Day 4 “Reading with the Pastor” Matthew 4 and Psalm 7 One year, verses 3-5 of Psalm 7 grabbed my spirit and would not let go. David told God that if there was anything in his heart, anything in his actions that was worthy of the persecution he was experiencing, then let him (his … More When the Spirit Grabs Your Heart
Today’s Readings AM Matthew 3 and PM Psalm 5 & 6 For those of you joining us on the journey of reading through the New Testament by the end of the year and the book of Psalms twice, here’s a pattern for how to organize your devotional time and record what you … More Need a New Pattern for Your Daily Devotions?
Another offering from THE POETRY PROJECT There is a raw quality to some of the psalms of David, a brutal non-political, non-politically correct confidence in the total dependability of God that progressive thought despises and David and other biblical writers could not care less about. Psalm 14 is one of those psalms that breathes those … More There is No God.
A few weeks ago I went to the funeral for the mother of one of the elders of Trinity Church. The funeral itself was at Calvary Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Watseka. Pastor Don Love did a marvelous job but he was also helped by the marvelous funeral liturgy of his church and the genius … More A Hymn Story for a Flawed Church
The Poetry Project In December of 2009 or thereabouts, my son, Marty Schoenleber III, (aka, Marty S. Dalton) put a video up on Youtube.com. It inspired me to keep working on a project I thought of a couple of years ago. The idea is to write a poem of personal reflection for each Psalm in the psalter. … More When Waiting On God is the Purpose
Part of the “Poetry Project”* Read Psalm 69 Psalm 69 and 70 were the evening readings on the schedule last night (three nights ago). I read two verses that I don’t remember reading in the other 200 plus times I have read the book of Psalms. Of course, that last sentence is both improbable and … More When Friends Fail You
Sunday Musings Periodically, hearts need to be raked over coals to become malleable and soft again. The metaphor doesn’t work except it does. Fire doesn’t make flesh soft, it makes it crisp. It sears it. Meat shrinks and contracts when surrounded by the heat of a coal fire. But when the “hot coal” … More Darkness Created Light
What does it Take to Thrive Under Pressure? Part of the Poetry Project Suggested by a Reading of Psalm 12 Read Psalm 12 “There is no strength left in the world of men.” —Elrond, in The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkein “All we get to do is decide what to do with the … More Resilience: The Ability to Thrive under Pressure
Thursday is for Hope Coleman Luck, a Facebook™ friend and Hollywood producer (among his credits, the TV show The Equalizer) quoted James Russell Lowell today in a post critiquing modern media. Lowell was an American poet and abolitionist who penned the following lines: Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold … More Truth Will Win: Wait for It
Wednesday is for Prayer Sleep is over-rated. One hour, and then toss, switch sides, too hot, toilet, a thousand thoughts, turn them into prayers, what was that sound?, more thoughts, more prayers, give up, rise up, light on, rearrange bed, locate Bible, listen to the voice of God. Last night, reading, praying, meditating on Psalm … More The King and a Blade of Dry Grass (a meditation)
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