Love Actually: Day 39  Good Friday

Love Actually: Day 39 Good Friday

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 2, John 18-19 Good Friday Those of you who may have read my first book know that I have a chronic, terminal, and apparently incurable disease, the disease to please. I am, by the grace of God, in remission, but in the past, this ugly disease brought me to the edge… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 38

Love Actually: Day 38

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 1, Mark 14:12-26 I was pastoring a great church in Springfield, Ohio. The church had grown explosively. We had just completed a new building and in this building was something I had always dreamed of as a pastor, a sacristy, a small room set aside for the preparation of the communion… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 37

Love Actually: Day 37

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 31, John 13:21-38 Many of you know the story of the birth of Branches. It came out of my own failure, the pain that Doris and my family endured because of me, and the healing that Jesus brought to us. Here’s a little anecdote that you may not have heard. Doris… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 36

Love Actually: Day 36

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 30, Ezekiel 37:1-14 This might surprise you but there is a bunch of stuff in the Bible that I don’t understand. Symbols and events, timelines and theology, there are just things that don’t make a lot of sense to me. A couple of days ago we read in Proverbs, “Don’t answer… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 35

Love Actually: Day 35

Read Psalm 23, Proverbs 29, John 12:1-11 Doris was out of town this weekend. She was involved in a women’s retreat and I am so proud of her. But, when she leaves, for some reason, this house just becomes a wreck. I don’t know who messes it up so bad but after a couple of… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 34

Love Actually: Day 34

Read Psalm 56, Proverbs 27, Isaiah 53:10-12 Next week is Passion Week. We will read Psalm 23, the Proverbs chapter of the day, and pretty much the Passion week story: Monday-John 12:1-11, Tuesday-Ezekiel 37:1-14, Wednesday-John 13:21-38, Thursday-Mark 14:12-26, Friday-John 18-19, Saturday-John 21:1-14 Here are some housekeeping things: Monday is supposed to be our last video.… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 33 (of 40, wow!)

Love Actually: Day 33 (of 40, wow!)

You know why I like Amazon? Because it’s easy to get justice. You order something from them. It doesn’t come in just right, wrong size, different color, a little damaged, and you just send the thing back. Voila! Instant justice. They either send you a new thing or refund your money. No harm. No foul.… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 32

Love Actually: Day 32

Psalm 53, Proverbs 25, Isaiah 53:1-6 Doris, my wife, has an amazing gift of unknowing. She has a birthday coming up in a couple of months. About a week before, she and I will go out shopping. We will walk through endless aisles of hoity-toity dress shops. (I keep saying they have great stuff at… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 31

Psalm 56, Proverbs 24, II Corinthians 1:3-11 Doris asked me last night why I choose the scripture each day that I do. Well, the Proverbs chapter is just the chapter that corresponds with the calendar day. That way we read through the entire book of Proverbs every month. I have done this for years. The… Continue Reading

Love Actually: Day 30

Love Actually: Day 30

Psalm 56, Proverbs 23, I Peter 2:21-25 Here’s an interesting story. In 1896, Charles Monroe Sheldon wrote a little book about a small-town church that was challenged when one Sunday an apparent, homeless beggar came walking into the middle of their worship service. The events that unfolded caused that little congregation to ask themselves, “What… Continue Reading