Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- Blood Sport - Blood Sport: On any given weekend, stadiums, throughout the world, are packed to capacity with rabid fans, totally dedicated to their teams throughout the NFL, major and minor league baseball, Soccer, college and community sports. Occasionally, you hear stories of riots breaking out and blood being shed. In the ancient world, human life was regarded as cheap and as result death was considered a commodity of the “sport” of gladiatorial fights. It’s hard for us to imagine that these fights to the death with so popular and people were disappointed if they were deprived of their weekend executions! Martin Luther King, Jr., in our own time, would say that “the man who has found nothing to die for is not fit to live.” Throughout the history of Christianity, ordinary people have found something to die for in Christ. Continue reading
- Purposeful Intimacy - Purposeful Intimacy: As you read the proverbs passage there is an expectation of hope. When you associate with those of character and love, you are more likely to embrace those qualities. The same thing applies if you associate with those of low character, who may lack honesty, then you are more likely to embrace those ‘qualities’. The logic makes sense to me. It’s not Simply being around wise people or smart people that makes a person wiser, smarter, gentle, or compassionate. Continue reading
- He Speaks to Me - He Speaks to Me: A voice from heaven? Is that what those gathered along the Baptism River heard? The Holy Spirit speaking loud enough for all to hear, declaring that this man, this Jesus who was just baptized, “is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.“ Had you been there to witness this divine event, what would you have thought? How does God speak to you? He does you know. Is it in a voice so loud that even those nearby could hear? Probably not. Does he speak in Latin or Greek or Hebrew? Maybe, or Spanish, Chinese, or Hindi? Or, does he use a gentle whisper? Continue reading
- Heart Disease - Heart Disease: Twenty-eight years ago, while on a tour in Europe, I had a heart attack and ended up in a Belgian hospital for eight days before I was sent home to my cardiologist. You can imagine that over these many years I have been more attentive to the condition of my heart. That’s one kind of heart condition, but there’s another that may be of greater importance in our day-to-day lives than the beating of our hearts. It’s the condition of our spiritual heart, and our attentiveness to the directions the Spirit provides. Continue reading
- Help Me, Lord - Help Me, Lord: Have you up ever reached the end of your rope, the end of your hope, do you know about down by worry or adversity, and cried out to the Lord for help? Or maybe, occasionally awake in the morning feeling just a little grey, not sure what the day will bring, and that sense of worry persists until I come to the Lord in prayer? You find His hand, and you find His peace and you are better able to face the day. Someone has said “God always answers our prayers, either by giving us what we ask for or by giving us something even better.” Continue reading
- Fear, Change and Love - Fear, Change and Love: Too often the need for change comes upon us suddenly, without warning. An unexpected diagnosis, the sudden loss of a job. We quickly run through the stages of denial until we are faced with the reality that something we never expected, something we resist with every part of our being, is happening or must be done. We often miss the important part of being a friend to the hurting one. Reaching out, being there, communicating support. Maybe we are reminded of a line from the Bible, , I was sick and you looked after me, and you realized that meant you. Continue reading
- Big, Bigger, Biggest - Big, Bigger, Biggest: “This redefines my understanding of what big is!” my grandson said as he stood, for the first time, on the south rim, gazing at the Grand Canyon. It is an overwhelming view. You might have anticipated what you are now taking in, based on pictures, but there is no substituting for the real thing, and the real thing far exceeds what we were prepared to see. It redefines the base thought. Redefining your meaning or understanding of ‘large’ based on seeing the Grand Canyon, illustrates the difficulty we are faced with when seeking to understand God and God’s word. The difficulty goes far beyond the manner in which the scripture is handed down to us. Continue reading
- Brand New - Brand New: Oh, it feels sooo good! Oh, my. I love it! And smell it! Fresh and clean, oh so bright. Just look at that! It almost makes me weep for joy! Not a spot, not a single spot. Don’t do anything…just imagine. Before you, a blank canvas, and you are Van Gogh. You are Gian Bernini. You are DeVinci, drinking in a great slab of marble before you, imagining, what? Yes, David! You are Michelangelo, looking up at the empty ceiling of this small, insignificant chapel, and imagining, just imagining what could bless this space? Well, you are not Van Gogh, or DaVinci, or Packer, or C.S. Lewis, or Chambers, or Neuwen, but you are you and I am me, wrinkles, arthritis and all. Continue reading
- Better than Best - Better than Best: We pause here, just hours away from a New Year, a fresh start, a canvas that stands ready to record our unfolding life. Over the past year we have acted as if God may have a better plan for us, whatever it may be and now we’re about to change our calendar one more time and there’s probably not a New Year’s resolution in our minds that things will be just a little better than the year about to end. Putting behind us those stupid decisions we often made, turning our back on a second helping of chocolate cake, and vowing to be more loving, less critical etc. etc. down a long list of do-overs that are human mind can conjure up. Are there times when we consider what is best and turn our noses up on something that might be even better? Think and apply that to your own life. Continue reading
- Mark His Words - Mark His Words: We know quite a bit about the Mark, but mostly bits and pieces as he grew to become what we know as the apostle. We know that Mark’s mother opened her home for gatherings of early Christians. We may know him as the impulsive, un-named young man in the garden of Gethsemane who, out of fear, runs away naked, after a guard had held him by his tunic. The next we learn of Mark, we find him a protégé of Barnabus, who convinces Paul to allow him to go on the first Mission Journey, only to find that the young man was not prepared for missionary work, and returned home three months later. In researching for my book, A Life for Barabbas, it seemed clear that even though Mark was part of that first journey for only three months, it had a transformational impact on him. Continue reading
- Simeon and Our Lord - Simeon and Our Lord: His name was Simeon and he had lived in Jerusalem all of his life. As a child, he studied in the rabbinical school and as an adult he was a rabbi and a teacher of the law and the prophets. He often traveled to nearby towns to share his understanding of the scrolls to those interested. In that role, he often had questions regarding elements of the prophets that he answered with confidence, but more often than not, they raised his own unanswered questions. Those questions bordered on the great mystery of the Jewish Scriptures, unanswered, and unresolved over the centuries. Continue reading
- Come to Me, All You… - Come to Me, All You…: Have you ever extended that broad invitation of Jesus to anyone? You know, “Come to me all you who are burdened and I’ll take it from you…” or words to that effect. Have you told someone you can always call me, anytime, day or night. Did you mean it? (Riiiing, riiiing -- I know it’s 2:30 a.m., but I just couldn’t sleep and, you know, you said I could always call anytime. Well, here I am. Can’t sleep.) So, did you really mean it when you told your friend he could call, anytime? Well, here’s the deal, when Jesus said “come, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”, he meant it--no conditions, no restrictions. Continue reading
- Blessed to Give - Blessed to Give: It is more blessed to give than to receive. That’s an expression we’ve all heard, and sometimes we actually practice. Certainly we take great joy in giving gifts especially to people we know personally or people we know have specific needs. But human nature, being what it is, feels like it is more fun to receive. If you don’t believe that, and if you’re near kids at Christmas time and see their excitement as they open gifts, well then, you'll change your mind. Continue reading
- Jesus, the Church, and You - Jesus, the Church, and You: Churches throughout country seem to be failing when viewed through the perspective of numbers, memberships, attendance. We look for reasons everywhere. My own church has changed drastically over the years. From two services, nearly at full seating capacity, to our current attendance of 30 or less. And we wonder. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Cassius says to Brutus, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” Ourselves? No, no, no, we aren’t the cause of churches struggling. Not us, we are in the pews. Must be something else, right? Continue reading
- Deep Dark December - Deep Dark December: December has a mixed reputation, grey and cold standing in contrast to the joy of the coming of the Christ child and our celebration of Christmas. Although, even in the happiness of this season for some the loneliness is magnified and the sense of sorrow grows darker and deeper. Even John the Baptist, a most significant figure in this story of salvation, when things got tough and the future looked bleak, those thoughts, dark and cold, encroach, “Are you the One to come, or is there another?” How do you answer the question: Is Jesus the One? Continue reading
- Wrapped Gifts - Wrapped Gifts: In a recent devotional in My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers uses the phrase “My rainbow in the cloud.” While he was not specifically referencing forgiveness, that was the first thought that came to my mind. I saw the rainbow as if it were a “lamp unto my feet”, a calming of storms in my life, that overwhelming sense of relief when a fear that we had entertained, was fully and completely removed. In our prayer life, we often load up our requests to God with all kinds of thoughts, ideas, ‘asks’ for healing, for mending, for overcoming. But I wonder if that is the human’s way of being unfaithful, or at the very least, ungrateful. Continue reading
- Being a Friend - Being a Friend: He met me in the quiet village street — And stopped and stood and talked a while — Did lend himself entire to me. Moments Raced by! He taught me how to be a Friend. Isn’t that a beautiful and blessed piece of poetry. How do you teach that? What are the nuances of that process that results in learning that Grace? Who were your models growing up? Were you aware of the affect they were having on you? How have you passed those on? Whether we are conscious of them are not we do pass on both the good and the bad, the language and the habits, our little idiosyncrasies, speech mannerisms, and on down a very long list, all of which get passed on in one form or another to those who look up to us, who have counted on us. Continue reading
- And Along Came John - And Along Came John: This is where John enters the Christmas storyline, and then fits nicely into his new name, The Baptist. It’s a name that he earns even to martyrdom. It is a familiar story for us, for we all know that Jesus and John the Baptist knew each other since childhood. John, when he grew up, embarked on a very special kind of mission, to be the forerunner of the Messiah. Jesus himself grew to manhood, left the carpenter’s bench and went off into the Jordan Valley where he was baptized by John. And so His story of ministry began. So it was that John the Baptist’s message was “Repent,” a message that is sometimes misunderstood. Continue reading
- To Know God! - To Know God! Several months ago, Oswald Chambers’ devotional started with this: “We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there.” I know that we all have those moments that we treasure, remembrances we call to mind and find that sense of amazement is still fresh. Maybe it was a sunset, or a special event in your life, an unexpected grace that just astounded you. Why is that? I believe it is the Glory of God being revealed to us and through all of creation. Continue reading
- Getting Our Steps In - Getting Our Steps In: Yesterday I got over 4500 steps in before 11 a.m.. Two or three times a week I’m at the fitness center where one of my gauges are those steps. As we read through scripture, there's a lot of ‘walking’ being done and in my crazy sense of human humor, I wonder how many steps they recorded daily? Is that sacrilegious? Then I got serious and thought that maybe ‘steps’ is not a bad way to think about our walk with the Lord. Maybe our conversation with God at the end of the day should be a review of those times when we chose steps that took us away from the will of God. Continue reading
