Holy week

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Tuesday – truths from trees

Mark 11:12–14 (ESV)On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. He is yelling at a tree. He was…

Monday – Sometimes, you just have to weep

Yesterday there was a parade. Today there are tears. Yesterday there was a celebration. Today there is frustration. Yesterday he was their king. Today he is feeling the affects of being their God. The events of Monday - Wednesday of Holy Week, are not clearly defined by date or time, only that they happened - but this does not reduce their importance. In his version of the story, Luke tells us something that most of the other Gospel writers do…

Palm Sunday – The King has come

Mark 11:1–10 (ESV)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send…

Easter Sunday

I remember it like it was yesterday. The year is 2011, and the day is February 6th. My family and I have been watching together as our beloved Green Bay Packers played the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game you might have heard of called the Super Bowl. It had started off well for us, the Packers had been in the lead for the entire game, and now in the waning moments, the Steelers were attempting a comeback, in an attempt…

A quiet riot

There are two kinds of silence in this world - the kind you want, and the kind you don’t. The first is the one that all parents dream about. When your kids are young and sitting in the back seat of a car yelling at each other or asking a thousand questions, you know what it’s like to long for silence. When they fall asleep and there is nothing but the sound of their breathing to let you know they…

A very Good Friday

“The costliest of costs. The deadliest of loss, The wonder of the cross. The breath of life that stops. The hope of heaven bought The wonder of the cross. The wonder of the cross. I don’t want to move.” [playlist ids="258"] Good Friday has long been my favorite day of every year. I hope it doesn’t make me sound strange or morbid, but there is just such powerful emotion that surrounds this day. I remember as an adolescent, probably not…

Bread and wine

Every once and a while someone asks me the question - ‘What would you want for your last meal ever on earth?’ As I have never been on death row or even incarcerated for that matter, I can honestly tell you, it is a question to which I have never given too much thought. Whenever I am asked, my mind immediately goes to some of my favorite foods growing up. My step-dad makes a really mean ribeye, so I think…

The hardest part

Tom Petty famously penned and sang the line ‘the waiting is the hardest part’ - and I think in most cases, I’d have to agree with him. When we were young kids, my parents used to drive us down to my grandparents farm on all the major holidays and at least a few times each summer. Grandma’s house was a magical land filled with the best of all worlds. Grandma loved to cook, and we loved food, so that lined…

Cleaning House

My wife and I are not the housecleaning type. It’s not like we live in a pigsty or anything - we do clean the house. It’s just that, given the choice between hanging out with each other or the kids and scrubbing toilets and washing floors, we will always choose the former. Growing up, my parents kept the house incredibly tidy. Floors were washed and vacuumed every Saturday, bathrooms were cleaned weekly, and beds were made on a daily basis.…

A case of the Mondays

I’ve got this sort of sixth sense when it comes to guessing the end of movies and television shows. My wife and I watch lots of crime dramas, and usually within the first 15 minutes I’m able to tell her who the villain is. It kind of drives her crazy. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut because, well, it ruins the drama of it all. Knowing what’s about to happen really makes the rest of the story seem kind…