Home & Blog | Lynne Baab

Holy Spirit disruptions: Unexpected friends

Lynne Baab • Friday September 3 2021

I am almost finished re-reading the alphabet mystery series by Sue Grafton. Actually, when I got to “V is for Vengeance,” I realized I had missed it, so that book was a read, not a re-read. Grafton’s sleuth, Kinsey Millhone, has become a friend over the years as I have read the series several times. She’s not a close friend, evidenced by the fact that the last time I re-read the early books was about a decade ago, but I enjoy her quirks and the details she observes that I would miss.

For other books, the main character, or one of the...

Read full article »

Holy Spirit disruptions: “There was another in the fire”

Lynne Baab • Saturday August 28 2021

I’m going to revert to childhood here. Do any of you remember this song?

Nobody likes me Everybody hates me Guess I'll go eat worms Big fat juicy ones Long thin slimey ones Itsy bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms

It was fun to look up the lyrics. I’d forgotten everything except the first three lines. (For the remainder of the cute worm poetry, look here.)

That song may be a childhood favorite, but it also captures an adult mood that I find myself experiencing from time to time. Everything and everyone is against me! I’m suffering! No one understands my challenges! Sometimes we love to wallow, feel sorry for ourselves,...

Read full article »

Holy Spirit disruptions: Closed doors/stop

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 19 2021

I’m in church one Sunday, and the minister announces a guest preacher, who will talk to us about evangelism. Oh no, I think. I am very weary of that topic. I am committed to being a witness to Jesus’ presence and gifts in my life, but I am not gifted in evangelism. (I describe the way I make the distinction between evangelism and witness here.)

The preacher opened with some material that I considered to be a bit pushy about evangelism, but then he described the way he engages in conversations with people who are not Christians. He often mentions something about the...

Read full article »

Holy Spirit disruptions: Choosing disruption through spiritual practices

Lynne Baab • Wednesday August 11 2021

I got to preach ten days ago at our church in Seattle. (The whole service is recorded here.) When the senior minister contacted me about a month ago to ask me to preach, he told me the assigned passage for August 1 was Jesus with the children (Luke 18:15-17). Because I’ve been writing blog posts for two months about Holy Spirit disruptions, I immediately thought about the ways Jesus disrupted things in that incident. The passage is clear that he disrupted the disciples’ priorities on who should be welcomed into Jesus’ presence, but he also gave a fresh, radical, and enigmatic perspective...

Read full article »

<< Newer | Older >>