Stuff I Like

One of my favorite writers, Frederick Buechner, encourages us to examine our lives during Lent by asking and answering some questions he poses. Buechner writes:

In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year’s income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each year’s days. After being…

Meditation on Deuteronomy 26:4-10

 Dt 26:4-10 Moses spoke to the people, saying: “The priest shall receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord, your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation great, strong, and numerous. When the Egyptians…

Awhile back I emailed this to a friend, and since I had to type it up, I figured I might as well post it here as well.  I love this short devotion, as well as the book from which it is taken.  Both this devotion and the book (see below) never fail to convict me.

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Twenty-One

The ancient Hebrews were so tied by tradition they couldn’t recognize the Messiah when he was right there in front of…

Isaiah 60:1-5, 6b – My Paraphrase

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, even though darkness covers the earth, and deep darkness the people; the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawning.

Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons…

A Christmas Song for You

One of my favorite Christmas songs of the “modern era” is by Dave Matthews.  I first encountered it on the album Live at Luther College with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.  Thanks to Mike at Waving or Drowning for reminding me of this wonderful song.  The lyrics below are from his blog, which you can access at the end of this post.

If you want to listen to a version of it, go and see a YouTube…