The Roots of Our Faith

by | Nov 10, 2021 | Devotionals

A teenager, I notice our midwinter pecan tree’s bare-branched ostensions to the sky. For the first time, I see that its limbs and fingers look like an inverted root structure—as if the whole were extracted then replanted upside-down by a mischievous Olympian (perhaps...

Moving Heaven and Earth | Episode 15

by | Nov 3, 2021

Barry walks us through Psalm 18, dodging earthquakes, volcanoes, thunderstorms to watch God deliver us and bring us into a broad, safe place—a place of humility and gratitude.     Scriptures: Psalm 18 2 Samuel 22:1ff...

Space, Picasso, and Frosted Flakes

by | Nov 3, 2021 | Devotionals

Fifteen minutes before midnight my eyes open without a prompt, but bleary. I don what I laid out before my nap, hoping the layers will be enough for a clear night dipping into the 40s. Within 10 minutes my truck is carrying me, my preloaded telescope and camera...

The Center

by | Oct 27, 2021 | Devotionals

Dense vegetation lining the creek bed across the street from my home houses ants, rats, opossums, squirrels, raccoons, hawks, owls, bees, and an uncatalogued menagerie of other species, all sallying into the neighborhood occasionally, just as the undergrowth itself...

Who’s in Charge Here? | Episode 14

by | Oct 27, 2021

Traditional interpretations of authority can tend toward objectification but learning to be a servant in every context is redemptive.     Scriptures: Matthew 15:21-28 Luke 19:6-10 2 Samuel 6:20-23 James 3:7-9 Genesis 1:26-28 Philemon 13-16 1 Samuel 8:4-9...

Thinking About Thinking | Episode 13

by | Oct 20, 2021

Barry talks about the tenuous yet long-term relationship between Christianity and education and why it has been fundamental to the faith, including in Judaism and the early church.       Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Deuteronomy 17:14-20 Deuteronomy...

Where Two Sides of the Grave Meet: in You | Episode 12

by | Oct 13, 2021

In his conversation with Sadducees recorded in Luke 20, Jesus teaches that the resurrection is real and establishes two things: hope for the future and change for the present.     Scriptures and Apocrypha: Luke 20:27-44 Exodus 3:1-4:17 Psalm 110 Genesis 6...

Plaze Glain Donuts, Please

by | Oct 13, 2021 | Devotionals

When I lived in Waco—newly married, fledging a church, attending college—there were not uncommon occasions for purchasing a few donuts from HEB, the grocery store. In that day still a consumer of donuts, I preferred sourdough. However, most of the kids our car...

Living in the Resurrection

by | Oct 6, 2021 | Devotionals

Signs engineered to maximize visibility emerge only after their usefulness has disappeared. Beyond them, the dim outlines of buildings and trees dissipate with distance. Fog shrouds the entirety of the morning’s two hour commute. The deep, broad cloud hugging the...