can Live
Sometimes life stops you from doing simple things, like waking up at 4 a.m. so you can write. Not that waking up at 4 a.m. is simple anymore. I have to keep changing the sound my alarm plays so that I don't go through the hypnotic routine of sleepwalking across the room to shut off …
Street Drugs and Jesus
Faces of Jesus: Jack and ... Jack doesn’t see me coming so he’s off guard at first, wondering if I’ve noticed that he has signaled this other guy to put some stuff away. The way Jack talks, the way his mind seems so clear, his thoughts so logical, plus the I’m-above-them attitude he has about …
When the Sun Goes Dark in the Supermarket
T-Shirt Conversation #2 I try to listen. Sometimes. Even for the simple things like, I made this shirt. When do I wear it? Today I walk into the grocery store wearing this U Turn, U Live shirt. I have a conversation with a lady, but it has nothing to do with the shirt. She comments …
Continue reading "When the Sun Goes Dark in the Supermarket"
and the Mariachi said, “Is Jesus staying in this hospital…?”
Faces of Jesus: Mikey I wake up early Saturday morning and it feels like God is saying, Take your guitar, go to the hospital and play ‘Because He Lives.’ I pick up my hymnal and flip open to page 213. ‘Because He Lives’? God, I don’t even like this song. Growing up, we always sang …
Continue reading "and the Mariachi said, “Is Jesus staying in this hospital…?”"
Jesus Wears Johnny Cash Black: “I was naked and…”
Faces of Jesus: Lars I’ve learned. The next time I see Lars I don’t hand him anything. I say, “Hi,” and sit on the sidewalk next to him for a long and intentionally silent conversation, keeping five bucks hidden under my hand on the curb. It’s almost nice. I mean, twenty-five minutes of being still, …
Continue reading "Jesus Wears Johnny Cash Black: “I was naked and…”"
Jesus, Hiding In Plain Sight
Faces of Jesus: Lars God’s not subtle. I’ve just dropped my son off at youth group, and with two hours to kill I’m about to try grocery shopping at night. I’m hoping the store’s near to empty. No crowds. No lines. Quick and easy. But as I’m driving down the four lane street, the sun …
Faces of Jesus: God Comes to Jack
Tuesday After I play my trumpet, Jack and I sit in the cool of the shade and listen to the cars hum overhead. I’ve never been great at shooting the breeze. The breeze always moves, and I always miss. So I end up answering Jack’s questions. “What are you doing here?” “Playing my trumpet, talking …
Faces of Jesus: Jack
The Next Day “Ha!” Jack laughs in his chair. “You came back!” I smile as I step out from the morning sun and into the shade of the overpass. This time, I’ve parked my van in the McDonald’s parking lot that’s planted right next to this huge mass of concrete gray, the golden arches emblem …
Faces of Jesus: Under the Overpass
Two Days After Lying To Jesse I'm on my way to Grandma's, and I get to the turn where I can choose to take the highway or meander through town. Wanting to be open to God's leading, I ask, "Which way?" Feels like God says, Through town. And then as I start to go through …
Faces of Jesus: Lying
Spring 2016 I've just spent $100 on books. Books about missionaries. And I'm sitting in my car outside the Christian bookstore, trying to read this particular book about a guy from Pakistan who takes a stand for Christ and gets stabbed for it, trying to distance myself as I feel the Holy Spirit stirring around …
