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Daniel 3the whole chapter, please! As we relearn each and every Easter, God does his finest work in the tightest spaces. Please keep that empty tomb in mind as we work our way through this Shelter series. Easter is not a once-and-done date on a calendar; death-and-resurrection is how God always goes about his work Be on the lookout for ways in which each of our Shelter ...
Keep ReadingElijah was afraid and ran for his life (1 Kings 19:3) Where did Elijah think he was going? What was he hoping to find once he got there? He runs because the powerful king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, have sworn to kill him. He flees, first, all the way to Beersheba, the southernmost city in the Promised Land. From there, a day's journey into the desert. Find...
Keep Reading"'Go out and stand on the mountainin the presence of theLord, for theLordis about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful windtore the mountains apart and shatteredthe rocks before theLord, but theLordwas not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but theLordwas not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire,but theLordwas not in the fire. And after...
Keep ReadingThe LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD,for the LORD is about to pass by" (1 Kings 19:11) What if God would like to have a different kind of conversation with us, with you? And what if God is present, is with us, in our current circumstancesin our current tight spacesto that end? There are all kinds of tight spaces. Some are shelters...
Keep ReadingAnd the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (I Kings 19:9b and 13b). A few weeks after saying my life-transforming "Yes" to Jesus, I sat in a church service where I Kings 19:3-18 was being preached. Although that was forty-plus years ago, I can still hear that pastor's reading of "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He put strong emphasis on the...
Keep ReadingElijah traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.There he went into a cave and spent the night (1 Kings 19:8-9). God does some of his best work in confined spaces. Jonah inside a great fish. Paul writing much of our New Testament from prison, and John, the Book of Revelation from a penal island in the Aegean Sea. Bunyan's Pilgrim's P...
Keep ReadingSo Joseph brought some linen cloth, took the body down,wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb (Mark 15:46). What is today, this day that you are reading these words? Well, it's Saturday, April 11, 2020 a weekend day, Day Number Whatever in our virus-changed world maybe your birthday, or anniversary just another day the day after Good Friday, the day before E...
Keep ReadingMark 16:1-8 Take time with the story; take time in it. Notice: Mark tells the story of the Resurrection through the lens of three women. They have been "minor characters," not even mentioned by Mark until the very end of chapter 15: these women witness the crucifixion and watch as Jesus' body is entombed nearby (15:40, 47). It has been just a week since what seemed to b...
Keep ReadingMark 16:1-8 As you work your way through Mark 11-15 and arrive at this week's passage, Mark 16:1-8, the sermon text for Easter Sunday, here are some things to notice. First, notice Mark's very strange ending. The final word in Mark's Gospel is afraid! You'll probably have some footnotes in your Bible that explain that we're not sure if this is how Mark intended to conclu...
Keep Reading... they were on their way to the tomb... "Don't be alarmed, "he (the young man dressed in a white robe) said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here... But go, tell his disciples..." Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb.They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid (Mark 16:2, 6a, 8...
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