Who Prays for the "Worst of These"?

Who Prays for the "Worst of These"?
I got up at 3:45 this morning to watch the Leonid Meteor Shower. By all reports I'd read it was supposed to be awesome this year. And I'm sure it was . . . somewhere.The sky was black and clear. The stars stood out magnificently. I've seen it darker and clearer and more breathtaking, but this was good and I was sure it would be a fine morning for viewing the meteors. I guess I should tell you now that after laying there for forty-five minutes at the proposed "perfect time" I saw exactly one (1) meteor whose flameout lasted about half a second. I must have been looking at the wrong sky. Maybe they meant that other sky over there.At any rate, the Leonid meteor shower t

A "Well duh!" Moment
I sat down in my favorite booth at the local cafe this morning to order my favorite breakfast and read my favorite prophet. You c'aint git no grits this far north (they think grits is the stuff left over on the road after they sand all winter), so I order biscuits and gravy, two eggs over easy on top, and pass the Tabasco. It's close as I can get to home without ordering fried chicken.Anyway, I sat down in the booth, ordered decaf and breakfast, and started reading Jeremiah. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again, Jeremiah is the bomb! God sends him out to preach and tells him, right up front, "Ain't gonna be easy, but don't you get discouraged, 'cause if you get dismayed

A Pastor's Down Time Prayer
It has been more than a month since my last post. I thought I might have more to say. Actually, I do have more to say, but so much of what I have to say I need to say to God before I say it to anyone else. I need a divine editor these days, not only of my words, but of my heart.So much troubles me. So much seems wrong, out of sorts with God and His word. So many willing to cut theological corners, short sheet the word of God in their lives, even ignore the clear injunctions of Scripture to their lives: thoughts, words, actions, and attitudes included. I have been cursed and dismissed and complimented and affirmed all at the same time. I look at Jesus and I think, "Look out! Cruc

Four Ways to Help in Crisis
Autumn blew into Cook County on Monday with an unprecedented fury. Winds from the north, virtually unheard of in our little chunk of earth, gusted from land out over Lake Superior at upwards of sixty miles per hour. Trees uprooted or broken off by the wind took out power lines and transformers. Others toppled on buildings and cars. It's a big mess, and three days later many are without power and water.Unexpected events like this, though not as severe as a hurricane or other natural disaster, still effect people's sense of normalcy and security and create a level of stress and trauma that can have the same debilitating effect as a low grade temperature does on a body after severa

Isaiah and Me
You have to love God's sense of irony. At least, I am coming to appreciate it more and more these days. I'm thinking this morning of a particular prophet in the Old Testament, a man named Isaiah. Early in his career he saw God. For real. No lie. Isaiah saw God. He writes, "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple." Now you have to understand, this is very, very unusual. You see, there was only man in all of Israel who might have had the opportunity to see God exalted on his throne in the temple. That would be the high priest who would enter the Most Holy Place, the "throne room" of G