Farewell to the Farm: A Personal Note

“My farm was a little too high up for growing coffee.” Karen Blixen (1885-1962) begins the chapter “Hard Times” with a statement of surrender. This unyielding truth had brought a life both foreign and familiar, beautiful and dangerous, wearisome yet rewarding to a punctilious end. Blixen’s memoir Out of Africa (1937) does not wrap upContinue reading “Farewell to the Farm: A Personal Note”

Church Relationships Don’t Come Easy–and Why That’s Okay

Shouldn’t church be easy? Shouldn’t I just click with the people in my church? Shouldn’t it be the most natural thing in the world for me to spend time with my brothers and sisters in Christ? …but what if it isn’t? Is something wrong with my church? Is something wrong with me? We look at our neighborhoodsContinue reading “Church Relationships Don’t Come Easy–and Why That’s Okay”

Where to Turn in a World of Competing Narratives

I was reading Psalm 73 this morning, and Asaph reminded me of Reason #372 why it is so important to be in church on Sunday mornings. He begins his Psalm bewildered by the conflict of what he believes to be true in his heart and what seems to be true in the culture: Truly GodContinue reading “Where to Turn in a World of Competing Narratives”

A Baptist Catechism for Kids

When I was growing up, there was this infomercial for a countertop appliance called the Showtime Rotisserie. I can remember the salesman showing the product’s many practical uses, and after putting a whole turkey or chicken or a salmon or a pineapple or whatever inside, he and the audience would repeat the catchphrase together: “Now…setContinue reading “A Baptist Catechism for Kids”