crumbs from His table fellowship podcast

The great-crested flycatchers have returned for the season. Photos at crumbsfromhistable.substack.com Blessed Are the Desperate A Poem Blessed are those who are out of their depths, Facing whelms impassable without an ark Or a parting of the waves so complete That the soggy mud of river bottom Unsquelches and hardens into pavement For multitudes to cross. Blessed are the wilderness wanderers, Led,...

N.B.: Moose Tracks is healthy at this writing. Multiple friends have recently lost dear pets. This post is for y’all. A Prayer Father of life, Creator of all creatures great and small: Thank You for the good gift of our heart animals, the creature companions who help us better understand Your love. You know the tally of each sparrow’s days and the quota of tail wags, walks, belly rubs, and purrs f...

With God, We don’t have to redact our wrestlings, Airbrush our mascara trails, Mute our howls of anguish, Bury our fears. Whatever the heights or depths Of our feelings, He can bear them. Whether I jump for joy Or collapse on the closet floor, Sobbing, Or pound puny fists on His chest, He invites me to come In all my raw reality. Even better, He desires me to come; He treasures my tears in his bot...

How glorious Your garments, Great High Priest, Clothed in glory and beauty, Your people upon Your heart, Holiness on Your forehead, Judgment on Your shoulders, Scars on Your back, Nail prints in Your hands, Spear stab in Your side. You are the merciful and faithful High Priest In the service of God To make propitiation for sins not Yours, Crowned with glory and honor, Grace pouring from Your lips....

“What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” Philippians 1:18 CSB “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of f...

Good Shepherd of the sheep, Master of the great feast, Lord of the harvest, I worship You. O Lord, You see the multitudes still suffering over the long haul from the ravages of the pandemic. Their needs are many, too great for the strongest and most influential, Much less one such as I. All I can do is bear them on my heart to Your throne of grace. You have mercy and grace to help them in time of...

“Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entir...

Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10, NET Thanks for reading crumbs from His table fellowship! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. The blooms keep reenchanting my imagination As they unfurl petals like the woman of khayil Facing the future and all its dire prognostications With hands outstretched and kindness on her...

In The War for Middle-Earth , historian Joseph Loconte has provided an exhaustively researched and insightful examination of the lives and works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien in the context of World War II and the decade preceding it. He discussed the ideological water in which Lewis and Tolkien swam and worked, the interbellum and World War II history of Great Britain, the friendship and wr...

Call to Worship: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NET Let us confess our sins to Almighty God: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned...

“In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. Peoples will stream to it, and many nations will come and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so we may walk in his paths.’ For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lo...

In this Christmas week, here is another installment of Pretend Bible Study, where we prayerfully read the Scriptures one chapter at a time. Call to Worship: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselve...

Sidling up in silken slippers, Self-pity seduces with soft sympathy, Never letting slip that Snug comfort of the duvet It slides around my shoulders Is a straitjacket, Binding hands and feet from duty and devotion, Blinding eyes to promises and fellowship of Christ in pain, Stifling with earthbound acedia. How different Spirit’s solace— Smelling salts, strong tea, and sturdy shoes To revive sunk s...

It was the foolish thing of my first vocal solo, for the Good Friday church service 38 years ago, which my God and Father used to bring me to the end of myself and show me how crooked my straightest straight line was compared to the straight-edge of Christ. Good Friday is the annual holy day when Christians especially remember and meditate on the death of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem in space-time hi...

Once there was a little Johnny Jump-up with a gold and violet face. All day long he hung his head and sighed, “Oh me, oh my. Oh my, oh me. If only I were tall and elegant like the rose, how happy I would be!” On a trellis nearby grew a tall, slender climbing rose with petals like the flush of a baby’s cheek. All day long she hung her head and sighed, “Oh me, oh my. Oh my, oh me. If only I were str...

The full text of this evening prayer post, with original photos, can be found at crumbsfromhistable.substack.com. Call to Worship: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places….” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Contentment—how impoverished a word To express the riches shed abroad through Christ! “Contentment” hints that meager is the gift, But “meager” does not suit eternal life. In grace and fullness, far beyond my inklings— Thus El Sha...

When adversity carves you open,Empties out the flesh and fruitfulnessOf life before the knife;Gouges gaping, jagged woundsToo severe to scar—That emptiness carves room for graceAnd otherworldly lightTo shine salvation into woundsOf this dark, frightful night world. Life beyond the knifeIs not extinguished,But aflameWith glory. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light sh...

Note: Rabboni is the Aramaic word for “my master” or “my teacher.” It appears in John 20:16 when Mary meets the risen Christ. Broken, Rabboni ? The brightness of this alabaster dream Shattered into fragments at Your feet? What preciousness deserves so great a price? This is My body, crushed to give for you. Emptied, too? Not one sweet drop remaining for myself? Bereft of fragrance brightening my d...

The shelter of the wings of God has long been one of my favorite comforting metaphors in Scripture. We even named our current home, purchased in a time of grief and upheaval, “Wingshadow.” Mother and sometimes father birds of many kinds cover their chicks with their wings for three main reasons: warmth, protection, and bonding. As warm-blooded animals, birds depend on their feathers for temperatur...

Summer days unspool In long, slow arcs of Fishing line cast Over a pond; Creak like chains On a porch swing, Gently rocking in Veranda shade; Swish like water Over arms and legs Stroking and paddling Around the pool; Buzz like desultory bees Planting kisses on Every flower in The garden; Lengthen like shadows In lazy dusk, The sun itself staying out Past bedtime; Melt and caramelize, Unrushed as M...

For Tatie Go to where the wild things are, Or welcome them to you Plant a garden: Milkweed for monarchs, Sages and zinnias, Sunflowers and moonflowers for Bees and hummingbirds, Holly and blackberries For the mockingbirds and waxwings; Watch it grow. Hang bird feeders, Seeds and suets and hummingbird syrup, More than you think you need. Place them by the windows you pass Most often in your days. R...

“What would a French glamour girl wear to stash weapons in the dead of winter besides a haute couture gown? Kat Harris wished she knew.” With that, Kristy Cambron ( The Paris Dressmaker ) launches the reader out of the plane into Nazi-occupied France in 1943. The rest of the dual-timeline story recounts Kat’s wartime experiences leading to that pivotal night and haute couture gown and her later at...

Welcome, crumbles. This is our first effort here on Substack at seeking the Lord together, wherever we are in the world, through prayerful Bible reading. I’m officially calling it Bible Reading Fellowship, but you are free to keep calling it Pretend Bible Study, as I did on Instagram earlier in the pandemic.😊 At the end of this post, for those who are able, I share guidance on a first beginning s...

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Thanks for reading crumbs from His table fellowship! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Philippians 4:8 NASB1995 To what end shall I celebrate...