‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled....
Remembering My Teammate, Donnell Thompson
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). My wife knows me pretty well, and overall, she seems to approve. Except for one thing. She finds it perplexing that the proponent of nonviolence she married fondly remembers playing football in his...
Meek Beauty
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Pretty faces are a dime a dozen, while beauty is rare. Her meekness makes her beautiful. She is a meek beauty. Yes, her soft blue eyes, milky complexion, and delicately angular face will make any...
Seeds: A Sermon on Mark 4:26-32
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in...
What Is A Disciple? A Reflection on Luke 24:36-49
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?...
Success: A Reflection After My Conversation With Charlie Hedges
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Recently, Charlie Hedges contacted me after he read my post, “Lord, Teach Us to Pray: Petition as Contemplation.” He said, “Marshall, you and I swim in the same pond.” After learning more about him,...
From Rapture Back to Earth: A Meditation on Mark 13
(Suggestion: Read Mark 13) Growing up in the rural South, rapture was in the air. Not the blissful rapture of lovers, but the gravity-defying rapture of fundamentalists and readers of Hal Lindsey’s mega-bestselling book, The Late, Great Planet Earth. This vision of...
Willingness: The Way Through Resentment
A way through resentment to serenity…
Knowing Wind (poem)
Knowing Wind for Wanda by J. Marshall Jenkins The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). You teach me much about trees,...
Bare Winter Trees (Poem)
Bare Winter Trees J. Marshall Jenkins In my hurry to the mailbox this cold December morning, bare winter trees draw my gaze from rain soaked roots up to manifold etched fingers pointing - look! – to gray cloud cover sagging under light poised to burst through....
Clay Jars and Peculiar Treasures: Saints in Buechner’s Writings
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5) But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us (2 Corinthians 4:7). Clay Jars in Scripture and in...
Beyond the Codependency Conundrum
Thoughts on drawing the line between the kind of unselfishness that serves and the kind that sickens.