The Stories I Write

As part of a discipleship initiative at our Church in Nacogdoches, FirstNac UMC, I was asked to contribute to daily devotions which are emailed to visitors and members of FirstNac, as well as posted every day on social media platforms. These devotions include a scripture passage, a teaching based on the passage by a member of the church, and a reflection and prayer written by one of several contributors, also church members. In the past nine months that I have been writing these reflections, I have found that I enjoy the challenge of being assigned scriptural passages that are, alternately, and sometimes altogether, unfamiliar, opaque, beautiful, sad, and perplexing.  What follows is one such passage I was assigned through the course of this initiative, along with my reflection on its words and stories as they speak to me.  John 19:38-42 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish ...

As part of a discipleship initiative at our Church in Nacogdoches, FirstNac UMC, I was asked to contribute to daily devotions which are emailed to visitors and members of FirstNac, as well as posted every day on social media platforms. These devotions include a scripture passage, a teaching based on the passage by a member of the church, and a reflection and prayer written by one of several contributors, also church members. In the past nine months that I have been writing these reflections, I have found that I enjoy the challenge of being assigned scriptural passages that are, alternately, and sometimes altogether, unfamiliar, opaque, beautiful, sad, and perplexing.  What follows is one such passage I was assigned through the course of this initiative, along with my reflection on its words and stories as they speak to me. Originally posted February 21, 2024, one week after Ash Wednesday Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which...