Creative Ministry

Sorry I've been gone so long, guys! I promise I am still alive! I've been in a creativity slump, which I need to force myself out of -- and which I will force myself out of with short posts, sharing exciting things with my loyal (and possibly quite bored) 3.14 readers.

Today I came across a story of a basketball ministry in Oklahoma City.  I wish my kids in St. Louis had had something like this.  Reading the story made me want it for those kids, and looking through the photo gallery made me miss them and wonder where they are today.  Every now and then I hear about one of them, since Ana still lives in St. Louis, and the stories are not always happy ones.

If you have a few moments today, please say a prayer for those kids.  They live in the world that produced the blow-up in Ferguson.  It's encouraging to see a ministry like the one in Oklahoma, but heaven only knows how badly we need more ministries like that -- ministries that reach out to kids in the language that they speak.

Image Credit goes to The Oklahoman.  Go read the story and see the other pictures.

I Would Play with This Forever

Seriously, I would.  I kind of want one.


(Courtesy of Futility Closet.)

On Tragedy in the Christian Life

Some time ago, not long after I briefly studied Buddhism in a comparative religion class, I got into an AIM discussion (that should provide some dates) with a Catholic friend about suffering.  He tried to depict suffering as an evil to be avoided at nearly all costs.  Pointing to the cross, I tried to argue that as a Christian, running from suffering makes no sense.

Something Light-Hearted and Holy

For your amusement and my reprieve (that word is surprisingly hard to spell, or I am very tired), here is something light-hearted for today: an article on "The Wit and Humor of the Saints."

It has a good overarching message, but really I recommend it for the one-liners from holy men and women.  For example, my favorite: