A confession – prior to my visit to the Northwest, I was in need of a break.  I was grouchy and discouraged.  (Joel Osteen would not have approved of my disposition).  It is amazing to me how much perspective plays a part of our well being.  And sometimes we need to pull away and unplug from the daily routine to find rest.  With intentional rest comes perspective.  If we violate Sabbath rest, something morphs in our soul. We start to get edgy and anxious.  The psalmist tells us, “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives...

After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!” “Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.” Genesis 22:1 (MSG) One of the paradoxes of life is that testing times are transforming times.  We don’t like them, we may even dread them, and we wish they would go away.  Yet without testing there is no transforming. I grew up in the Northwest surrounded by mountains. Many times I would sit by the streams and creeks that run down from the mountains. Those sights and sounds are etched in my mind. They are both stunning and inspiring. But take away those...