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  • Psalm 151 - Psalm 151: In a recent conversation with a nephew, I tried to explain that the Psalm following the last Psalm in the book, was our own personal Psalm. I was making the point that the track our faith takes is our personal Psalm, and that journey is one of praise and gratitude for the graces God has gifted to us. We all have a personal Psalm, reflecting out faith journey, one that is being written even as you read this. It is up to you to put into words what God has created in your life. How would you fashion your Psalm? Continue reading
  • Theology - Theology: The study of the nature of God and religious belief. Chances are, your pastor, or one of those on television, have a masters degree or a PhD in theology. It sounds very scholarly, maybe just a bit stodgy. It is a discipline and, as such, a study which can aid in the understanding of Biblical truths. If I would ask you, what is your theology? How would you answer?  Maybe you would say, ‘Christian’. And I would say, ‘That’s just a label’. Tell me in eight words or less what your theology is, in practice. Continue reading
  • The Resurrection - The Resurrection: What do you believe about the Resurrection? Is it important to you? Where does it “stack-up” with you and your relationship with God? How about this: Is the Resurrection just one of many elements of your belief in Jesus? Do you hold each element like a treasure in your heart. Each of equal value? There is no conflict between Jesus’ early command to tell no one until… and the joy of truly knowing Jesus. We know we have arrived at the “until” when what we believe in Christ dominates our lives, our thinking and our communications with others. Continue reading
  • Marching Orders? - Marching Orders? Chuck Swindoll, in a sermon given seven or eight years ago, said: “You may not have thought about it before, but Christians have a lot more in common with soldiers than we might think. In what way? For starters, soldiers don’t serve to protect themselves but to guard the interests of their homeland. There is simply no room for ego or grandstanding among soldiers during the heat of battle. What matters is obeying the leader’s commands.” The character of a Christian is clearly outlined by the prophet Isaiah, telling us to Learn to do good, to be fair, and to help the poor, the fatherless, and widows, and echoed in Psalms with rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil. Micah inquired of the Lord what were the orders, and the answer came back -- do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. These are our marching orders from our Lord. Continue reading
  • Demons? - Demons? In November, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, at the manslaughter trail of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, the defense sought to prove innocence based on Johnson’s claim of demonic possession. The judge in the matter argued that no such defense could ever exist in a court of law due to lack of physical evidence. Think about the track of your own life, and the occasional pull of temptation, moods that suddenly appear to disrupt relationships, arguments erupting, etc.  What causes these changes? You probably don’t need an exorcism, but we, most assuredly, should be on guard and call upon Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to help us be prepared. Continue reading
  • Obedience Delayed? - Obedience Delayed? In Haggai 1:7-9 the prophet has given King Darius the Word. You have trouble in your fields, they have not produced.  You have trouble in your vineyards for the wine has been bitter. You have looked after your own, built your own houses, gathered your own abundance, while the House of the Lord is in ruins. The prophet is saying to the people, consider what direction your lives are headed in. Your fields yield very little, your vineyards produce what is hardly drinkable, what you received from your herds is not enough. Life was hard and getting harder. Does that sound familiar?  Who is Haggai talking to, the Hebrews or us, or both? This isn’t brain surgery, but it is heart surgery. Continue reading
  • The Priority List – No. 2 - The Priority List - No. 2: Recently I heard a preacher raising the question whether God was an ‘add-on’ in our lives.  An add on!?  How dare him!  God is the top priority in my life, the most important part of my life. “It’s raining. Let’s stay home.”  “It’s the final round of the British Open and I am not missing it.”  “I was out late last night. Think I’ll pass on church.” I confess that I get lost in my writing, and while I know that the lord has inspired so much of it, he has also laid before me opportunities to pause in my writing to reach out to my friends, my neighbors, and I have begged off. We have different kinds of excuses to avoid doing something we would prefer not to do, or we don’t like the idea of leaving our comfort zone.  And Jesus wept! Continue reading
  • Knowing Jesus - Knowing Jesus: It was a gathering of a group of men in what was referred to as the “Fourth Day”, a prayer and support group that grew out of a weekend with Jesus. Our newest member had just returned from the three days of Cursillo, and we joyfully listened to his excited description of what that weekend had meant to him. As we listened we knew exactly what he had experienced because each of us had a similar experience.  Yet, we didn’t know, really.  What I mean by that is, we can relate to kind of the “external experience”, but what was planted in the heart was personal, it is unique to each of us. Knowing God is a down-deep, personal thing, an intimate oneness with Jesus that nothing can shake. Continue reading
  • Psalm 51:6-15 - Psalm 51:6-15: We are repeatedly instructed to meditate on God's Word day and night (Psalm 1:1), and throughout the Bible there are choice passages that lend themselves to reverent times of prayer and meditation. Psalm 51 is one of those passages that can touch us in so many different ways. Three versions of this passage is offered here. Consider that we are David, offering up our life and soul in the acknowledgment that we are sinners in ways that we may not even understand. God Bless your journeys. Continue reading
  • A Little Light - Light: In a recent Watchword I shared a little of my family history regarding a little clay lamp that dates back to Moses day, for which I am caregiver. We were reminded by the Almighty that it is not the lamp, but God’s Word that illumines our way. It is in those times that we need the light of God’s Word to shine a light on life’s path, to show us the way, as Jesus beckons – Come follow my lead. God, with you there is no darkness. Your character has no shadows, and you are pure and good. Yet in our broken world, we see so much darkness around us. Pain, sickness, and disease are in our community and in many of our homes. Bring your light and restoring presence to the dark places in our lives. Continue reading
  • The Sadness of God - The Sadness of God: What would cause God to grieve?  Can you imagine the Creator God of the universe and everything in it to grieve? Causing Him sorrow? In this scripture passage, above, we are told not to cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. How do we do that? It is our actions, our decisions that cause a two-fold problem. First, whatever we may say or do that is contrary to the will and intent of God prevents the Holy Spirit from being what He could be in us. Second, and related, is that our actions prevent the Holy Spirit from doing what He could through us. Continue reading
  • What Doest Thou Here? - What Doest Thou Here? Have you ever been disappointed?  Silly question. You hoped for one thing and ended up getting something else, totally unexpected and unwelcomed. Maybe you wondered, “What was my Lord thinking?”, yet you plowed on and got through it. The prophet Elijah had spent a major part of his life proclaiming God’s Word, even when it was not popular. There was even a bounty on his head, which caused him to flee and try to hide. He felt totally alone and that everyone was against him, and told God as much. Sometimes I wonder if serving the Lord often comes to us in the midst of our own very busy schedules for a reason, and we ask ourselves, “How can I do one more thing?”  It is then that we begin to realize that God meant what He said when He told us that he would equip us to follow his will, even in the face of our current circumstances. Continue reading
  • Ancient Clay Lamp - Ancient Clay Lamp: True story. It was in summer, 1936, amidst the rumblings of a world war, that my great-uncle, Harold Davis and his wife, were spirited out of China after years as missionaries. They returned to New Jersey, but late in 1938 were invited to be part of an archeological ‘dig’ in the Holy Land. In the course of that ‘dig’, my uncle uncovered a clay lamp. In succession, I inherited the lamp from my father. On occasion, when I read the words of Psalm 119:105, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”, I do think about this little clay lamp, over which I serve as caretaker. For me, this Psalm reading is a most helpful passage. An ancient lamp, fashioned by hand, a connection with the very beginning of God’s plan for our lives. If I think about that too much, I can get overwhelmed, and I have asked myself, “why am I the holder of this object that I consider sacred ?” This answer comes to me: “It is just a clay lamp, nothing more. However, it is My Word that provides the Light for your path. Continue reading
  • Not in the Flesh - Not in the Flesh: People who had known Jesus well, over three or more years, did not recognize Him after the Resurrection. He had become a new person. Jesus tells us not to regard others in the flesh, but to look inward, at their quality.  What was there about Jesus that his own mother did not recognize him until he spoke? Christ’s death, which paid for all of our sins who believe in Him, resulted in a drastic change. Paul insists we look at every single person from a different perspective. Instead of looking at the outer appearance, the important question to be answered is spiritual. The value of a person is not found in physical things or worldly wealth or outer appearance. What is within, that is what counts. Are we ‘color-blind’? Shouldn’t we be? Why do we too often lead with ethnicity? Continue reading
  • Trouble - Trouble: “My friends, you got trouble, Right here in River City..." I think most of you can hear Robert Preston, as the Music Man, singing a warning to the people of River City about the evils of the game of pool. We’ve got trouble, and it probably has nothing to do with the game of pool. The disciples were surrounded by a terrible storm. They were racked with fear and there was Jesus sound asleep.I think that God allows us to experience trouble in our lives because the trouble has a purpose, a lesson to be learned and we tend to forget that in the absence of faith is fear. Continue reading
  • Karma and God? - Karma and God? “Does karma exist with God?” It is well-known that there are more than 50,000 ‘brands’ of Christianity, and each one firmly believes they got it ‘right’.  Differences may be far apart, from whether it’s liturgical or non-liturgical, all the way down to very petty issues, but the spirit of “churchiness” seems to pervade them all. More than 40 years ago, J B Phillips wrote his classic, Your God is Too Small, and coined the phrase, ‘God-in-a-box’, where he speaks of how we have made the Almighty much too small. Some churches appear to be saying “here, jumped through our particular hoop, sign on our particular dotted line, then we will introduce you to God. Okay, so what does that have to do with karma and if the concept exists with God. My friend is correct in saying that karma is a theological concept found in the Buddhist and Hindu religions. The short answer is the Bible rejects the idea of reincarnation, so, therefore, Christianity does not support the idea of karma. Continue reading
  • The Law of God - The Law of God: Often times in Bible studies we refer to the 613 “Jewish laws” with disdain. We might do some google research and find out that one of the “laws” requires a specified sacrifice to God if your donkey gives birth to a calf.  To our modern ears that sounded very dated and we reject it as a "Law of God". There is an array of practical, everyday laws that mask as God’s Holy Word, incorporated by well-meaning Jewish ancients that we have mistaken to be part of the true and simple 613 laws, which, in truth, along with the Ten Commandments, are found in God’s Word. Jesus however, lived by a different law: the law of love! Jesus followed most of the Jewish laws and customs. However, when it came to people in need of love and compassion, Jesus lived by the law of God! Continue reading
  • Born-Again, Again - Born-Again, Again: In a recent Watchword, I revealed that it’s been 45 years since my own born-again experience, a singular event in my faith walk. In that recent Watchword, I referenced Nicodemus and his conversation with Jesus and observed that Jesus was not very patient with this Pharisee, this scholar, this teacher of the law. He had been curious enough to come to Jesus at night, and to tell him “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.”  What Jesus had told him was puzzling…”Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.” What is going through the mind of the Pharisee, as he walked away from that encounter with Jesus? This may be reaching, but in my mind, being born-again is an encounter with Christ.  We see that throughout the New Testament, and if we read with discerning eyes certain passages of the Old Testament, meeting Jesus was a life changer. So, why would that meeting not have eventually changed Nicodemus?  A Pharisee being born again?  Radical! Continue reading
  • Dying in Order to Live - Dying in Order to Live: Recently, a subscriber to Watchwords raised this question:  What does it mean that you must die, if you want to be alive? Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, was not very patient. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a teacher of the law, yet he did not understand what was written in the Law. Jesus reminds him that “Men can only reproduce human life.”  But, only by being “born again” by the Holy Spirit, can that human life become new from heaven. The imprint on a person’s spirit of a “born again” experience can be definitive, or subtle to the point where the only remnant is reflected in the life pattern of the person. Yet, every believer has a point in her or his life when they acknowledge Jesus as God, maybe moving from parent’s faith to their own. That is being Born-again. Continue reading
  • The Second Coming - The Second Coming: What are your thoughts on the Second Coming of Christ?  With frequency, we read the Apostle’s Creed which tells us that Jesus will come again to “judge the living and the dead.” Hmm, what do you think that means? Another concept, popular among some groups of Christians, is “the rapture” of the church. One definition is “a feeling of intense pleasure or joy”, but that doesn’t quite fit when matched up with the Second Coming. The Christian definition of the rapture is “the transporting of believers to heaven at the Second coming of Christ. That’s a much better fit. Continue reading