[god in the yard] project wordle
![[god in the yard] project wordle](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/god-in-the-yard-wordle-100x100.png)
Hmmm… I wonder what this says about what we talked about… Amazon.com Widgets
[god in the yard] @llbarkat’s closing thoughts
![[god in the yard] @llbarkat's closing thoughts](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/falling-100x100.jpg)
Sometimes people want to know. If they were to come to my yard, would they find me out there still? Sitting on the red sled, sipping my tea? I don’t want to disappoint anyone. I want to be the writer on the red sled. Braving the mosquitoes, dodging the rain. But I’ve moved on. After [...]
[god in the yard] home: hospitality
![[god in the yard] home: hospitality](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/church-potluck-100x100.jpg)
“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13 Hospitality. The word evokes for me images of church fellowship halls, lined with long tables, loaded with steaming offerings for the Sunday afternoon potluck dinner. I can smell the coffee, hear the buzz of conversation, and feel the late summer humidity as if [...]
[god in the yard] with: submission
![[god in the yard] with: submission](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/maryface-100x100.jpg)
I hate the word “submission.” I do not want to submit to anyone, preferring to run full-force into the dark, rather than listen, rather than abide, rather than be controlled. Perhaps this is why I have not yet married; I am afraid that submissive wife is akin to marital slave. But in Chapter 11 of [...]
[god in the yard] me: self care
![[god in the yard] me: self care](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/coffee-maker-100x100.jpg)
The scream of the coffee grinder startles me and I’m finally awake. “Good Lord, it’s morning.” I whisper coarsely, and I wonder how I got into the kitchen. I smell the freshly ground beans, and I briefly wonder what they’d taste like if I’d pour milk over them and eat them as if they were [...]
[god in the yard] poetry: silence
![[god in the yard] poetry: silence](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/silence-100x100.jpg)
Secretly we spoke, that wise one and me. I said, Tell me the secrets of the world. He said, Sh… Let silence Tell you the secrets of the world. -Rumi Silence. Be still and know that I am God. Elijah was unable to hear the voice of God until the din of the world died [...]
[god in the yard] gone: presence
![[god in the yard] gone: presence](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/feet-100x100.jpg)
Every day I practice looking for Him. I have read Brother Lawrence. He taught me to look. And Ann tells me how not to practice, but how to abide. Still, I miss Him some days. No matter how I look. Or how I don’t. Some days my heart is a stone and the heaviness weighs [...]
[god in the yard] open: prayer
![[god in the yard] open: prayer](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/the-couple-100x100.jpg)
He walks through the kitchen, pauses behind me as I reach into the pantry. Catches me as I turn back around: “So, what are you doing right now?” I giggle all flustered, murmur something about a million little things, and dodge. Later I am the one passing through the living room, pausing to enjoy a [...]
[god in the yard] sky: gratitude
![[god in the yard] sky: gratitude](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/snow-geese-100x100.jpg)
When I was young I talked to the night sky. I’d sit on a chaise lounge in the backyard or lie on the pool deck and stare at the stars—or what I could see of them from my suburban homestead. I did most of the talking and never let the sky—my tangible depiction of God—speak [...]
[god in the yard] weep: celebration
![[god in the yard] weep: celebration](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/s1351-100x100.jpg)
We spend… too little time experiencing the griefs themselves. The result is that these griefs remain hidden and never open us to our joys. ~David Whyte Fingers lightly wrapped around the handles, I escape. I feel the vibration of speed beneath me, my forceful thumb spurrs the four-wheeler forward at a dangerous speed. I take [...]
[god in the yard] look: contemplation
![[god in the yard] look: contemplation](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/the-dark-path-100x100.jpg)
Contemplation We have been invited. We have been given the rules. We are now asked to contemplate. Such a loaded word. So much baggage has been packed on those few letters throughout the years. But it is the one I consider as I walk down past three houses then turn left down the path to [...]
[god in the yard] rules: the way
![[god in the yard] rules: the way](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/baby-birds-100x100.jpg)
Welcome to the world, he says, when I carefully part the branches for him to see. There are only three and so we know. One of the hatchlings did not make it. But this somber knowledge gives way to joy as the babies detect our presence and, mistaking us for mother, open mouths wide for [...]
[god in the yard] woods: invitation
![[god in the yard] woods: invitation](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7574-100x100.jpg)
There’s something about nature that makes it a holy place. The quietness. The peacefulness. The freedom that comes from no distractions – no TV, no computer, no phones. Just birds chirping and leaves rustling. Maybe a buzzing bee here and there. In the midst of my crazy world, nature feels like a safe place. The [...]
[epistle of james] project wordles
![[epistle of james] project wordles](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/epistle-of-james-project-100x100.png)
When we complete a group blogging project around here we usually do a wordle on the posts. I love the visual representation of text that wordle.net creates. And our group study on the Epistle of James is no different. This first one is on the text from the contributions to the project. James is obviously [...]
god in the yard [group blogging project]
![god in the yard [group blogging project]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/god-in-the-yard-100x100.jpg)
Some books are just done best in community. And I believe L.L. Barkat’s God in the Yard: Spiritual practice for the rest of us is one of those books. It’s practically a handbook for personal communion with God, and it calls for a response from the reader. That’s why we thought it would be a [...]
[epistle of james] chapter 4
![[epistle of james] chapter 4](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/point-100x100.jpg)
Read James 4 (NASB, ESV, MSG) Like any good sermon, James starts out with a glowing introduction; terms like ‘brothers,’ ‘dear brothers,’ and ‘dearly loved brothers,’ dominate every line of thought for the first chapter. Further into the book, however, the terms ‘dear’ and ‘beloved’ are dropped, and the triumphant phrasing of the well-known opening… [...]
[epistle of james] chapter 3
![[epistle of james] chapter 3](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/windsurfing-100x100.jpg)
Read James 3 (NASB, ESV, MSG) I open my Bible, the one with pages reading like a colorful map of my life these past five years. Its binding worn, its self-made tabs nearly unneeded after so much traveling to and fro through its precepts, His story. Ours. I’m grateful for the reminder of God’s faithfulness [...]
epistle of james [group blogging project]
![epistle of james [group blogging project]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/saint-james-the-less-headline-100x100.jpg)
It’s New Testament wisdom literature… kind of like a ‘modern’ day Book of Proverbs. The Epistle of James is a book like no other in the New Testament. But that’s one of the things that makes it so special. Some of the greatest guidance we have on Christian living comes from this collection of sayings [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 11: anatomy of a mentor
![[fatherless generation] chapter 11: anatomy of a mentor](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/mentoring2-100x100.jpg)
~ I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ – Maya Angelou In July 2010, a new Charter School, called “Mentorship Academy,” opened up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their Core Principles: CONNECT students, teachers, parents, and the [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 9: father to the fatherless
![[fatherless generation] chapter 9: father to the fatherless](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/photodad-100x100.jpg)
a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families… Psalm 68:5-6 In my teenage years I had many “adopted” sisters. Most of them were around my age and all of them were going through the same struggle – they were unmarried and pregnant. [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 5: forgotten fairy tales
![[fatherless generation] chapter 5: forgotten fairy tales](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/fairytales-1-100x100.jpg)
Fatherlessness wilts the dream of being daddy’s little girl. Not having a father is so significant and damaging to a girl. All little girls want to be held in their daddy’s arms. Unfortunately, this longing for something she will never have often leads “daddy’s little girl” into the cold arms of a young man who [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 4: the fatherless gang
![[fatherless generation] chapter 4: the fatherless gang](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/virginmary-100x100.jpg)
As I read through this chapter, I couldn’t help but to revisit my adolescence. Growing up, most gang members I knew and befriended were cool, quite funny, and often even sentimental. Definitely different than the picture you see painted in music videos, on the news, or in violent “street” movies. My friends were hustlers by [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 3: midnight sons and daughters
![[fatherless generation] chapter 3: midnight sons and daughters](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/chapter-3-100x100.jpg)
The fallout from fatherlessness is more than an individual tragedy. It impacts more than the fractured family, the single mother and her children. Fatherlessness is a catastrophic wreck that is poisoning our families, communities, and nation. No one remains unaffected. It’s easy for me not to acknowledge this issue of fatherlessness. I can simply shrug [...]
reflections on resurrection, the word, and self [april 2011 top content]
This has become a bit of a habit so far this year. I enjoy seeing (and analyzing) what content seems to be resonating with people around here. The month in which we celebrate Easter shows that how we remember the Resurrection was foremost in people’s minds. There also seemed to be a strong interest in [...]
May 08, 2011 | Categories: connect, the latest | Tags: bible commentary, easter, good friday, group blogging project, holy week, interview, lists, reflection, resurrection, statistics | Leave A Comment »