by jakeowensby | May 26, 2023 | Holy Spirit, John 7:37-39
A crowd of camo-clad men and women were gathering around a grave. The mourners were wearing camouflage gear to pay tribute to the deceased. Like lots of people in Louisiana, the man had apparently been an avid hunter. A couple of weeks later I took a peek at the newly...
by jakeowensby | May 5, 2023 | God's love, John 14:1-14
Dave stood in the threshold, waving with his right hand and propping the screen door open with his left. I was sitting behind the steering wheel of my Jeep, leaning over to wave through the passenger window. A wordless affection passed between us. My heart ached as I...
by jakeowensby | Apr 14, 2023 | John 20:19-31
My mother used to say, “You have to take the bad with the good.” When I was disappointed, flabbergasted, outraged, or frustrated, those words never failed to infuriate me. What I heard her saying was, “Calm down.” In retrospect, I’ve come to recognize that she...
by jakeowensby | Apr 6, 2023 | Matthew 28:1-10
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are [beautiful] in the broken places.” Where Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms reads “strong” I’ve substituted the word “beautiful.” That’s because I’m going to talk about the resurrection. And the resurrection...
by jakeowensby | Mar 24, 2023 | John 11:1-45
Friends show up. Especially in bad times. They may not know what to say or what to do, but they’ll sit with you in your dark place just so you know that you’re not alone. Jesus was tight with Lazarus and his sisters. So, when Lazarus fell ill, Mary and Martha sent for...
by jakeowensby | Feb 20, 2023 | Uncategorized
Kate Bowler had been suffering bouts of debilitating intestinal distress for some time. Eventually a specialist diagnosed her condition as cancer. Stage IV cancer. She was 35 years old. A rising star at Duke. Married to her high school sweetheart. And the mother of...
