I'm still smiling...seriously, I think I've nearly developed a perma-grin.  I can't thank all of you enough for the part you played in me finally (yes, finally!) being ordained as a pastor yesterday.  I knew it would be a nice day, but what I didn't realize is that it would be one of the happiest of my life!  I was/am completely overwhelmed by the love and support I've been shown by all of you...some of you for many years of my life, some of you for the last few years with Jacob's Well, and some of you just yesterday if you happened to show up for worship for the first time w

If I could think of the most challenging books of the Bible to try out Lectio Divina, Romans would be among them.  Quite honestly it reads like a very long theological dissertation.  But as I sat down tonight to do this spiritual practice of Lectio Divina, I decided not to think too much about this blog entry, but instead just let the spirit lead me...and so Romans it is.  More specifically Romans 3.21-26.  Read it!  This passage is 'my' passage...in a way it was my first ever Lectio Divina type experience because it's the first passage that nearly jumped off the pa

Cross Training with Jacob's Well

I saw a bumper sticker today that said, "God doesn't believe in atheists."  I guess the author doesn't understand the qualitative difference between God and us: While we may struggle to believe in God, the inverse is never true.  God believes in, loves, and died for atheists too.  Until we get that figured out, we'll keep seeing bumper stickers like this one donned by 'believers' who misrepresent God to the world.