Canyons & Fireworks

Madeleine Hancey, also known as Fancy, was a fatherless child without direction or purpose. She spent her days not in quixotic daydreams but in a sort of fog that permeated mind and soul. The haze served as both a protector of unpleasantries and stifler of intrigues. In early adulthood Fancy was awakened out of her slumber and carried away into the world of indulgence, excitement, and merriment. The once dreamless sleeper began to envision many possibilities. It was in her twenties that she acquired the endearment, Fancy, a spin on her surname. Fancy romanticized every aspect of her life. She wore long flowing dresses and imagined herself as though at a European market when simply picking up flowers at the grocery store, something she did weekly. Fancy hosted dinner parties to enjoy the eclectic array of personalities found among her friends.  She lodged in a modest home lined by a thin tree line but to Fancy it was something like a cottage in the woods from her favorite childhood ...

I hear a lot of criticism launched at the church today. People are unsatisfied when the worship music is "boring" and upset when it's "too much like a concert." Disapproval follows sermons preached in the topical style, but church members don't understand the exegetical style. A friend of mine once shared some ministry woes from her years as a preacher's wife. Her husband first preached at a small church and was compensated very little. Given their meager budget, their children's clothing could not keep up with the latest styles. Sadly, their daughter was severely bullied by other girls at the church for not being fashionable enough.  The same friend suffered more scorn a few years later. Her husband moved to a different church and was paid a little bit more, but the family was still on a tight budget. My friend got a job at a department store and as an employee, she received a much needed discount. More importantly, she got first dibs at the sales r...

This walk of faith is full of many realignments, corrections, disciplines, and times of repentance. In an effort to purify our belief system sometimes God takes matters a step further with a total master rest. According to google a master reset "restores an electronic device to its original state by erasing all data, settings, and applications." This explanation carries a harder punch than the already humbling journey of transformation and indicates that the master has taken charge. No longer is the believer exercizing their will to die to the flesh but rather the Master is killing it. The great fish that offered Johah a three days and three nights stay in his belly, is probably one of the best biblical examples of such a rewiring. Considering the persecution of the martyrs of our faith, the free cruise Johah received isn't half bad,  but I would still opt for an alternative (it's OK to laugh). This past Sunday I woke up to the phrase, "Pearls stored in dark plac...

Last week we were given thick imagery in both Ezekiel and Revelation of what is going on in heaven in regard to the four living creatures. If you are like me, you have questions. Most scholars believe the four creatures represent the four gospels. The man is believed to represent the Gospel of Matthew because the book begins with Jesus' genealogy as a human.  Mark can be symbolized by the lion. The book of Mark starts off not with Jesus but His forerunner, John the Baptist who was like a roaring lion.  The seed that grows by itself (Mark 2:26-29) is only mentioned in the Gospel of Mark.  This idea peers back to the garden where vegetation grew without toil and man had dominion. The "king of the jungle" easily encapsulates ideas of dominance.  Luke is the only gospel that details Jesus' birth and infancy. Labor is painful and the mother sacrifices herself for new life. The Gospel of Luke is depicted by an ox because of all the gospels, Luke focuses the most on the sac...