The Burden of Proof

The Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.  (Isaiah 7:14)

Isn’t it interesting that God chose to make a virgin with child His promised sign of the coming Savior?  Why not something more verifiable?  Why not something more irrefutable?
Gabriel’s [...]

Michael, who is like God

During my first year as a Christian, I found my name in a book that gave the meaning of common names.  “Michael” means “who is like God.”  For several years, I thought it meant, “Michael, (comma) who is like God.”  In other words, “Michael, the person who is like God more than anyone else because [...]

The Bride

She’s far from perfect.  Often, she’s an embarrassment.  She doesn’t always do what she’s supposed to do; She regularly does what she shouldn’t.  She more closely resembles the scary love interest from Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman” (see selected lyrics below) than the perfect, unblemished Bride of Christ.
The only logical reason I can think [...]

What a Coup!

I’m staying at The Linden Suites hotel in Manila, Philippines, this week. I’ve stayed here several times before, and it always strikes me as funny that they have the following plaque on the wall by the registration desk.

In case you have trouble reading it, it says,
THE COMMAND POST
at
THE LINDEN SUITES

January 16-20, 2001
The Linden Suites [...]

Coffee Artists

Thailand is full of coffee artists.  Wherever you go for a cup of Joe, they try to outdo their coffee competitors with creative patterns and swirls of blended foam.  I hate to even stir in a spoonful of sugar for fear of ruining the coffee canvas.  But since it won’t stay hot forever, I choose [...]

Bowls for the Giant

Recently seen in Chiang Mai.  We’re not really sure what these are, but our family refers to them as “bowls for the giant.”  We assume that the giant was out of bowls for his Frosted Flakes and needed to restock.  This friendly person offered to take the bowls up the mountain to the place where [...]

Welcome Home

Traveled to the U.S. this week, and when I went through customs in Los Angeles, the officer told me, “Welcome home.”  As soon as he said it, my spirit exhaled.  It was a peculiar feeling – the feeling of release, the feeling of putting down something heavy.  It made me feel light and optimistic and….comfortable.
We’ve [...]

The Greatest Store EVAH!

It’s my son’s birthday in a few days, and having resolved not to get one of these…

…we were kinda stuck for what to get him. You can’t replace a puppy with just anything, you know. To make it more challenging, we live in Thailand, and many of the things our son really likes aren’t available [...]

Bangkok Knight

My oldest son (14) and I recently went to see Batman: The Dark Knight in the IMAX theater in Bangkok.  We live in Chiang Mai (about ten hours away by train).
It was his first train ride and his first trip to Bangkok.

Although we arrived at the station on time, we couldn’t leave until the train [...]

Patbelly

In The Philippines visiting new housing development sites for the poor a few weeks ago.  During one of the days, we went to see a village decimated by the volcanic eruption of Mount Mayon.
As we returned from visiting the abandoned church, my flat-bellied friend (let’s call him “Kevin,” since that’s his name and I see [...]