One of the most ubiquitous symbols of the Appalachian Trail is the white blaze. A blaze is a distinctive stripe that is painted in obvious places along a hiking trail to let you know that you are on the right path. In Shenandoah National Park there tons of marked trails. There are blue blazes, red blazes and yellow blazes, but the white blaze is reserved for the granddaddy trail of them all, the AT which traverses completely through the park. …
…The sky over your head will be brass, and the earth beneath you iron. Deuteronomy 28:23 This past week I had coffee with Scott Heine, a pastor friend who has consistently reached out to me for years and especially since I stepped down from active pastoral ministry at the end of March. We met at Panera in Gainesville and I was about 1/2 way into my first mug of steaming joe when he stopped the chat and said, “So how…
For years people have been telling me that I ought to write a book. I don’t know if I have the patience and discipline for that… but I do like to write devotional material. For the past 10 years, I’ve been consistently writing and using the material for church newsletters, social media and sometimes just for fun. Now, the majority of it is compiled in one place. One day, I hope my kids will sift through all of this and…
On Wednesday, I returned from a 10 day expedition through Shenandoah National Park. God and I walked the Appalachian Trail from the park’s northernmost entrance in Front Royal to its southernmost point at Waynesboro. My 101 mile journey crossed 8 Virginia counties and traversed several dozen peaks with an elevation swing of 530 feet in Front Royal to a high of 4039 feet at Hawkbill mountain. This had been on my “bucket list” for a while, but the suddenness of…
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Ephesians 6:9 On Saturday, Amanda and I planted our garden; tomatoes, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, green beans, Jamaican calaloo, and very soon, peppers- green bell peppers, jalapeño, and banana peppers. I also planted a ring of marigolds and other bug-deterring flowers around the perimeter (Thanks Stefanie for giving us some surplus plants!). Looks good, don’t…
Back in 2001, pastor and author John Ortberg wrote a best selling book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. The book is based on Matthew 14:22-33 where Jesus intentionally puts his disciples into a boat knowing that he is sending them into rough waters. Jesus goes off to pray and at about 4 a.m., far out at sea, while the winds and the waves are buffeting the boat, Jesus comes to…
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” Isaiah 5:20 I’ve been doing my morning reading in the Old Testament, specifically the book of Jeremiah and I’ve gotta say, it’s been years since I’ve read through some of these tougher portions of the Bible. It’s slow going at times, but I am learning a lot. The prophet Jeremiah ministered at a time in Israel’s history when the nation was finally coming under God’s judgment for their continuous idolatry….
Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ ~ Matthew 5:37 I’ve been doing some thinking this week about the difference between a “wish” and an “intention.” We use the term, “wish” a lot. “I wish I had a million bucks; I wish I could lose weight; I wish I had an iPhone XS Max; I wish it were warmer outside…” We wish for lots of things. A wish is kind of a vague hope or a nice thought. It’s…
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 I imagine there are many within our community who are beginning to sweat. The government shutdown has entered its twenty-fifth day with no end in sight. For large swaths of the federal government, “essential” workers labor without pay while those deemed “non-essential” are furloughed. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, I think that we can all agree that the…
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message,so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…”Colossians 4:3 On Saturday, my daughter Amanda and I were down in D.C. at Children’s Hospital visiting a family friend. After the visit, I wanted to take her to a Jamaican takeout place on N. Capitol St. NW. It’s a little storefront restaurant with no seating and an order counter about the size of a shoebox. We found parking…