by jakeowensby | Dec 23, 2022 | Luke 2:1-20
This year I’ve been asking people what they’re favorite Christmas movie or TV special is. The answers have varied by people’s generation. The titles I’ve heard include: “It’s a Wonderful Life” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” “Elf” “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, and...
by jakeowensby | Dec 16, 2022 | Faith and Science, Matthew 1:18-25, Secularism, Virgin Birth
My atheist phase lasted for about fifteen minutes one sunny, late-spring afternoon. Freshman year in college was coming to a close for me. There was a party at a nearby river. A couple of my friends and I were standing midstream on a large rock. Soaking up the sun,...
by jakeowensby | Dec 9, 2022 | James 5:7-10, Patience
In the early 80’s I was still a grad student and teaching my very first intro philosophy course. Some class sessions went pretty well. Others not so much. On one particular morning my lecture had plunged the students into a terminally bored stupor. I spent the rest of...
by jakeowensby | Dec 2, 2022 | God's love, Matthew 3:1-12
A dear old mentor of mine passed away a few years ago. But the lessons he taught still help me see things—see myself—a little more clearly. Maybe the most important of those lessons came in the form of a story he once told on himself in his usual self-deprecating...
by jakeowensby | Nov 25, 2022 | Matthew 24:36-44, Waiting
My friend John got a call one evening from the dementia unit. His father had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for several years. John’s father had dressed himself, packed his suitcase, and was now waiting in a visitor’s lounge. The staff had tried to coax him back into...
