/fairfaxs-website/image-f878f-i65ab.png "Fairfax Presbyterian Church")
When have you been in a situation in which you were not able to speak? In the movie The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family stands reverently around an open grave. Tom Joad makes a request of another man, “Casy, won’t you say a few words?” Casy says, “I ain’t no more a preacher, you know.”
Read MoreWhat challenges you to push ahead with patient resolve and steadfastness? The October weather was cool and clear, perfect for running the Chicago Marathon. The early morning sun reflected off the city’s skyscrapers, and 40,000 marathoners converged on a park next to Lake Michigan.
Read MoreJustice Delayed When have you learned more from the consequences of your actions than the judgment of others? When Nancy and I were raising our children, one of our parenting techniques was “logical consequences.” That meant that if our son made a mess of his room, he would have to live in the clutter until he picked it up himself. If our daughter...
Read MoreDear FPC Members and Friends, We pray that this letter finds you in good health and spirit. We continue to create different opportunities to connect with members and engage in meaningful conversations through this period. It is not the same as seeing each other physically through worship and fellowship time, but we are grateful for the positive w...
Read MoreWatching for a Sign Where do you see signs of God’s work in the world? FPC has been discussing race and racism for years, mostly through adult classes and book discussions. But a video is worth a thousand words, as we discovered when a white woman called the cops on a black man and told them that an “African-American man” was “recording me and thre...
Read MoreSailing to a New Land How do you know that you are heading in the right direction? My father was a NASA physicist, so I went to Duke University assuming that I should be a scientist. I took biology classes and got decent grades, although I didn’t find a lot of joy in the work. I was rowing, not sailing.
Read MoreWatching the Clouds Where do you look for signs of God’s guidance? A Methodist minister named Harley Camden, the main character in my novel City of Peace (Köehler Books, 2019), suffers the deaths of his wife and daughter in a European terrorist attack. Spiraling downward into grief and anger, he is sent by his bishop to the riverside town of Occo...
Read MoreWhat happens when you make a deal with God, exchanging a promise for a gift? Early in our marriage, Nancy and I sat in a coffee shop and talked about names for the children we might have. We settled on “Sarah” for a girl because her best friend from childhood had that name. And if we had a boy, we decided we would call him “Samuel,” mainly becaus...
Read MoreZephaniah was a prophet during the reign of King Josiah in the seventh century before Christ. The prophet announced God’s judgment on Judah and Jerusalem, saying that God would cut off “the name of the idolatrous priests” (Zeph 1:4), but he also predicted judgment on enemy nations, saying that “Moab shall become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Go...
Read MoreMost scholars place the book of Habakkuk near the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, also known as the Babylonians. This is based mostly on verse 1:6, which mentions God rousing the “Chaldeans” against the Israelites. Babylon had conquered Assyria a few decades earlier, and was now attacking neighbors such as Israel. Some might...
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