Deacon Speakin'

Season 7 Episode 183 Unsolved Mysteries What is it to these wonderful mysteries of our faith that we embrace as foundational ground stones of our belief, why would we continue to seek an understanding for something that has been deemed a mystery and accepted as a mystery for thousands and thousands of years? Why do we keep going back to the spring of knowledge and understanding when there are scor...

Season 7 Epiosde 182 When the Music Stops and the Dance is Done You are dancing with your partner to your favorite song when the music stops and the dancefloor disappears. Does the dance make sense anymore? With no beat to synchronize your steps, is it a dance with meaning anymore? I'd say not. It becomes awkward movements to a song that doesn't exist and none of it matters: not the rhythm, the fl...

Season 7 Episode 181 These Problems and the Pain they Cause There is a recurring problem in the world and its one that we don't particularly enjoy dealing with it and its as CS Lewis puts it: the problem of pain. Everywhere we look we see suffering and agonizing through the trials of life and we see folks who carry heavy, heavy loads – some that are so heavy we wonder how they are not crushed unde...

Season 7 Episode 180 Mother's Love I want to begin by telling you about a woman I know who I was introduced to as a child and continue to have a wonderful relationship with her to this day. Her story is amazing and inspiring, and I share it with you in the spirit of this Mother's Day in the hope that it might inspire you too.

Season 7 Episode 178 Cease and Desist! There are many: MANY who would love to silence the Word of God in this world; who would like us – you and me – to not mention the name of Jesus, the promise of Salvation, the victory over death, or any of the amazing miracles of a life lived in Christ. Many who would have us tried and slapped with a mandate to cease and desist our Christian belief and practic...

Season 7 Episode 178 These Men - These Priests In an otherwise dark world, the priest is the light of Christ that cuts through the darkness, chasing the shadows and bathing the world in the truth and hope of Jesus. We must pray that they hear His call daily and stay the path and stay the course, lest he go astray – which is always a great tragedy when there is one less priest to afford us the bles...

Season 7 Episode 177 What Has God Done for You? "Do you realize what I have done for you?" That line says so much by asking all of us a big, big question. "Do you realize what I have done for you?" I think THAT is the question that should be in our hearts and on our minds when we awaken on Easter Morning. We should meditate on that and bake that into our prayers daily and then spend our lives answ...

Many fall asleep in faith and many die. Still living, but spiritually and faithfully asleep. Going through the motions, not really sure and not really unsure of what it is their faith has in their life. Not completely engaged with their faith; going through the motions, existing. Those who die to their faith quit; as a dead man: unable to move; unable to be. Listless and without response. What doe...

Season 7 Episode 175 Throwing Rocks Who are we to judge? Who are we to be judged by the scribes and the Pharisees of our time? Do we find ourselves the unknown man in this story and know that we have sinned – have been caught red-handed in sin, and carry that sin like a yoke around our necks…never approaching Jesus in our sinful state with all the humility and shame that comes with it and never as...

Season 7 Episode 174 The Ghosts of the Monastery When I stepped onto the familiar grounds of the monastery, checked into my room, and began to tread the trodden trails of the monastery halls and places – I was immediately greeted by the ghosts. But not before running into my dear friend Steve who was parked upon a wooden bench, walking stick by his side, journaling as he has faithfully done for ye...

Season 7 Episode 173 Bickering and Complaining Bickering and Complaining is really a one-sided argument when not a means to resolution – a resonant noise; a clanging of cymbals; a resounding gong (to quote First Corinthians) and a lot of "hoo-ha" in some cases. We all have that right to complain, and I've been complained to, I have complained, and I have been complained about and it always begs th...

Season 7 Epsiode 172 The View from the Top It is a common belief that mountains have much significance as places where people can connect with God. A high place depicting a closeness to God, not to mention the challenge to ascend to that high place. Great things seem to happen on the mount, but I tend to only focus on the end-result: the blessing or the event at the top. What I tend to lose track...

Season 7 Episode 171 Let's All Go to the Desert! The desert is humbling for certain, taking the best and the strongest and reducing them to simplest form. You all remember the guy on TV in any given desert with his ripped and torn clothes, his burnt skin with sweat popping off his head, crawling on his belly in the hot sand and sun begging in a raspy voice, "water…water…water." Well, that's kinda...

Season 7 Episode 170 How to Grow a Good Garden The seeds that you plant, and tend, and care to, one day turn into something much bigger and that look much different than what you began with – maybe even bigger, better, and more fragrant than you even expected.   Families plant the little seeds and grow the little flowers that glorify God's garden.      

Season 7 Episode 169 Weaning the Calves While I was writing this homily, I called a dear friend of mine who I could rely on to tell me how the weaning process works on a farm and she gave me some keen insight to the baulking, complaining, and protesting as dairy calves and beef calves are separated on the farm from their mothers – sometimes right away. She mentioned how very common it is to hear t...

Season 7 Episode 168 A State of Utmost Bliss For those of us who have raised kids, you will attest that there are probably more times than not when the same message must be repeated a few times in hopes that it will stick. And, often in order for that message to stick, you need to make eye contact to get your point across. I see Jesus on the Plains as a parent, getting down to a child's level, loo...

Season 7 Episode 167 The Path to Truth So, John the Apostle saw someone who does not follow the path that Jesus has put the Apostles on and here they are "driving out demons in the name of Christ." Mincing words here, but they were not  trying to drive out demons, he says they were driving out demons in the name of Jesus and they weren't even on the same path that the Apostles were on. How do you...

Season 7 Episode 166: Hocus Pocus The words 'hocus pocus,' were often chanted during tricks involving sleight of hand and would entertain and draw the crowd into a veil of mystery. The words had become familiar in our vocabulary for over 400 years now and has perhaps lost the impact that it once had, but is still used nonetheless to refer to an impossible or unbelievable feat. The term has its ori...

Season 7 Episode 165 A Hometown Welcome When I go back to my hometown, everyone knows me as Tommy – that's a pretty clear indicator of people who knew me growing up. But it's not only that. For me, my family is tied to Tommy – my parents and my brother and sister; the friends I kept; the good and the bad decisions; all the bones. And you are held to that. Jesus was held to that as a child who grew...

Season 7 Episode 164 I believe that we can all look at moments in our lives when we have grown, and flourished, and when we have been stalled and been pruned, and I am sure we can recognize times in our lives when we have gone to seed and seem to start over. When appropriate in the course of our lives, in all of its ebbs and flows, and all the anticipation of growing into something useful and beau...

Do you think that you have no particular talent – well that is simply not true. Do you think that you can't do some things or anything very well – well that is not true either.  Do you feel that your gifts pale in comparison to others – that is just a lie. Listen to Episode 163 of Deacon Speakin to realize your talents!

Deacon Speakin is back! All new Season 7 Episode 162 "The Hired Hand" available now. When we are looked after by a hired-hand you can expect a greater level of risk: primarily the risk that your care is only as complete as his compensation. So, I guess it begs the question then from one sheep to another: to whom do we entrust our care? 

Deacon Speakin is back! All new Season 7 episode "Starting Over" available now. Good timber does not grow with ease,      The stronger wind, the stronger trees, The further sky, the greater length,      The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow,      In trees and men good timbers grow. - Douglas Malloch

Season 6 Epiosode 160 All around us is suffering and pain; we feel it – we see it – we experience it. But we should not allow ourselves to be made blind by it when all around us is also caring, and hope, and faith, and love…and God. God will never abandon you in all the suffering and pain – He will lift you. He will bolster you, He will call out to you, and He will shine a light in the darkness. D...

Season 6 Episode 159 - The Conversation It all really is a conversation with God that he started with us at the moment life began for us. I say it all the time, "You will find God exactly where you look for him." That is why it is so important to ask yourself daily in all situations: the good and the bad – where am I finding God in this? That really does provide the same answer as "Here I am," whe...