During the summer of 1980, I spent two months in the Dominican Republic, living in the mountains with two religious sisters in the small town of San Jose de Ocoa. At night I would sit in a rocking chair on the porch and enjoy the sight of the mountains. Much like the early Hebrews and […]
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A friend of mine routinely says, “Keep the victory,” as his goodbye. What he means by that, I never bothered to ask. I figured I knew but now I question this. That phrase came back to me as I read Psalm 98. Psalm 98 Once again, in Psalm 98, we are called to sing a […]
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Sunrises over a mountain, the changing seasons, a baby’s laugh, some things never get old. No matter how many times we see the sun rise, it still inspires awe. No matter how many times we watch the changing seasons come and go, they remain a wonder. We hear a baby laugh and the sound still […]
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Psalm 96: Sing a New Old Song Whenever unsure about what song to write, musicians frequently look to old songs and do remakes. Remakes of old songs are often sure hits. Sometimes they surpass the popularity of the original. Sometimes the original is forgotten entirely. We may be surprised to learn a song we love […]
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My favorite images of heaven and hell come from C.S. Lewis in his books, The Great Divorce, and the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. Those in hell choose hell. They become smaller and smaller and further isolated from others. They are but specters. In heaven, everything is bigger and more […]
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“O Lord, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth!” (94:1) So begins Psalm 94, but what is this vengeance? Is God’s vengeance the same as human vengeance? Psalm 94 Psalm 94 is a lament in two parts. The first fifteen verses comprise a lament of the community against evildoers who oppress the most vulnerable […]
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Anyone who has witnessed the power of water rushing unchecked is aware of the power of the flood. The waves of tsunamis have wrought an incredible amount of death and destruction. Hurricanes with days of non-stop rain have ravaged cities along our coast. In Noah’s time the flood wiped all living beings off the face […]
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Do birthdays get better as we get older? Instead of a birth “day” some years, I have a birth “week”, finding fun ways to celebrate all week. Psalm 92 offers words of hope to all of us as we grow older; that we aren’t just getting older, we are getting better. Psalm 92 A hymn […]
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It used to be that Amazing Grace was the “go to” hymn for funerals. The strains of the music started and that was the cue for tears to start. That distinction now belongs to the hymn, On Eagle’s Wings. It seems I hear it at every Memorial Service or funeral I attend. Based on Psalm […]
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“Our years come to an end like a sigh,” Psalm 90 tells us (9b). Will your life end like a sigh? A single breath let loose as a final “Amen” to a life well-lived? Or will you burn out quickly, like a candle burning at both ends? Paul speaks of this life as a race […]
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