Monday, March 15Exodus 37-38Exodus 37-38 gives fairly detailed notes on how the ark, table, lampstand, altars, basin for washing and courtyard were built. The Biblical description involves a lot of gold, acacia and bronze. Since there were no Ikea manuals at this time, the instructions for assembling each of these items had been given to Moses on the mount earlier in Exodus.While the Editor-In-Chi...  Read More

Sunday, March 14The thing about Lent is that as much as it is an important season spiritually it also mimics the change of seasons in the natural world. We put ashes on our heads and meditate on our mortality while it is very much still winter. We celebrate new life and resurrection when spring has taken over outside. Here in the midwest we can’t always rely on the weather to reflect this (I belie...  Read More

Saturday, March 13Exodus 35-36"Then all the congregation of the Israelites withdrew from the presence of Moses. And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments. All the Israelite men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring anyth...  Read More

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing.” In case you don’t recognize it, it’s a line from Shawshank Redemption. It is one of those movies that anytime I see it on tv, I have to stop and just watch. I recently introduced it to George, my youngest. I’ve seen it 100 times, but he had never heard of it. The line above is one that Andy shares with his friend Red. They are both in prison, probably ...  Read More

Friday, March 12Exodus 33-34I have a couple of friends who I have known for years, but don’t see all that often anymore. We live in different cities and juggle busy lives, so we don’t talk as often as we once did. When we do reconnect, though, we get deep in a hurry. We talk for hours and cover every topic under the sun.I bring this up, because this is how Moses and God’s conversation in these two...  Read More

Thursday, March 11Exodus 32For Christmas, my 4 year old son got a pair of Mario and Luigi remote control cars. He. Loves. Them. Whenever they come out of storage, there is low-level chaos in the house. The small cars are ramming into doors and baseboards. He lines them up so they can ramp off steps to a thundering crash. Of course eventually the cars run out of battery life and need to be recharge...  Read More