Tag: Dryness
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The Redemptive Wilderness
Sermon originally delivered to the Calvary Reformed Church of New Berlin, Wisconsin. Text: Luke 4:1-13. The other day, I went out for a walk, as I often like to do in the winter, on the lake behind my house. It is shallow, and it freezes over quickly, solidly, and smoothly. For someone who cannot…
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Leaning into the Wilderness
A Sermon originally delivered to Calvary Community Church in New Berlin, WI Text: Matthew 4:1-17 Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, the claim from the heavens that Jesus is God’s son, Jesus is led to the wilderness to be tempted. While we may see these as different events, they are all tied together in one long narrative…
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Where have I been?
I have a confession to make: My houseplants are dead. All of them. Three years ago I would shutter at the thought. I spent much time and energy watering them, feeding them, pruning them, placing them in and out of sun as needed. I loved them. But here we are. I am now the owner…
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Pulling Back the Cobwebs
Well, dear readers, I have been absent for a while — a long while — without any explanation. Over a month. Perhaps you may have thought that I have abandoned writing, or abandoned my blog. Neither of these are quite accurate. I have abandoned neither writing nor this blog, I have not been able to…
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“…With Sighs Too Deep for Words”
I had an out-of-town meeting yesterday, about an hour away. On my way to this meeting, the distance provided me with one full hour of unstructured alone time. I was not reading, I was not making telephone calls, I was not having people stop by my office, and I was not writing. I had an…
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Striving With God
It has been some time since we have received any amount of actual rainfall, and when added to the unseasonably hot temperatures, this creates a situation in which plants struggle to survive and farmers lose significant portions of their crops. The health department has been recommending that people stay inside air conditioning and not exert…
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On Being Dried Up
Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you. do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call. For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is…
Matthew van Maastricht 