In the book of 2 Kings, there was a man named Naaman who had leprosy. Naturally he was looking to be cured so when he heard about the prophet, Elisha, in Israel, Naaman went to see him. When he arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha merely sent out his servant to tell Naaman to go wash seven times in the Jordan River.

Nancy Wilson sang a beautiful song that came out in 1964. She was expressing her love for her lover, telling him the height and depth of it. It is my hope that you take the time to listen to the song before you read the rest of this little essay.

For nearly a century, Teas Nursery occupied five acres of property in the Bellaire section of Houston. The family business began in Indiana in 1843, moved to Texas in 1910, and closed in 2009 with the death of John Teas. 

Teas made quite an impact upon the city. It was not only the first business in the Bellaire district—they were actually brought in by Bellaire developer William Wright Baldwin to landscape and beautify the area as it was being built. They did such a good job that in 1912 they were hired by Rice University (then known as Rice Institute). From there the business took off. Patsy Teas said that over the years the nursery was involved in planting over a million trees in the Houston area.

I’ve been reading a book explaining how the original, ancient readers of the Bible would have understood their world, and thus the messages written to them.  The realm that they lived in was the land (of course), which was set on foundations or pillars that were set in waters.  (They understood the dry ground to be set upon waters.). The land represented a place of order, a place where they could manage things, tame things, and make things work for them.  Think of a farmer who works a field to make it grow food for him.  Conversely, the waters were wild and untamed - a place of chaos.  Imagine our same farmer trying to plow the sea so he could grow food there - it’s not going to happen.  A third region is the mountain.  To the people of that day, the mountain top was the realm of the deity.  They considered their gods to live there.  This was their view of their cosmos - their cosmic view.  In their cosmic view, the mountain tops were the dwelling of gods.  Thus, in the title of this piece, when I talk of the “Cosmic Mountain of God”, I’m talking of God’s dwelling place.

While walking around the neighbor some time ago, I did something I don’t normally do anymore. I stooped down to pick up a penny lying in the street. At least I thought it was a penny. It had been run over by cars so many times that it was hardly recognizable as a viable one cent piece. I took it home and cleaned it up. Using a magnifying glass I could barely make out the corner of the Lincoln Memorial on its reverse side.

Isn’t it interesting how fear can change the perspective of something? There is a Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin is climbing up the ladder for a playground slide. And throughout the comic we see Calvin’s perspective that, apparently, the ladder continues going up forever. He climbs way above the landscape, through the clouds, and reaches the top of the slide at the very edge of space. He is an incredible height off of the ground. In the last frame of the comic we see what’s really going on; even though the ground seems far below, Calvin is sitting on the top of a slide that is only about 5 feet tall. How, then, was his view of it that he was miles in the air?

As beings existing in time, we cannot fully fathom the nature of eternity. The Bible gives us tantalizing views of everlasting life with the Father in heaven; likewise, we are warned with torturous visions of hell. Often images of eternal torment come from the lips of Jesus, our good and loving Shepherd. The doctrine of eternal damnation is one that is often challenged, both from those within Christianity and those without. However, taking the Bible at its word would seem to necessitate a belief in eternal condemnation, just as it necessitates belief in eternal life. See, for instance, Matt. 10:28, Matt. 25:41 & 46, John 3:16-18, John 5:28-29, 2 Thess. 1:9, Heb. 6:2, Jude 7, Rev. 14:9-11, Rev. 20:14-15, Rev. 21:8. Besides accepting the truth of these scriptures and what they imply, there are also philosophical and theological reasons that support the idea that hell is indeed a fitting place for those who do not choose to serve the Lord.

A little over eight years ago, when we were living in Alabama, we were getting ready to make a trip to Searcy to see our son and his family. The morning of the day we were leaving, our credit card company texted me saying that our card had been compromised. That’s never good news to hear but especially on a travel day. Still, we had a back-up (debit) card, so off we went.

The highest mountain in Israel is Mount Hermon. It has majestic, snowcapped peaks with an elevation exceeding 9,000 feet. Its Arabic name means "snowy mountain." It has a ski resort which attracts around 300,00 visitors each winter.

It is mentioned over a dozen times in the Old Testament. Some scholars believe Mount Hermon was the site of Jesus’ transfiguration, though none of the Gospel accounts names the place.

What is it about our sins that hurts God so?  Or, what is it that he finds so repulsive in our sins?  A traditional answer I’ve heard is that God is a moral God, and our sins demonstrate our immoral selves, and this immorality is what God finds so repugnant.  There is truth in that idea, but at times that idea can be carried too far.  If we’re not careful, we can come up with an idea that God finds our sin so repugnant, that he can’t even bear to look at it (or us), or tolerate it (or us).  We think God can’t stand to be around us because of our sins.  Perhaps the worst part of this idea is that God is so offended by our sins that he’s not going to come near us until we clean ourselves up first.  It’s as if we cannot come near to God without first taking care of our condition (as if we could do something on our own to take care of our condition, but that’s a topic to discuss another day…)  That idea is not completely truthful.  If that were so, how would Jesus have been able to walk around a world consumed by sin?  How is it that in the Garden of Eden, God came looking for Adam?  Adam attempted to cover his shame, but that was not enough, so when he heard God, he hid.  Jesus tells a parable of a shepherd looking for his lost sheep – the sheep doesn’t have to absolve itself of its sin before the shepherd can stand to have the sheep in his presence.

Not too long ago I rewatched Band of Brothers—it’s the WW2 series based on the book by Stephen Ambrose and created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks—not long after they worked together on Saving Private Ryan. The series focuses on Easy Company, a parachute infantry regiment that is attached to the 101^st Airborne Division.

The woman with no name. She moves through the Gospels like William Wadsworth’s “Phantom of Delight” revealing aspects of Jesus’ personality and emphasizing certain  teachings.  An unnamed woman interacted with Jesus in some way at least eight times.   It’s time each had a name. I purpose the following based on the Christian characteristic they each represent.

In late August of 2024, the Surgeon General declared that parenting could be hazardous to your health. You read that right. Parenting is now in the same category as smoking, alcohol, and other forms of drug abuse.

When our children were growing up, there was an event that each of them looked forward to. The day they finally were taller than “little” grandma. My wife’s mother stood all of 4’ 10” tall and was very good natured about this rite of passage that each of her grandchildren anticipated. It was a joyous day in their life when they could finally lay claim to this milestone. Today, our own grandchildren are eager to see how much they have grown as they stand back-to-back with their Nana to see if they have surpassed her height of 5’ 2” on their own quest to being all grown up.

My father wasn’t given to melodrama, but he thought deeply about great truths and didn’t hesitate to share with me after he’d ruminated on them for a while. We talked about a lot of things one might not think to discuss with a child. One night he remarked, “Some day, if the world goes on, I’ll no longer be here, and if the world goes on even longer, there’ll come a time when no one remembers that I ever was.”  That particular moment is frozen in my memory—perhaps because, to a child, any thought of a parent’s death is startling, and perhaps because Dad said it so matter-of-factly. He was examining the inevitability of his own end and his relative place in the larger arc of history in a way that could send a certain sort of person headlong into existential despair.

Ray’s aunt lived on the other side of the bay in Mobile. She was elderly, not in the greatest of health, and he hadn’t heard from her in a few days (and neither had her friends). Looking back on it, I suppose he must have had a fairly strong hunch that something was wrong because he asked another person (who in turn asked me) to come along. You don’t do that if you expect to find your aunt sitting in her rocking chair with the television up so loud she can’t hear her phone.

In​ ​Genesis​ ​1:27,​ ​we​ ​read​ ​that​ ​God​ ​created​ ​humans​ ​male​ ​and​ ​female. n​ ​the​ ​next​ ​chapter,​ ​in​Genesis​ ​2:24,​ ​we​ ​read​ ​that​ ​men​ ​and​ ​women​ ​are​ ​to​ ​be​ ​united​ ​and​ ​become​ ​one​ ​flesh.​ ​​ ​These​ ​two​ ​passages​ ​are​ ​from​ ​different​ ​episodes​ ​of​ ​the​ ​creation​ ​account​ ​in​ ​early​ ​Genesis,​ ​but​ ​Jesus​ ​connects​ ​them​ ​in​ ​Matthew​ ​19:4-6.​ ​​ ​He​ ​is​ ​saying​ ​that​ ​they​ ​were​ ​made​ ​male​ ​and​ ​female,​ ​because​ ​it​ ​was​ ​as​ ​male​ ​and​ ​female​ ​they​ ​were​ ​to​ ​become​ ​one​ ​flesh.​ ​​ ​As​ ​male​ ​and​ ​female,​ ​they​ ​were​ ​to​ ​become​ ​united​ ​and​ ​become​ ​one.​ ​​ ​Jesus​ ​even​ ​says​ ​that​ ​it​ ​is​ ​God​ ​who​ ​is joining​ ​them​ ​together.​ ​​ ​Now​ ​-​ ​hold​ ​that​ ​idea​ ​in​ ​the​ ​back​ ​of​ ​your​ ​head​ ​a​ ​moment​ ​while​ ​we​ ​change​ ​lanes.

It is easy to live the extraordinary. Christmas Day with its joy and cheer. New Year’s Eve with its Aud Lang Syne.

But then there’s the ordinary. How do we find the magic when your mountain peaks give way to valleys, when your “Ho Ho Ho” bleeds into a “Ho-hum” kind of life?

The answer just may be in this: finding what is extraordinary in the ordinary.

Centuries ago, a group of God’s people gathered together to talk. The story I’m referring to is recorded in Malachi 3:16. “Then the people who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard what they said.”

When Gabriel told Mary that she would be with child and then explained how it would happen, from Mary’s perspective, this put her at great risk. We discussed this in last week’s article.

But even though her betrothal, her social status, and even her life were at risk, she has an amazing response which is all summed up in the first word she says: “Behold.” (The full statement is “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38). But that first word, ‘Behold’ was a powerful statement. We may not think much of it. We may see it as a way of saying ‘Ok’ or ‘Look.’ But it is so much more when we look at the original language and context of this word.

This time of year we often recall the story of the angel Gabriel telling Mary about how she would be with child and that baby would be the Son of God and how what a wonderous event that probably had angels singing and lights from heaven and birds and animals are dancing like in an old Disney cartoon. This is the moment where God has chosen Mary to be the mother to the Savior. And Mary’s response is just a question about how can this be and then the humble response of ‘Let it be’. But I don’t think that this was the Christmas song moment that we usually think about. What God was asking Mary to do was not something that she would have posted all over social media. Having children was and is a huge blessing, but that was probably not the calling that she wanted. Because God’s calling for her actually put her at risk.