Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer GuideTwo Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeSabbath Keeping FastingA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationPersonality Type in CongregationsPrayers of the Old TestamentPrayers of the New TestamentSabbathFriendingA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDeath in Dunedin: A NovelDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeAdvent DevotionalDraw Near: Lenten Devotional by Lynne Baab, illustrated by Dave Baab

Praying about Jesus’s miracles: The feeding of the 4000

Lynne Baab • Wednesday June 19 2024

Praying about Jesus’s miracles: The feeding of the 4000

I want to give you a series of words. See how you feel as you read them. Deserted place. Desolate place. Remote place. Secluded place. Wilderness. Desert. Open field. Do these words evoke longing to get away from responsibilities and difficult people? A hint of uneasiness? A feeling of isolation? A bit of fear for your safety?

All those words are possible translations of one Greek word, eremo, which is used frequently in the stories of Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000 and 4,000. The possible translations of that word may give us a possible answer to a question that bothered me for a...

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Praying about Jesus’s miracles: The feeding of the 5,000

Lynne Baab • Wednesday June 12 2024

Praying about Jesus’s miracles: The feeding of the 5,000

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;      he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;      he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness     for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,     I fear no evil; for thou art with me;     thy rod and thy staff,     they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me     in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil,     my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me     all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for...

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Praying about Jesus’s healings: Jesus heals on the Sabbath

Lynne Baab • Wednesday June 5 2024

Praying about Jesus’s healings: Jesus heals on the Sabbath

A woman is bent over. Maybe from osteoporosis? Jesus heals her on the Sabbath day, and some of the Jewish leaders who see the healing get mad at Jesus. He has “worked” on the Sabbath! Jesus replies, “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13:10-17). I often feel bent over with worries and stress. Sometimes my back goes out, and I am physically bent over for a few days. I identify with the woman in the story, and I truly love Jesus’s words...

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Praying about Jesus’s miracles: the woman who touched his cloak

Lynne Baab • Wednesday May 29 2024

Praying about Jesus’s miracles: the woman who touched his cloak

Three things are quite difficult for me: being interrupted, being in a crowd, and listening to someone when I feel the need to move on. The story of a woman touching Jesus’s cloak in a dense crowd evokes all of these (Mark 5:21-43).

Jesus has returned to the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee after being on the eastern, Gentile side. A crowd surrounds him. Jairus, a synagogue leader, approaches him to ask for healing for his daughter. Jesus follows Jairus through the crowd, but Jesus stops when he senses that someone has touched him and power has gone out of...

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