There are times when some of the more well-known things that Jesus said become plaques. The words get torn from their context, decoupaged to a piece of plywood, and hammered onto a wall. I’ve done it. Maybe you have, too.  This morning, some study time in the Word forced me to yank the plaque off…

I’ve been blogging since 2006, which I estimate is equivalent to at least a half a century in Internet Years. A lot has changed in my life during that time (address, job, church, family, car, pet), but every time I drive down Route 41, I remember that there are some things that never change –…

This exchange between Jesus and the disciples, found in Mark 8:27-33 grabbed my attention tonight. In this era when “ministry” often consists of platform-building and brand-creating, I noticed how Jesus chose to respond during one of those time-stands-still moments when he could have told his disciples to use the planks of his ministry to build…

At first glance, you might think that Carol Rottman’s All Nature Sings: A Spiritual Journey of Place (Credo House, 2010) is a pretty coffee table book. Leaf through the 160 pages, and you’ll see dozens of arresting images of the flora and fauna (and occasional critter) surrounding her rural western Michigan property. But settle into…

When I was in sixth grade, a teacher divided the three or four classes by gender. One of the teachers came into the girls’ room and gave us a talk about our changing bodies and a sample box of mattress-sized Kotex sanitary napkins. It wasn’t quite the rite of passage at which other cultures seem…

My dad Harry Marks, circa mid-1950’s or so, with his mom (my grandma), Leah Marks. She was generous and loved my sister and I with an intensity I understand now that I’m a grandma. The last time I saw her alive, she had taken a bus all over Peoria, IL in search of ingredients to…