On the Court: Part I

My daughter plays basketball.

That, in and of itself, is a pure wonder to me since I still duck and/or scream when a ball is thrown in my general direction. (Go ahead, mock me.) I take delight in watching her play with her team the same way I reveled in her first steps as a toddler: it thrills me.

Being in the gym during a game is, however, an assault on my senses. It’s crowded. Cracked plastic bleachers force me to constantly shift in my seat. The visual stimulus of a rapidly-moving game keeps my eyes darting up and down the court. But it’s the sound that really overwhelms me.  Read More

Unbiased Ears

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
— John 10:3b, 4 ESV

It’s right there in the text, as plain as day.

But it’s easy to miss.

This passage of scripture is subtitled “I am the Good Shepherd” in our Bibles (though subtitles aren’t in John’s manuscript). As westerners, the subtitle conjures an image of a man cresting a grassy, green hill with his staff in hand, prodding the sheep along from behind the flock. Perhaps dogs are chasing the wooly creatures to keep them from falling into harm’s way as well.

And yet, that’s not at all what the verse says.  Read More