In Gennesaret

Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the New Testament was when he turned water into wine. I never really got a satisfactory explanation about that from the teetotaler Baptist adults in the church I grew up in. The best one I heard was that water was not clean at the time, so drinking wine was safer – and their wine wasn’t as strong as wine today and less likely to cause drunkenness. Hmm. Maybe. Nevertheless, I think it is noteworthy that the Lord’s first supernatural act performed in his human body was so different from those that came later. When we think about Jesus’ miracles, we generally think of the scads of people he healed – physically and spiritually. We see him casting out demons, feeding multitudes, meeting basic needs for survival. But his first miracle was about increasing joy. It was a wedding, a party. They were celebrating the nuptials of a young couple beginning a life together. And huge part of such a celebration in biblical times was wine. And oh, people . . . it ...

A couple weeks ago, our Sunday School lesson was over 1 King 19 – the story of Elijah running away to Horeb after his big victory over the prophets of Baal (in chapter 18). I love this story. God used it mightily in my life at one point to teach me some important lessons about my depression. Because Elijah is depressed here, yes? “ He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.” That’s depression, people. A textbook case. And one of the first things to note about this is that it came after a mountaintop moment . . . which is not uncommon. We should prepare ourselves for a possible crash after a spiritual high , especially if we know we are naturally susceptible to such crashes. But what’s the first thing God did for him? He let him sleep.  Like, a lot. He slept, then he woke up to eat, then he slept again. I’ve learned that for me, a lot of my depression is connected to sleep deprivation. I’m TIRED. I need rest. Just getting a good nap usually helps m...

I don’t watch any of those TV shows about police teams – you know, NCIS and its spin-offs, Law and Order and its spin-offs . . . none of them. Don’t have anything against them; just never got started and therefore never hooked. But every once in a while, I feel like I’m missing some cultural knowledge (and maybe vocabulary) because of my lack of exposure. For instance, apparently police officers these days (at least on these shows) wear these earbuds for two-way radios so they can communicate with headquarters? So, like, they have constant access to somebody “downtown” – that person may pop in at any moment and say something in their ear, and they can at any time hold down a button on some device (on their hip, I’m guessing?) and say something to their downtown person. Instant communication. Something like that? I can imagine it . . . I’ve probably seen it on some show sometime . . . but I don’t know the nitty-gritty of it all. The only reason I bring it up is because my friend u...

The more you heal, the more comfortable you are being the villain in the story of people who don’t want to do the work to heal themselves. I saw this statement in a meme on Facebook a few weeks ago and reposted it because it hit home with me. I’m not sure if my FB friends read it the same way I did. A couple people seemed concerned that it implied allowing yourself to be wrongly abused or mistreated by someone. Which would not be okay, of course. Exce-e-ept there’s that “turn the other cheek” bit that Jesus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer them the other one. If someone sues you to take your shirt, give him your coat, too.  Clearly, there is wisdom needing to be applied here. Eugene Peterson in The Message put it thusly: “If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” I don’t believe Jesus is telling us to allow ourselves to be abused and d...