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True friends are the greatest treasure. A good dog is God's reminder of what true loyalty can look like - that through thick or thin, whether it's "hot in the kitchen" or whatever, we simply refuse to hide until things cool off.
Recent Entries
Making Sense Of It AllJanuary 30, 2012
Where are things headed? Is there rhyme and reason to the endless cycle of summer, fall, winter and spring? Is there a plan in place, or is randomness the explanation?
Suffering Saints
January 25, 2012
We get nervous thinking about it - suffering for the sake of Christ. How necessary is it, and what does it produce in us?
George Herbert on Prayer Meetings
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Prayer Meetings are a thing of the past. Or so it seems. What has been lost? Maybe more than we realize.
When Fear Is Good
January 7, 2012
NO FEAR, we are told. And the point is well taken. But fear can be healthy, at least when it comes to eternal matters.
Happy, Happy, Happy
January 4, 2012
The declaration of independence holds up the pursuit of happiness as a right. Did you ever consider the reading the bible might be the one source that will never let you down?
The Twelve Signs Of Grace
December 22, 2011
Self-examination is not easy to do. The tendency is to let ourselves off easy. But examine we must, for eternity is at stake.
"Ouch!!"
July 22, 2011
Spiritual pride is hard to detect. Jonathan Edwards gives some tips. The process can be painful, but necessary.
You Can Count On Me
November 3, 2008
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but here is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24
The prophet Jeremiah lived in difficult times, when the political waters were constantly swirling, and speaking the truth was lifethreatening. In the twenty-five years or so that he tirelessly gave out the words of God to a contentious people, three friends emerged at key times to show true loyalty, even when it could cost them dearly.
Early on, when King Jehoiakim reigned, Jeremiah was narrowly escaped with his life, thanks to Ahikam ben Shaphan, who came to his rescue. And for years Jeremiah had a loyal secretary named Baruch, who refused to abandon him.
And when Jeremiah was lowered into the mud of a well and left to languish and die, Ebed-Melech went to King Zedekiah and begged for permission to rescue Jeremiah. And he was successful.
Eugene Peterson in RUN WITH THE HORSES:
"Not everyone in Jerusalem that year was just "doing his job." Not all were sailing under the winds of popular opinion. There were a few people for whom a friend was more significant than a calculated advantage, for whom a friend meant a commitment and was worth a risk."
"The simple fact that he had friends says something essential about Jeremiah:he needed friends. He was well-developed in his interior life. It was impossible to deter him from his course by enmity or by flattery."
"He was habituated to solitude. But he needed friends. No one who is whole is self-sufficient. The whole life, the complete life, cannot be lived with haughty independence. Our goal cannot be to not need anyone."
"One of the evidences of Jeremiah's wholeness was his capacity to receive friendship, to let others help him, to be accessible to mercy. It is easier to extend friendship to others than to receive it ourselves."
"In giving friendship we share strength, but in receiving it we show weakness. But well-developed persons are never garrisoned behind dogmas or projects, but rather they are alive to a wide spectrum of relationships."
Jesus, in his hour of agony in the garden, took Peter, James and John to be with him. They were his friends, his companions. Yes, they failed that test, but undoubtedly learned the lesson well, that we need each other in trials, to hold each other up, to sustain each other through the swells of life.
The prophet Jeremiah lived in difficult times, when the political waters were constantly swirling, and speaking the truth was lifethreatening. In the twenty-five years or so that he tirelessly gave out the words of God to a contentious people, three friends emerged at key times to show true loyalty, even when it could cost them dearly.
Early on, when King Jehoiakim reigned, Jeremiah was narrowly escaped with his life, thanks to Ahikam ben Shaphan, who came to his rescue. And for years Jeremiah had a loyal secretary named Baruch, who refused to abandon him.
And when Jeremiah was lowered into the mud of a well and left to languish and die, Ebed-Melech went to King Zedekiah and begged for permission to rescue Jeremiah. And he was successful.
Eugene Peterson in RUN WITH THE HORSES:
"Not everyone in Jerusalem that year was just "doing his job." Not all were sailing under the winds of popular opinion. There were a few people for whom a friend was more significant than a calculated advantage, for whom a friend meant a commitment and was worth a risk."
"The simple fact that he had friends says something essential about Jeremiah:he needed friends. He was well-developed in his interior life. It was impossible to deter him from his course by enmity or by flattery."
"He was habituated to solitude. But he needed friends. No one who is whole is self-sufficient. The whole life, the complete life, cannot be lived with haughty independence. Our goal cannot be to not need anyone."
"One of the evidences of Jeremiah's wholeness was his capacity to receive friendship, to let others help him, to be accessible to mercy. It is easier to extend friendship to others than to receive it ourselves."
"In giving friendship we share strength, but in receiving it we show weakness. But well-developed persons are never garrisoned behind dogmas or projects, but rather they are alive to a wide spectrum of relationships."
Jesus, in his hour of agony in the garden, took Peter, James and John to be with him. They were his friends, his companions. Yes, they failed that test, but undoubtedly learned the lesson well, that we need each other in trials, to hold each other up, to sustain each other through the swells of life.
