6 Words: Memoir Challenge – Exercise 1 – Beat Writer’s Block

For many years, autumn has been the time of year that I do most of my writing, and during the month of October, I am hosting a Memoir Writing Challenge: Harvest Your Past.  I have decided to throw in an extra memoir-writing challenge before October, to help you prime your writing pump. Bottom Line: The…

The Parable of the Tares or the Weeds

A Parable is a story. Jesus told parables to help his followers understand various principles. A Parable is an illustration or comparison told to increase the listener’s understanding. The Parable of the Weeds or Tares 24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone…

Farming in the Bible

Farming is an activity that dates back to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Genesis 1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed…

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed

Jesus told the following parable or story about a farmer and the seeds that he planted: “‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang…

What is a Parable? A List of Parables in the Bible

A Parable is a story. Jesus told parables to help his followers understand various principles. A Parable is an illustration or comparison told to increase the listener’s understanding. In those cases, the stories usually symbolized something else. The following classification of parables is adapted from A. B. Bruce, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ (1904), pp. 8ff. Didactic…

Bible Scriptures about Autumn and the Harvest

James 5:7-8: “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” Isaiah 40:6-8: “A voice says, ‘Cry out.’ And I said, ‘What…

Listening for the Voice of God

A couple of weeks ago, I visited with two ladies who have been friends almost their entire lives. At various times, Estha Mae Coleman Parker and Virginia McKibben Vanlandingham lived and worshiped at the old country church at Pilgrims Rest in Yalobusha County, and now, both of them live only a couple of farms away…