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- The Advent of Advent - Advent: "The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I believe that Bonhoeffer was an exceptional theologian and Pastor, and a man of great courage and depth. So much of his writings have broadened my understanding of Christianity. But his statement on Advent, well, I don’t know exactly what to do with it, or to fully understand it. Continue reading
- Borrowed Thoughts on Thankfulness - Borrowed Thoughts on Gratitude: Invocation by A. W. Tozer -- Arise, O Lord into Your proper place of honor, above our ambitions, above our likes and dislikes, above even the family, and our health, even above our lives. Let us decrease that You may increase, let us sink that You may rise above. Ride forth upon us as You did ride into Jerusalem mounted on a humble donkey and let us hear the little children cry to You, “Hosanna in the highest”. Amen. Continue reading
- A Day of Thanks - A Day of Thanks: Don’t miss the question. 17 Jesus asked, “Has no one returned to give glory to God? The German mystic and philosopher, Meister Eckhert, once wrote: “If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that will suffice.” I think we underestimate the importance of the ‘thank you’. The acknowledgment of a gift given, assistance provided, support extended, or simply friendship that has no qualifications, it’s just always there. Continue reading
- God of All Grace - God of All Grace: How do you view God? Is he the God that is always there? Is he the God that never leaves you? Is he the God that leads you by his strong right hand? In other words, is he the God of the here and now and forever? I wonder if we spend so much of our time with God, concentrating on the grace of eternal life in our worship, through scripture readings, communion, and offering prayers, while we ignore the frequent moments of our every day life, filled with graces that floats to us through our faith in Jesus Christ? Gods graces not only carries us into eternal life, a future orientation, but also prepares us, matures us, and strengthens us to meet today’s challenges, sorrows, and pains. Continue reading
- Made to Worship - Made to Worship: Who is worthy of your worship? Who receives your worship? If we follow the trail of where we spend our money and time, we likely arrive at a few things we worship. Where does this trail lead you? Perhaps things show up like entertainment, achievement, technology, clothing or food. Any of these things can become “the forbidden fruit” of our relationship with God. It is how we use the innovations of our time and the gifts of the Holy Spirit that speaks to whether we are enslaved to them as idols, or a slave to Christ. God is able to use all these tools for his glory, and he has chosen to do it through our hearts that are surrendered to Jesus. The Internet cannot atone for your sins. The credentials you hold do not qualify you for grace. Worship Christ, he alone is worthy. Continue reading
- A 40-Day Fast? - A 40-Day Fast?: What an interesting topic, and just a week before Thanksgiving. Have you ever been on a fast, a true fast? You know, multiple days with no solid food, only liquids. Jesus’ Ministry begins with 40 days in the Judean wilderness, a vast grassland.His time in the wilderness is a time of searching. He knows that he has a special, God-given purpose.Here in this desolate place he is tempted by Satan. The magnitude of 40 days without food brought him to a point where Satan tempted him to use his power to find something to eat, turn these stones into bread. He answered the temptation with “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” Continue reading
- Never Give Up - Never Give Up: Without dredging up some of the less comfortable thoughts and feelings that we had during our time deep in the recesses of the pandemic, I think we would agree that we learned some things from that experience. Maybe we now place a higher value on social interaction, or perhaps we learned something about pacing ourselves, and considering the welfare of others. Somehow, despite what we have learned, our tendency is still to push ahead on our own limited strengths, and, when our reserves are exhausted, only then will we trust God. Often it is the dark times of our lives that brings us to the door where Jesus stands, waiting... Continue reading
- Ice Cream and Faith - Ice Cream and Faith: When I was a child, it seemed that the only time we would have ice cream would be on birthdays. It was like a ritual. Father would leave on a ‘mystery errand’ to Isalys Ice Creamery, down the hill in Steubenville, OH. And, in truth, even though we knew, it was a surprise because we rarely had ice cream, that first taste was a surprise! Taste and see that the Lord is good happens to each us along this road of faith that we follow, in the footsteps of the Carpenter/Lord. Maybe that first amazing taste of radiant joy came when we first met Jesus the Christ in the midst of a born-again experience and realized that we were cleansed, and our sins forgiven. Maybe your first taste came during a Curisillo weekend, and you left those few days walking on air. Continue reading
- Fear of The Lord - Fear of The Lord: Do you threads running through must of New Testament scripture? The presence of the Holy Spirit in each of us, the reassurance, the need to fear God in the sense of reverencing Him, and finally, I am with you always… We each have concerns about the future and too often those 'concerns' turn into fear and worry. It is easy to love the God that saves us, but much harder to trust God who asks us to undertake the difficult. To follow commands that raise the standards to our Christian life, that expresses expectations that take us out of our comfort zone and puts us on the high ledge where God says, “Come, follow me.” Continue reading
- Spelling Mistakes - Spelling Mistakes: The Christian church does not have a good track record with our own “spelling mistakes”. You might call it “majoring in minors”, but one only must look at the nearly 50,000+ different "flavors" of Christianity scattered around the world, splinters of the church of Jesus Christ, that have broken out because of the color of carpet, the naming of a room, the matter of baptism, and who is able to take communion, and how. Too often the church is seen as a political action group or has only a singular purpose to worship the Lord in strict religious ceremonies, rather than get hands dirty, by being led by the Holy Spirit. Step outside the church. Think of yourself as a child of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the singular purpose God has given you, personally. Continue reading
- Where’s the Hope? - Where's the Hope? Paul reminds us that though we may be at the end of our rope, we are never at the end of hope! Our perishable bodies are subject to sin and suffering, but God never abandons us. Hoping in God does not come naturally for sinners like us. We must tell ourselves every day, preach it to ourselves forcefully, or we risk losing the Joy of the Lord each day, and give way to worry and a disquieted spirit. Again, God never abandons us. That is the foundation of our hope. Praise the Lord! Continue reading
- Embracing Trouble - Embracing Trouble: I am going to prepare a place for you: Love prepares a welcome. With love, expectant parents prepare a room for the baby. With love, the hostess prepares for her guests. Jesus prepares a place for His people because He loves them and is confident of their arrival. Jesus tells the disciples (and us) “I am going…”, referring to His own planning and initiative. He wasn’t taken to the cross; He went there. The disciples thought that His death was an unforeseen calamity. Christ taught them that it was the path of His own planning. But, His disciples still felt His departure like torture. And it was then that He consoled them with the simple and glorious “You believe in God, believe also in Me”. Continue reading
- Setting Myself Aside - Setting Myself Aside: How about this -- In the book of John Jesus tells us “A new covenant I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” I wonder if anyone could love as He loves us without Him in our lives. Think about it, unless we have an intimate relationship with Jesus, I mean every day and every day, how can we possibly understand the fullness of what he is asking us, no, commanding us to do. That would be practice, practice, practice. Continue reading
- Is God in My Pumpkin? - Is God in My Pumpkin? Stan Ott is a long-time Presbyterian pastor. Years ago, I attended a conference where Stan was one of the speakers, he told a little story about a time, during the Halloween season, when his three-year-old daughter interrupted his early morning meditation time. He invited his daughter onto his lap, and explained to her that she would need to be quiet, but she could talk to God if she liked. The child remained in thoughtful silence for a time, then whispered, "Is God here?” Yes, Stan replied, God is here. Then after a period of silence, she whispered, “Is God everywhere?” Yes, God is everywhere. Another a period of silence, then she whispered again, “Is God in my pumpkin”. How about you? With all the blessings that God provides, where is God in all you do? Is God in your pumpkin? Continue reading
- Is Talking with God, Prayer? - Is Talking with God Prayer? Nearly every morning, in the early hours, I sit in my “prayer chair”, my coffee cup full, my simple thank you, Lord, on my lips, and I begin my time with God. In my prayerful imagination, I see the creator of everything sitting across from me, and I talk to him as I would talk to a friend. Sometime during this sacred time I begin to truly know that this is the Day the Lord has made, my meeting with him was not a chance occurrence. He reassured me that he is present with me whether I feel it or not. Continue reading
- Prayer - Prayer: What is prayer? Think about that. Do we turn to prayer as a last resort? Do we pray only when circumstances are crushing us down? Or do you pray about nearly everything in your life? Do you think we treat praying during the course of a worship service as serious? Often it feels like the Lord’s Prayer is something we simply recite because we have it committed to memory. Before the pandemic, we used to hold hands. I don't think that's necessary, but I do see prayer as both communal, a shared fellowship communication with God, and as personal, a private, interaction between me and my Creator God. Continue reading
- Prayer Is Absurd! - Prayer Is Absurd! Oswald Chambers in one of his recent devotionals tells us that we have to know that prayer is foolish from the common sense, human point of view. We can’t prove it has any real purpose, nor can we prove that prayer had any direct impact when gauged by human thought. It is only through our faith and belief that we trust in the importance of prayer. When we are told by Jesus to go and make disciples, the meaning is clear; we are to go and live our lives according to his commands. We can only do that when we keep close communication with God through prayer. I believe we are underestimate the power of prayer. Continue reading
- Chasing the Wind - Chasing the Wind: The Ecclesiastes passage is a bit depressing, until you get to the clincher at the end. And, I suppose, we could look at some things in our lives that have been pretty much drudgery, i.e., a chasing after the wind. That would include down times, those times when things were not going our way, when all of life seemed to be an uphill climb. I think if we were being totally honest with ourselves we could look back on our lives and realize that the joy that we remember was all part of the journey. It wasn’t so much the rewards, the material things, it was the joy that came with the gifts God has given. Continue reading
- ‘oft gang agley… - ‘oft gang agley…: In Robert Burns' prose, he makes this interesting Gaelic observation: "The best laid schemes of mice o’ men ‘gang oft agley’." I think many of our best laid plans ‘oft gang agley’, not quite the way we wanted them, but the way God redirected the events of our lives. Is it ever too late to follow a thought, an inspiration, a dream? How about those ideas that are thrust before your eyes from unexpected places, or even from expected, but surprising places? Then along comes the whispered voice of my faith and asks a question that throws me off: What does it mean to obey God? Continue reading
- New Normal? - New Normal? The Lord speaks to us: Today I want you to take a deep breath and consider a better way. My Word will give you the answers you need. Realize that a spirit of quietness and confidence only comes when you stop and focus on Me. A New Normal? Too often that phrase seems to apply to things changing in your life from good to bad. Sometimes that ‘New Normal’ is a choice, a decision that one makes because of something or someone has entered our lives. Be honest, we may call it a 'new normal' but the reality is that we are in a constant state of change and it isn't all bad. Maybe our ability to appreciate little things is clearer as we age, value friendships more, or, as the song says, we love deeper. Somewhere in our personal sphere we realize that God is doing a good work in you and me. Continue reading
