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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
God? Who Needs Him?May 31, 2013
Self-sufficient humanism. Paul saw it coming – “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Imago Dei
September 12, 2012
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Why Can't I Pray?
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The bible gives us several reasons, but according to Jeremy Taylor, a deceitful heart is at the root of prayerlessness.
It's Not Rocket Science
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To keep in step with the Spirit should be our daily quest. And if we are successful at that, all of life falls into place.
Theological Steak
April 10, 2012
These words by P. T. Forsythe on the magnificence of Christ's work are to theology what Ruth's Chris is to a good steak.
Describing the Indescribable
February 11, 2012
What we have in Christ will take all eternity to describe. But for one segment of one sermon, a great preacher made a mighty attempt.
Making Sense Of It All
January 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?
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.
