DEVOTIONAL: The old trunk of an apple tree had been lying on the floor of my garage of a number of years. It was gnarly and crooked. At some point, it had been exposed to moisture, so some fungal activity had started to change the color of the wood. By all appearances, the trunk looked like it should be headed to the fireplace. (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: What is the promise that the author of today’s Scripture speaks about? It is righteousness. But what is righteousness? Webster’s Dictionary defines righteousness as being just, honorable, free from guilt/wrong. How can we obtain righteousness? Can we as mere humans, whose hearts are wicked, become righteous? (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: We wait in faith. But we do not forget what we have known. And we do not forget what sorrows have brought us here.

Psalm 22 begins with the last words Jesus cried out on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We hear these as words of despair. But even in despair, the psalmist remembers what God has done and trusts in what will be done. Jesus knew this Psalm. He knew that the last verses contain the great promise of the Messianic age, the kingdom of God when we shall all praise, glorify and stand in awe of God. What Jesus cried out in his last breath would not then have been words of despair, but words of hope. (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: I didn’t grow up celebrating Lent in the traditional sense of giving up or taking on something for 40 days in preparation for Jesus’ resurrection. It has only been since high school through friendships with Catholics and exposure to the liturgical calendar that I have explored what waiting paired with practice might mean. (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: If I were to make a “Top 10 List” of Anabaptist/Mennonite quotes, somewhere near the top would be Hans Denck’s memorable statement that “No one can truly know Christ except he follow Him in life.” Mennonites love this quote because it embodies our cherished belief that the essence of Christianity is discipleship — following Jesus. (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: During Lent, I plan to think about my own sins a lot. But I don’t really want to; it could get messy. And I’d really rather talk about someone else’s issues. (more…)

DEVOTIONAL: Lent is a season of waiting and preparation. For the Psalmist, waiting offers the opportunity to learn. Psalm 25 is an a-b-c-Psalm, an acrostic, meant to be used as a memory device for teaching and learning. Each verse begins with a new letter in the alphabet. In this case, the Psalmist surprisingly adds an additional letter “p” at the end of the alphabetized Psalm, so that the first, middle, and last verses of the Psalm spell the Hebrew word a-l-p, which translated means “to learn” or “to teach.” Throughout the Psalm, the poet repeatedly asks God to teach: teach God’s ways (4), teach the truth that leads to salvation (5), instruct those who sin to do what is good and upright (8) and teach those who humble themselves before God, the right way to live (9). (more…)

Welcome to Goshen College’s Online devotional series for the 2009 Lent season! “Our lives are in your hands…” is this year’s theme taken from Mennonite Church USA worship resources. Our theme encourages us during the 40 days of Lent to follow Jesus more faithfully, knowing that our lives are indeed in God’s hands. Throughout the next five weeks on weekdays, 35 students, faculty, and staff will reflect on this as well as daily Scriptures and the seven weekly sub-themes: Teach me your paths; It depends on faith; My rock and my redeemer; By grace you have been saved; Whoever serves me must follow; Hosanna! Look, your king is coming; and, He has been raised. (more…)

Everyone needs a bit of silence and spiritual reflection to renew hope. Goshen College again offers an online spiritual resource to help Christian believers make time and space in their hearts and minds to reflect on the season of Lent.

Beginning Feb. 25 (Ash Wednesday) and culminating on April 12 (Easter), Goshen College students, faculty and staff will provide weekday reflections based on lectionary Scripture passages, available online, via RSS feed, or by daily e-mail (with new features as of Lent 2009). (more…)