“…aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,” (1 Thessalonians 4:11, ESV) “Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.” (2 Thessalonians 3:12, ESV) When I was a […]
A Place of Our Own
A Place of Our Own How long I longed when I was young to have a place upon which I could fix my name To have a place on earth to call My own and share with those I love. I leased or borrowed or rented or in the case of parsonages, lived by virtue […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | September 20, 2021 | Men and Boys Following Jesus
Barakel Father-Son Retreat | September 17-19, 2021 This weekend I travelled north again (In Spurgeon the GMC) with my good friend Allen Miracle and his son Jacob to preach to dads and sons at Barakel. (Have I ever mentioned that it is one of the sweetest places on earth?) Kyle preached to men from Hope […]
Packing Up to Leave
We were packing to leave. I made the two-hour drive to load the unsold candles. There were only a few boxes. I loaded them as quickly as I could, keeping my head down, working hard. I stashed all the implements and accoutrements required to display the candles in a fetching way on top of the […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | September 7, 2021 | A Remarkable Answer to Prayer
Things are quiet out on Bittersweet. We have candle shows two weekends in a row, Lois spent weeks pouring candles for the show and almost sold out, so she is back at work for this weekend. She would be giddy with joy if she sold out again. I hope she does. When she pours the […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | September 1, 2021 | Inevitable Injuries
The First Day of “Fall” Today was a well-mannered September 1st. It was clear and cool the way it should be on the first day of school. In Wisconsin today was the first day of school. Here in Michigan it was not, but it should have been. I started the day with a thirty-minute walk […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | August 26, 2021 | God’s Way to True Prosperity
We are in the beautiful denouement of summer now out on Bittersweet Farm and in these parts. The warmth will soon yield to cooler days and we will need to get our flannel shirts back out. I look forward to that. Around here students went back to school already so they are closing the ice […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | June 23, 2021 | Camp Patmos
I always tell young people God did not give us a spirit of adventure just to climb mountains, ride roller-coasters and bungee jump off bridges. He gave us a spirit of adventure to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Last week I spent the week preaching on an island! How cool is […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | June 15, 2021 | On Hearing a Plane in the Night
The sun set with a beautiful afterglow out on Bittersweet tonight. It was my day off. Other than a few phone calls and working on some details for a wedding this weekend, it was a day of puttering around the place, organizing things, laundry, and other projects. Last night I enjoyed a ride on Brutus, […]
Bittersweet Farm Journal | June 8, 2021 | The Last Two Chapters
It’s Sunday evening now, the sixth of June. It’s been a beautiful day. The sun is low in the sky nearing the golden hour. It is casting its slanting beams across the rich green grass in the yard below my window. We call our home Bittersweet Farm, but we really don’t grow any crops or […]