In the New Testament (Mark 5:21-43 & Luke 8:40-56), there's a seemingly simple story concerning a girl who has died and a woman who touched Jesus' robe for healing. On the surface, it's about receiving miraculous healing by having faith in Jesus. But, as I was reading this passage today, I realized some details in it that offer a more profound deliverance, for me at least.  The woman has been afflicted with an unending menstruation for twelve years at this point. Twelve years of being a woman of child-bearing age yet without the ability to conceive due to this abhorrence. On the other hand, we have a girl dying in the intro and dead upon arrival that happens to be twelve years of age. Dead when the woman's menses stopped.  What I realized about this story is that it's not just about two females but one. The fact that the story has been told as one, linked through Christ's actions, reveals the integrity of the two females' indivisibility. As Mark 4:12 sta...

  Did you ever think about who the storyteller of your life is? Like most, if not all, of you, I have only ever thought about one narrator for my life, which is me (my egoic "I"), but what if we're not the actual storytellers? In one of the first season episodes of Candace Cameron Bure's podcast , the guest host, Tara-Leigh Cobble, stated that the Bible was God trying to tell us who He is. So, when we read the Bible, we shouldn't look for the "me" in it or the stories or inspiration for solving our dilemmas in life, but instead, look to see how God is the story. We are his story to tell. Imagine changing our script from "How do I...?" to "Let God do..."  This morning, I had a dream. As the observer, I watched a man shift from one life to another. In the first life, he wasn't a good man. He had no consciousness of morality or discernment of reaction versus thoughtful response. In the second life, he was struggling to do everything ...

" It was the Constitution that welded them together politically, legally, and economically,  but it was nature that provided a transcendent feeling of nationhood ." When I read the profound introduction to Andrea Wulf's Founding Gardeners , I couldn't help but find comparisons between the time in which Benjamin Franklin was constantly sending seeds back to America for the cultivation of a future independent nation and Washington uprooting all native British trees and shrubbery from his land to the homesteading and off-grid living explosion that's happened in the last 20 years. Yes, there's been talk originally of another civil war but, lately, more of a united movement of a quiet revolution that's happening on both sides of the aisle.  Pre-American Revolution was an ever-increasing, tension-building intensity between the British Empire and the colonists. Most of us were taught that the revolution was fueled by the amplified raising of taxes but, in reality...

I just uploaded a little booklet about praying (for free!). Feel free to check it out sometime and comment down below if you liked or disliked it, have questions, or wish to discuss it. Just click the image above or the "How to Pray" button on the menu bar to be automatically redirected. You may also obtain a hardcopy (Kindle, paperback, or hardback available) or donate if you desire. Just click the appropriate button down below:

  I've never excelled at styling my hair. For most of my life, I left it long and hanging in whatever state it happened to be. There were a few times I had it cut short which required more styling finesse than I have been want to give. Only a handful of years was I willing to use styling products, and, for about ten years, I insisted on dyeing my hair, partly due to it graying and a few times for fun.  Generally, hair, as both secular and religious history calls it, is a woman's "crowning glory." I'm not sure what led me to my search, but I became interested in hair coverings for women according to the Bible. Why have so many religions or denominations required a head covering for women? That search led me to all things hair particularly when I found a Nazarite's vow seemed to be rather similar to the requirements for a woman's haircare.  First off, I've spent my entire life with the understanding that Nazarites were a separate religious group from bib...

Narcissists leverage your greed .  I came across a video one day on narcissism that had me floored. The host, Richard Grannon , explained narcissism from a point of reference I've never been exposed to before. Using the movie Renfield , he offers a picture of this psychological disorder that hones in on the crux of the manipulation technique. What is it that a narcissist seeks? As my first line indicates, they seek what you are greedy for [3:40] and then use that to trick you "into being complicit in your own servitude" so you'd have no one to blame but yourself [7:55]. I don't know about you but that's rather revelatory to me.  For those of us who have dealt with the narcissist, what are we greedy for? Well, in familial and romantic relationships, it's usually love and affection, to be seen and heard, and to be valued. When it comes to business relations, however, it may be the standard money, prestige, and title or merely acknowledgment and appreciation....