Today is the Feast Day of the Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas, and my name day. As I was considering another year named for St. Barnabas the Apostle and what it means to be named after the "son of encouragement, I thought about a sermon I once heard that really...
American author Laird Barron once said "Mom was all about hellfire and brimstone. Her Old Testament God was a colossal, ancient brute, a maelstrom of blood and fire, of appetite and wrath." Sounds familiar. Our society has been shaped by a narrative, both subtle and overt, about how we think...
The dictionary defines the word “obligation” as “an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.” When I was growing up, my mother taught me that I wasn’t free to do what I wanted until I did what I...
When I was growing up in the Pentecostal church of my youth, a regular theme of sermons I heard was about being "spirit-filled." Our emphasis on the Holy Spirit had everything to do with "living a holy life" and experiencing an intimate relationship with God. By the way, both...
She just rolled her eyes. I'm getting that more and more from my 13 year old lately! Sure, I had just used one of my old, worn out Dad sayings, one of my favorites when I say that everyone would be happier if they would all just do as...
I was a nervous wreck! A 15-year-old teenager with his best buddies was sneaking into a movie theater without paying! I can hear the voice of my mother in my head “Young man, you carry your family name. That should make you think twice about doing things you know you...
When I am at peace with the direction of my life I find that restfulness spills over onto those around me. But that makes perfect sense. After all, we constantly pray in the liturgy "For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, let us pray to the...
https://www.facebook.com/barnabas.powell/videos/10158655973773217/
Do you know the difference between a barrier and a threshold? It's actually quite an important distinction. The old saying goes "good fences make good neighbors" and there's no disputing that clear boundaries are necessary in relationships for there to be healthy communion between persons. But, what happens when a...
https://www.facebook.com/barnabas.powell/videos/10158652640553217/
