Poem: “The Day Christmas Shattered” I’m always a reminder of that day. A photo. A faded G.I. Joe action figure. The smell of Christmas trees. That photo. My sister in a pink button-up shirt, sitting next to our dad, with caution and trepidation. Me on the other side. I’m in a striped maroon LaTigre polo shirt—it’s too tight on me. I look nervous and sad and lost. My dad in the middle. Brown collared shirt under a white sweater under a light brown... Read more
Listen, Lord, please have mercy on us, for we have sinned. It’s hard for us Christians to accept responsibility as a group for abuse and other wrongs that happen within the Church. We live in an individualistic society; and somehow the Church has become tribal and individualistic. I believe it’s because of bad theology, hunger for power and thirst to always be right. It’s easier to point the finger at the abuser or those who’ve been abused than to accept... Read more
“The Art of I Don’t Know” I read about a lady who said, “I didn’t know.” She’s now dead to many people. Love wrapped around expectations can send people to hell if you’re not careful. Why can’t we say, “I don’t know,” and still go to heaven? How in the hell do those people know anyway? Read more
I was a shy kid, and spent most of the time outside playing by myself or reading books, like the Encyclopedia Britannica. I didn’t have many friends because I was introverted and unsure of myself. When I had friends, something would happen which made the relationship complicated and then broken. This would cause me to retreat into my introverted-self and avoid the world. By doing this, I missed out on having deep and rich relationships, and my worldview became limited to... Read more
Since the Apostles’ Creed is all the rage on the internet today, I’d like to share with you my experience with it, and why I believe every Christian should say the Apostles’ Creed. I am not trying to add to the controversy and my intention is not to be mean-spirited. I must confess the Apostle’s Creed is new to me and I am not an authority on it. Here is the Apostles’ Creed just in case you aren’t familiar with it: THE... Read more
It was a bitter cold mid-December morning. The tension was thick. I took my time doing last-minute checks on the luggage bag strapped to the top of our SUV. All seven of us: my wife, three kids and two dogs gathered in front of our house, we said our goodbyes to the place we called home for the past five years. Once in our vehicle, the heaviness lingered in silence for a few minutes as we sat in our Ford... Read more
Poem: “Purifying the House of Man” At its healthiest the earth was a garden; a garden full of life and peace. Every display of beauty was at its finest. Colors so vivid and deep the eye became overwhelmed with imagination. Streams teemed with all types of fish, Rainbow Trout, the various Sunfishes and Minnows to name a few. Varieties of Avian: The Cooper’s Hawk, European Sparrow, Eagles and blackbirds filled the sky with their brothers and sisters. The Grizzly played with... Read more
Poem: “When Gladness is Choked Dry” What’s wrong with showing charity to others in order to get charity back from God. They tell me to show kindness out of the gladness of my heart, but I have no more gladness there. It’s been choked dry by all my failures. It takes all that I got just to take a breath of air in this moment. Read more
Poem: “Broken Roads” There are many broken roads in this world. I’ve been down a few. Names like Desperate and Lonely and Rage and Lust and Envy. Every one of them crisscrossing in the neighborhood of my heart. Mercy found me shackled by my failures. She told me to keep my eyes on the celestial horizon, the boundary between earth and heaven. She whispered, “Look there, and you’ll find the stairway to your redemption.” And I did. God is not... Read more
Deep in each of us is a hunger for eternity. Some people give into it and devour much of it until they’re consumed by its reality. Others taste eternity with the tip of their tongue, but never feast at its table. They miss out on having their hunger sated with eternity. When I’m walking through the forest and see the leaves shimmering in the canopy or when I’m sitting on a dune and hear the ocean waves crashing onto the... Read more
Joe Puentes
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