Lenten Hymn Meditations

As part of my Lenten discipline this year I decided to write a brief devotion for each day during Lent (not including Sunday) based on a verse in one of the hymns in our hymnal. I'll use different sections of the hymnal on the different days of the week:

Monday: Confession
Tuesday: Lent / Holy Week
Wednesday: Justification
Thursday: Hope and Comfort / Trust
Friday: Baptism
Saturday: Lord's Supper

So look for them starting tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up!

Book Review: The Bestman, the Bride, and the Wedding

I bought this book eons ago, and it sat on my shelf waiting to be read someday. I was reminded of it recently, looked for it, found it, and needing something to read while riding my bike and exercising (not outside but on an indoor trainer!), I read it.

This book is an allegorical retelling of Christian history, from the fall into sin to the great wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. Of course, it doesn't retell everything - that would take far too long! But it hits the important events and enables you to see them and think about them in a new way. That is a strength of this book. And for me, three specific episodes stood out: the expulsion from the Garden of Eden and what life was like outside the Garden in a world of sin, the execution (biblical crucifixion) scene, and the final judgment. The execution scene in particular, where Jesus is speaking with satan and taking ALL the sin of ALL the world upon Himself is well done.

The other thing that stands out in this book is how the Office of the Ministry is woven throughout and portrayed. I wish I would have read this earlier in my ministry (which I could have, of course, since it sat on my shelf for a long time!). This would be a good book for seminarians to read.

So if you like allegory, this is a good book to read. If you don't know if you do or not, give it a shot. You can buy a used copy cheap through Amazon.

Winter?

What happened to winter? Sad to say, we've hardly had it here in Virginia. We had some cold days, but almost no snow. Nada. Zilch. Less than one inch total all winter. Makes me very sad. I like snow. It is peaceful and beautiful and slows the world down a bit. I don't always like shoveling large volumes of it, but prefer that to none! Sigh. I am holding out hope that maybe February will bring one last vestige of winter, but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe next year.  :-(

Uh . . . no. (Part 2)

So I was at a funeral home today, helping make arrangements for a member who was just called home to heaven. While the man helping us was out of the room preparing paperwork, we looked through the book of floral arrangements available for purchase. There was the usual stuff, and then there was this . . .

In case you cannot read the ribbon, it says: "Jesus called & she answered."

JUST. SAY. NO.

Really? Seriously?

And what should the caption be on this?

(a.) "Service plan not included."

(b.) "Roaming charges may apply."

(c.) "Stay in touch."

(d.) "REALLY the largest 5G network."

NO. 

JUST NO. 

Seriously. 

NO.

Uh . . . no.

So I was in Greenwich, CT earlier this week for our Circuit Pastors' Conference. This was in my hotel room - $6 for a bottle of water! Uh . . . no.

Zoo Lights

While in Detroit, my father-in-law took us to the zoo to see their holiday light display. Fortunately, it wasn't too cold. We enjoyed all the lights and displays. I only have one picture of them so far, of one of the foxes . . . but it will give you an idea of how cool it was.  :-)

Don't Drive Drunk

I was in Detroit all this week visiting my in-laws. My son went to my house on New Year's Day to make sure there were no packages or things sitting out. There weren't. But something was missing - my mailbox! So my sons calls me . . . Did you do something with your mailbox? . . . Uh, no. Why? . . . 'Cause it isn't there!

My son found some chrome pieces and pieces of the mailbox on the sidewalk, some tire marks in the grass, and some mud tracks in the street. So he followed the dirt trail a couple of streets over and found the mailbox . . .

We're guessing that someone had a few too many on New Year's Eve and not only ran it over, but dragged it for a while. Our mail carrier said that there was another mailbox missing on another street. Same driver? Who knows.

Here's what it looked like up close. Oof-da!

So my job today was to dig out the old sheered-off post and install a new mailbox. It wasn't too bad a job. It was pretty warm here today, so the ground wasn't frozen and it was good weather to work outside. Not exactly what I wanted to do the day back from a mini-vacation, but what can you do? But I did a nice job, if I do say so myself!