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- Are You Brave Enough? - Are You Brave Enough? Have you heard of a program of Christian disciplines entitled “Wanted: 10 Brave Christians”? The program originated in 1963 in a Methodist Church in Florida. I believe that since that time thousands of lives in churches across the country have been enhanced by the power of this simple set of five disciplines. The five disciplines are simple and understandable. Just stating the disciplines doesn’t really tell the story. There is so much more to each of the five disciplines, so, over the next three Watchwords, I will elaborate on each of disciplines. I urge you to prayerfully consider each one, but be careful, commit to this experiment and your life may never be the same! Continue reading
- No Christ? Know Christ! - Know Christ: I’ve heard from some good friends of Watchwords, that questioned a statement I made in yesterday’s Watchword meditation, entitled ‘Elephant in the Room’. Here are the introductory sentences that caused the question to be raised, appropriately so: “As Christians, we know that we should not be afraid to share our experience of faith and the gospel. People will not know about Christ by how we live our lives. It is important that we talk and proclaim the good news.” If we don’t talk about the role that Christ plays in the conduct of our lives, then the whole cause and effect is lost. Christ is the cause for the way we live our lives, but if that is hidden by our own shyness or unwillingness to speak it, the moment is lost. Continue reading
- Elephant in the Room - Elephant in the Room: As Christians, we know that we should not be afraid to share our experience of faith and the gospel. People will not know about Christ by how we live our lives. It is important that we talk and proclaim the good news. We don’t always have the right words in any given circumstance. There are times when we know that what we know is going to lift that person beyond the cares and concerns they are experience. That is where our faith must carry us. We need to be God’s workers on earth and help bring people to the truth. Maybe God has put you in that same position in the past, or perhaps he will be leading you into a similar conversation. Continue reading
- A Heart of Joy - A Heart of Joy: Ever have your heart so full of joy that it seems you can’t stop singing, or humming or even dancing? You want to shout, “I feel goooood!” You can say that you were happy, but it’s more than that, far more than that.The Psalmist tells us to sing to the Lord a new song. The level of joy you experience is completely and totally up to you. It is not dependent on anyone else -- what they do or don’t do, how they behave or don’t behave. We can’t make joy happen by our puny actions. Joy is not dependent on the sadness or suffering or grief or other difficulties that you may endure. Not to belabor the point, but I believe that the amount of joy that you experience at any given time, in any given day, is the exact amount that you chose to experience. Continue reading
- Bread from Heaven - Bread from Heaven: Lisa Samara has a meditation in Our Daily Bread entitled Food from Heaven, where she tells about an unusual happening in August 2020. “Residents of Olten, Switzerland, were startled to find that it was snowing chocolate! A malfunction in the ventilation system of the local chocolate factory had caused chocolate particles to be diffused into the air. As a result, a dusting of edible chocolate flakes covered cars and streets and made the whole town smell like a candy store!” That event may cause you to think of God providing manna to the Israelites. I call your attention to another bread event, this time with Jesus on the hillside, outside of Bethsaida Syria. You know the story, a crowd had gathered for a number of days and now they were hungry, and they were out of options. Jesus miraculously provided real bread for the large crowd. Continue reading
- Game of Integrity - Game of Integrity: Many years ago, I was asked to be part of a four-some, playing in a charity golf tournament out of town. We are having a lot of fun on a beautiful golf course, and thoroughly enjoying the event. Then, something happened. On a particularly difficult hole, I hit a most unusual shot, ... First Tee is a marvelous program for young golfers. You learn about the game, you receive instruction, and you learn about the pillars of the game, especially, integrity. You learn that without honesty, it is no longer a game. Integrity, in golf, in running, in life, means something. Continue reading
- The Power of Forgiveness - The Power of Forgiveness: On a Monday morning in October, 2006, Charles Roberts, age 32, married with two small children, forced his way into the West Nickel Mines Amish School in rural Lancaster County, PA, and shot 10 children, five of whom died. He then killed himself. That was not the end of the story. Shortly after, the Amish women of Lancaster County, reached out to the widow and her children, providing comfort, support and friendship. Forgiveness under most difficult circumstances. Now we have a similar tragedy. There is power in forgiveness. It is called love. It is an acting out of Christ’s command to “love others as I have loved you.” We forgive others because we have been forgiven of our great and repeated sins by our God. Continue reading
- The Many Faces of Jesus – II - The Many Faces of Jesus - II: Throughout the Bible, the emotions of Jesus are reflected in multiple passages, Old Testament and New Testament, the full catalog of emotions that we all have experienced. In Deuteronomy, he is said to be angry. We see Him moved to compassion/pity in Judges (2:18). He is at one time “brokenhearted” (Genesis 6:6), and another rejoicing with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). In Matthew and in Luke, we see Jesus experiencing compassion. His anger is recorded in John, and Luke describes in detail Jesus’ agony to the point where His sweat was like drops of blood. Continue reading
- The Many Faces of Jesus I - The Many Faces of Jesus - I : Many years ago, my pastor introduced a picture of Jesus. It was a wonderful and beautiful picture of Jesus laughing out loud. Jesus’ mouth is partly open, his eyes are clearly sparkling with merriment, and the crinkles around His eyes communicates that he has found something hilarious that the only way he can express it is to simply laugh out loud. The picture belies so much of what may have been imprinted in our minds about Jesus. He is called “a man of sorrows” in Isaiah. We see Jesus portrayed as rather stoic and unemotional, and yet the Scriptures tells us otherwise. Continue reading
- The Roads We Travel - The Roads We Travel: Oak Creek Canyon scenic drive, Arizona State Road 89A is one of the most beautiful and scary roads in the US. Approximately 24 miles between Flagstaff and Sedona, a change in elevation of 4,500 feet. That doesn’t quite tell the story. Most of that change in elevation is in the first 19 miles or so. If you do the math, the grade is STEEP! Continue reading
- The Holy Spirit – A True Friend? - The Holy Spirit – A True Friend? Some final thoughts on the Holy Spirit. We already mentioned that the Gift of the Holy Spirit is an amazing and powerful presence, all to the advantage for those who believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, it dwells within us and it will never leave us. The question we may have is, how do we communicate, one to another, like a true friend? The question of communication still remains. My answer may be too simplistic, but how do you communicate with close friends? In a mindset that tells us this friend, this Holy Spirit, is always listening, and is communicating with us. Our role is to listen to what the holy spirit is saying to us, and to interact. Continue reading
- The Helper/Holy Spirit - The Helper/Holy Spirit: In various versions of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is referred to by multiple names or titles. The Message calls Him “The Friend”. King James refers to “the Comforter”. The New Living Translation calls the Holy Spirit “The Advocate.” Regardless of the name used, the work of the Holy Spirit is consistent throughout the Bible: The Holy Spirit will remind you of everything Jesus has taught, and will instruct you about everything you need. Not only that, but we have God’s promise that the Holy Spirit will never leave us. Continue reading
- The Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit: Do you recall the first time you heard the words, Triune God? Or, The Father, The Son, the Holy Spirit? I know that I probably heard all of that long before I really processed the meaning, or concept of a Triune God. From an early age, I knew about God, the Father, and I had been told story after story of Jesus, the Son. But, those were separate entities. The whole idea of the Holy Spirit was beyond me. It sounded scary, ghost-like, and when it was sometimes called the Holy Ghost, well, that was just too much for my young mind to grasp. We begin to understand the purpose and power of the Holy Spirit by listening in on Jesus’ teaching of His disciples just hours before He knows He will be put to death. He wants to comfort them, but he also wants to give them (and us) important information. He begins with this: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. I am going away, but I will come back.” Continue reading
- Classic Story Line - Classic Story Line: Three or four years ago, when I first got the bug to write Christian fiction, I added Christopher Booker’s remarkable book, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, to my Kindle, and, at one time, I actually read it, and retained some. Recently, when reviewing the story of Joseph, found in Genesis Chapters 37– 50, it occurred to me that that storyline is classic. Joseph's story is a big, complicated one, but it is God’s story, and it achieves the purpose and goal that God had set. We are characters in God’s story. Sometimes we forget how big and inclusive is our God. We have no idea what may happen to us tomorrow, what may unfold, and present challenges to us. We can, however, cling to the fact that we are loved by God, and, through our faith, have been adopted as children of the Most High. Continue reading
- Friday the 13th! - Friday the 13th! Are you superstitious? Do you think Friday the 13th is unlucky? How do you feel about black cats crossing your path? Sometimes when we read scripture we miss the point. Sometimes in the midst of a powerful God moment, we do not see the movement of the Holy Spirit, we do not see the grace that is present in that moment. We go through our days, often completely unaware that the Holy Spirit is at work within us, each moment of that day, if we will but pay attention. Continue reading
- Beyond Our Understanding - Beyond Our Understanding: A week before Christmas, it is cold and snow is accumulating on the streets and sidewalks of Chicago, when I heard the voice of God say: “Help him!” God spoke to me that day, sounding a lot like my wife, and a lesson was learned. My reach needed to exceed my grasp. Or, said a different way, my actions needed to exceed my understanding of what I was called upon to do at a specific moment. Do not fear what this day, or any day, may bring your way. Be attuned to the Voice of the Holy Spirit. Concentrate on trusting him and doing what needs to be done. Continue reading
- Revisiting Grief - Revisiting Grief: In the past six weeks, my family has experienced the deaths, funerals or memorial services of four cherished loved ones. I believe in God and I believe in His promise of eternal life, and that we will be with our loved ones who are waiting in “the next room”, as was pointed out to me in the freshness of my own grief. Over these weeks, I have prayed that all those who are affected by the loss of a loved one, share that faith and belief. To have that blessed assurance is such a light at a time when all around is darkness and sadness. Continue reading
- Is Our God Too Small? - Is Our God Too Small? There is a conversation between the “woman at the well” and Jesus that I wonder how the woman's mind-set is so like our own: The woman sees Jesus as a man that showed up at an unusual time and place and she saw no deity, just flesh and blood, and limitations. J.B.Phillips in his book entitled “Your God’s Too Small” makes a strong case that we, like that woman, underestimate the power and love of God. It is not only that we see and define Him by human terms, it’s a fact that our human minds cannot encompass and grasp the vastness that is God. Continue reading
- Time for Silliness - Time for Silliness: I am willing to expose my lack of knowledge of parts of speech in the interest of being silly, or maybe to make a point. I am going to ask a question, and ask you not to google the answer, or consult your dictionary, or ask some tweedy professor of English. Here it is: What, precisely, is a participle? There is a point to this silliness. There are so many things in these lives of ours that we could not explain or define, yet, we act on them, we live with them, or we grow because of them, and we are thankful. Sometimes developments in our lives are a mystery, a happening we cannot explain. A sudden unexpected healing, we hesitate to call it a ‘miracle’ because we took some medicine and we reasoned that was why we healed. When we don’t understand, he is there to open our minds. When we don’t know what to do, he opens our hearts and our eyes. Continue reading
- Cinco de Mayo! - Cinco de Mayo, everybody! Time to celebrate! Drink up! Oh, what are we celebrating? Nothing, really. This is the day celebrated by bartenders everywhere! The distilleries are alive with music. Some believe that we celebrate Mexican independence, but, no. That is in September. Then what? The Virgin Mary? No. How about Kahlo? Or Hidalgo? Juarez? What then? Tequila! Drink up! Is that a false holiday? Maybe, depends of how you look at it. Maybe celebrating a day, any day, is a good thing. Which is more important? The day, or the celebration? Continue reading
