PaulStiver.com

Have you heard about the boy who died? There is a scene in Acts chapter 20 where Luke records something miraculous that occurs in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Late one night in a well lit upper room, Paul is sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God with a group of disciples in Troas. As night wears on, a young listener named Eutychus is overwhelmed by sleepiness and tragically falls out of a window to his death. Paul descends the stairs of the building and hovers over the boy. In the same way that Jesus assured the ruler whose young daughter had died, so Paul issues forth comfort in his speech, saying, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him” (Acts 20:10 ESV). This calls to mind life-giving resurrections told of in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha as well. The miraculous happens again, and they took away the boy alive. How can this be? How can the dead be made alive? Who invests this resurrection power to defeat this solemn and universal enemy? Truly this is t...

In Edmund Morris' robust biography, Theodore Rex , which chronicles Theodore Roosevelt's ascendency into the office of President and his first term, we get a window into the mind of the man. At this point, Roosevelt has solemnly sworn his Oath of Office, shortly after President McKinley's assassination, and has begun to reign in what would be his first term. After a couple years, Roosevelt embarks on a massive train tour of the nation. One of the stops on his tour was through the Dakotas. Morris writes, "When the train drew near the Badlands, darkness already had descended. The President went onto this rear platform and watched coulees etch themselves into the grassland, black out of silver, like a giant printer's block. Medora lay the deepest cut of all, a clutch of houses by the sand-choked Little Missouri. Here, twenty years before, he had come to shoot his first buffalo, and found himself "at heart as much as Westerner as an Easterner." (...

5 Christmases ago I was dead in my sins a 27 year old husk of "What might have beens" rebellion, corruption, completed rejection hater of spiritual things, Edenic defection not loving good, a brute fully lost my sinful rap sheet laminated/embossed a mess, a nightmare trapped in a good person heart full of hatred a mouthful of cursing no one more deserving someone fully worthy --- of God's own rejection (not the Son's full perfection) wrath - the gallows death knell to me Is what I deserved my blind eyes couldn't see grasping at walls, looking for life in the bottle - good works community service relationships to flourish "I'm not a sinner, no way, not me" I'm trying so hard, sure got flaws but I'm good Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood Till God intervened parted my heart's Red Sea torn asunder, ripped apart The Morning Star dawned in my darkened heart Profound absurity laughing like Sara...

Each year around my birthday (for the past three years), I like to share my thoughts from the previous year. These are keen and not so keen observations, musings, and the like. Feel free to read and disagree, silently judge, or even criticize these -- I'll probably never know that you did that! Those little nose pimples that you get on the inside of your nostril from time to time are the worst.  Life is really, really hard. We aren't meant to go it alone. We need community. I've lived most of my life thinking the opposite, but I'm realizing I need people more and more as I get older.  Social media lives are not reality. Who are you trying to impress? Who am  I  trying to impress? Fear is perhaps our strongest motivator. Beware of any person who tries to influence you based on your fears. Has craft beer jumped the shark? I will neither confirm, nor deny. But you know what will never jump the shark. A nice cold domestic. Also, I recently learned that Bud Ligh...