• Retreat Center

    Belief AND Action

    In iGoogle I have boxes for “Success Tips” and a daily Bible verse. When I opened up Google this morning I read the Success Tips thing first. It’s usually pretty good but this morning it said “What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” I immediately said to myself “That’s dumb.” Because it absolutely matters what we believe — that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ  and THEN we act on that belief. (Rom. 10:9) And then —  get this — I read the daily Bible verse that I have beside it.…

  • Retreat Center

    High-King of the World

    From an early medieval Irish legend called “The Evernew Tongue.” The legend itself is a little crazy but this excerpt in praise of God is beautiful, and the description of “the race of Adam” is sad and funny at the same time! “The race of Adam had its head in a bag” is still true today. It was the High-King of the world, who is mightier than any king, higher than any power, more fierce than any dragon, gentler than any child, more radiant than suns, holier than any saint, more vengeful than all men, more loving than any mother, the only Son of God the Father, it was he…

  • Prayer

    Lent: Preparing for Death

    Jesus’ visit to Bethany to raise His friend Lazarus spurred the final events that would lead to His crucifixion. Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22-39) Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, what we call Hanukah today. It celebrated the re-dedication of the Temple in 165 BC, which the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes had half destroyed and desecrated. Judas the Maccabee was the leader of the rebellion against the Seleucid Empire, no relation to Judas Iscariot! Jesus was in the Temple when a number of Jews surrounded him and told Him to say plainly if He was the Christ or not. So he did. They tried…