Archive

Looking for an earlier Watchword?

• I’m No Giraffe! - I’m No Giraffe! I’ve been thinking about God’s plan for each of our lives and how that plan doesn’t always run smoothly and the way we want it to. Sometimes the stumbling blocks get in our way and we have to adjust, change, alter our plan. We pray our way to the hospital in the ambulance, but we do pray our way back home in the car after we are healed? Are we consistent in our prayer-life, in good times and not so good? Pastor Gary Richmond related an experience he had when visiting a zoo. He was standing next to Jack, the zookeeper, at a time when a giraffe was giving birth, and witnessed an amazing interaction between mother and her newborn. There was the mother giraffe, standing while giving birth. The calf’s hooves and head were already visible. “When is she going to lie down?” Gary asked Jack. “She won’t,” he answered. “But that’s a [ten foot drop to the] ground! Isn’t anyone going to catch the calf?” “Try catching it if you want,” Jack responded, “but its mother has enough strength in her hind legs to kick your head off.” “I’m good,” the Lord says, “on the tough stuff, but I’m also good on the easy stuff. Keep me close. Continue reading
• If My People… - If My People… We are a nation founded in our trust of God, and we are a nation, like the Israelites before, that have created distance between God and what we are all about. While a National Day of Prayer, by itself, is a good thing, it does seem to be a symptom of how far we have strayed in our relation with God. Do we need the reminder to pray? Probably. Did it take a war in Europe and the threat to our freedom to bring us to prayer? It did. While we missed in-church worship, I would venture a guess that our prayer-quotient jumped as we came to realize the seriousness of the pandemic. Continue reading
• We Must Decrease - We Must Decrease: John is answering his worried disciples that everything he had was given by God, a gift. Even they, who followed John, likewise, were gifts from God and as gifts, they had a purpose, for which they should be grateful. John knew who he was, he was not the Christ. He tried to make that clear. In the Jewish wedding customs of that day, the friend of the bridegroom was like a combination of best man and wedding planner, they arranged everything, and wanted no attention. John saw his role was to bring two people together; Christ and His bride, you and me, and all believers. In our societal mind set we think we know what a bridegroom is but in Biblical terms, it means that Jesus is God. In the Old Testament, it was only Yahweh who was the husband of Israel, and John knew that very well. Continue reading
• Parakletos and the Last Supper - Parakletos and the Last Supper: The scene is an upper room, on a dusty side street of Jerusalem. The buffet is spread, and the disciples have gathered, along with Jesus. This is what we call the Last Supper, the day before His betrayal and crucifixion. He knows what is about to happen, but the disciples do not. They are aware of the tension directed toward their Master, but are truly not prepared for tomorrow,  one of the worst days of their lives. Jesus speaks -- “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going. 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:1-6 Continue reading
• The Life… - The Life... We have considered "The Way" and "The Truth" in the previous two Watchwords, now it is time for a perspective on The Life. What does it mean to be given your life as a reward, as promised in the Jeremiah prophecy? Is that an easy question? I think it is for those who have surrendered their life to Jesus and feel the power of His peace.We do tend to worry about silly things, such as food, clothing, drink and that other "most important" factor, what other people think about us. These are the things that take us away from the blessings of our Lord. We whine, we are impatient, we display lack of trust in God, all because we do not see the graces that abound in our lives, and rejoice in them.Have you ever considered that salvation is more about the life you are living now than about life eternal. Continue reading
• The Truth… - The Truth… One can believe all of the right things and still be quite unaffected, untransformed by that belief. But what we “love”, shapes our lives and has great power to transform. Marcus Borg, in his book Convictions, makes the statement that “The Bible can be true without being literally true.” Think about that. In your Christian walk, in your core faith and belief in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, these things do not depend on elements being literally true, only that you have committed to those elements. Let me ask you a question: Do you believe all the stories in the Bible?  Careful, now, it's not a trick question. Let me ask it a different way: When did you begin to realize that the truth of those Bible stories does not depend on facts? Continue reading
• The Way… - The Way… Put yourself in the sandals of Peter, John, Barnabas, etc., as they witnessed the resurrection and felt the infilling of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. With those two happenings, the whole movement of following Christ took on new meaning. It seems reasonable to assume that use of the term “The Way”, as spoken first by Jesus, was the reason that early Christians adopted it as reference to the teachings of Jesus as well as the gatherings of followers of Christ. The growth of The Way posed a threat to both Rome and the hierarchy of Judaism. “The Way” as an identifier stuck until Barnabas returned to his home region of Syria and established a gathering of The Way in  Antioch. It was there, as the church grew, attracting Jews, Greeks and Gentiles, that they chose “Christian” as an inclusive term in reference to individual believers, Continue reading
• Praise God - Praise God: Years ago, when I was in my second or third year as a volunteer at Heifer International Learning Center in Arkansas, I struck up a conversation with another volunteer who was in her second week at the Ranch, working with livestock.  She was a recent veterinary medicine graduate from a Texas university, and was doing an internship at the Ranch. Early one morning, I had come to the Show Barn to assist with bottle-feeding baby lambs and goats.  She was sitting in a stall on a hay bale, in the posture of prayer.  As I started to move on she looked up, smiled at me and greeted me with a “good morning”. Then, as if to explain, she said I was just talking to God, telling him how very grateful she was for being here at the Ranch, working with a wonderful corps of volunteers.  I smiled and acknowledged her comment with a "God bless your day", and then moved on to my own chores. But I was curious about this young lady.   Continue reading
• I Can Only Imagine - I Can Only Imagine: Barabbas stood on a sand dune, high above the shore, and watched a fisherman bring his boat onto the beach...John had said that Peter would be coming ashore soon. He watched as the man pulled his boat onto the sand, carefully spread his nets to dry, then started walking toward a group gathered around a fire on the beach. He saw that one of the men was John, then he recognized another man, a man he had last seen dying on a cross. Oh, my Lord, he thought, it was Jesus! He is alive! He is not a spirit; he is a real person. Barabbas dropped to his knees and wept. Through his tears, he saw that Peter, too, was kneeling, and he seemed to be crying. Then Jesus stepped close, touched Peter’s shoulder, and the two stood together. The Resurrection stood before them, but could they even think about that? Continue reading
• Hitting the Wrong Button! - Hitting the Wrong Button: Whoops!  Not that long ago, I included in a Watchword a “whoops” and a “I’m sorry”. For some reason, neither I nor my tech advisor could figure this out: Why did an incomplete Watchword, scheduled for a Saturday, go out, prematurely, on Tuesday in an unfinished state? Even when we tried to make the correction, something else happened, and another Watchword was sent on a Wednesday. Well, the two errors are related, but we still don’t know why. So, we move on! I suppose we could’ve hit the wrong button. Chances are that the “whoops” that happen in our lives are of our own choosing. Maybe we let our tongue proceed ahead of our brain and we say the wrong thing?  Maybe the “whoops” cause us to pause and think. Continue reading
• I Am Who I Am - I Am Who I Am: Heaven forbid that I should ever question God. If He tells Abraham, and you and I, that His name is I am, then that’s His name. It sounds like an incomplete statement to these human ears of ours, and yet in Exodus the name stands alone, with almighty, all-inclusive power. When we get into the book of John, we see some specific references and it helps us understand, point by point. In John 6:35 we read I Am the Bread of Life. In this passage, Jesus is making the point that material things, such as wealth or bread, things held in the hand, is not what people should seek after. The people need to put their confidence in Jesus, and all that He stood for, instead of in material things. In that same chapter, Jesus makes the clear point that just as bread is necessary to sustain physical life, so Jesus is necessary for spiritual and eternal life. As we read on through John, we see I Am references repeated, time and time again Continue reading
• The Final Say - Guilty or innocent? In recent months, we have been exposed to multiple court trials because of violence within our society. The killings, even accidentally, have dominated the news cycles and we have struggled with how do we change the tone and atmosphere of our society, and return to what we seem to remember as a more peaceful, calm, and innocent time in our nation’s history. But all of this court news is not new. Judging and being judged has been going on since creation. Even the act of harming others is not new under the sun. When we dwell too much on the violence, on judging, on court trials, etc., the core of our Christian faith is shaken, and somehow the truth that God is in charge, and that he loves us dearly, may get lost in the shuffle. Dear ones, never lose sight of who has The Final Say. Continue reading
• In All Your Ways Know Him - In All Your Ways Know Him: I venture to say that Proverbs 3:5-6 is on the list of favored Bible passages for many people. We can recite them by rote, without thinking. And that may very well be the problem, that “even without thinking” thing. King James version uses the phrase in all thy ways acknowledge Him, while the New Living Translation has seek his will in all you do. Another version has in all your ways know Him. How do we read and digest God’s Word? Do we acknowledge Him, seek Him, know Him? I mean, intentionally, in ALL our ways? Is that too big a lift for us? Then, along comes the Apostle Paul, walking down the road, whistling a happy tune and telling us to pray continually or unceasingly, and some of us respond by saying, “I pray by the way I live my life”. Lord help us! But, what does it mean to pray without stopping?  This morning, in my conversation with my Lord, as I sat there holding my prayer list, it occurred to me, thickheaded as I am, that my God knows every single one on that list Continue reading
• Do You Believe that Christ has Risen? - Do You Believe that Christ has Risen? I know that seems like a pretty obvious question to raise during this season of Easter, but there may be more to the question then what the words seem to suggest. Do you have any element of doubt in your faith walk? There is that word, "doubt", which calls to mind Thomas. Thomas was #12 on the list of the original apostles. The 12th man, sounds like the crowd at a football game, not in the game but witness to the game. He was a follower, a witness to Jesus’ ministry. He was present at the raising of Lazarus. In the Upper Room, he was the one who wanted to know the way where Jesus was going, and had the temerity to ask. From what we know about Thomas, he was a pessimist, and a man bewildered by his witness of Jesus’ ministry. He was a man who could not believe until he had seen, yet, he was a man of courage. He was a man of devotion and of faith. Continue reading
• Giving – A God Thing? - Giving – A God Thing? What goes through your mind when your church council hands out the “Pledge Cards” on Stewardship Sunday? The treasurer goes through the budget for the coming year and you note that your church is going to carry over a surplus or, heaven forbid, ends of the year in the red.  Either way, surplus or deficit, do you factor that into your decision? So, rather than cause any of you discomfort, let me make it personal. What goes through MY mind as I look at the card in my hand and try to figure out what can we afford? Can we tithe? Let’s see, we are planning this vacation trip to California and we have been asked to join a group cruise. Maybe we should cut back a little on our giving. That is not right. Ah, what to do. Sigh. Can you relate? Continue reading
• God of All Things - God of All Things: I just finished a hard read, a difficult read, and I slogged through to the end because I had read so many of Kirstin Hannah’s books that I had found spell-binding. So, I wadded through. This one, The Four Winds, was different. As I said, it was a hard read, which at time caused me to feel depressed. I would call it a detailed study on the tragic period in our country’s history called the Dust Bowl. It was a time so bad that it caused many to turn from God, a God that, in their minds, had deserted them.  I won’t tell you how it ends, except to say that love wins. In a recent Jesus Calling, we read: “Trust Me in every detail of your life. Nothing is random in My kingdom. Everything that happens fits into a pattern for good, to those who love Me.” This is a hard lesson, Lord, when we are enduring adversity and loss. Bringing ourselves to say “Thank you, Lord” during those times takes such a commitment and grit. Yet, we know that we can do all things through You, Lord, who will give us strength. Continue reading
• The Fix Was in, or Was It? - The Fix Was in, or Was It? Matthew 28:11-15 reads like notes for a cheap crime novel. The mob bosses bribe the guards with money and death threats, forcing them to tell a lie about what they had seen.  The story now set, the cover-up is in place, proving the lie and eliminating the threat that the man posed to their life of crime. The guards take the money and disappear, and with smugness, that belies their motives, they smile and recline on their comfortable couches, safe from the threat. Yes, those guards were no longer a problem.  But, as the day’s pass, other witnesses come forth. First, just a few, then more and more. Soon there are more than five hundred witnesses, throughout the country, testify to the truth, and the threat returns. What will they do? The plan of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin: Stick with the story and never waiver. And they do, and yet...But wait.  What about the guards?  Had they seen what Mary Magdalene saw? Of course, they saw that the stone was rolled away. Had they heard what the angel said?  They had seen Jesus, alive! Continue reading
• Who Are the Least of These? - Who Are the Least of These? The least of these?  Now wait, just a dang gone minute! Who are you calling “least of these”?  That sounds like a putdown to me. I am not one of those “least”! Would you want to be a “least of these”? How would that make you feel? Like a failure, like a sinner, like one that doesn’t measure up, that’s how! Just calm down. I think you are missing the point. Remember, this is Jesus teaching, and while He does use the phrase “least of these”, it is for a reason. He also uses sheep and goats, and that is also for a reason. I learned a lot of things during my years as a volunteer at Heifer International Learning Center at the Ranch in Arkansas. One of the things I learned was the difference between sheep and goats. At the Ranch, we dealt mainly with babies. From a distance is almost impossible to tell a sheep from a goat when their babies, and the only visible difference is that a lamb’s tail stands up, while a goat kid’s tail lays down. However, it would not take you long to also discover that the temperament of a lamb is so much more docile and calm than the temperament of the kid.  It was because of this difference in temperament that sheep and goats were separated. Continue reading
• Touching the Face of God - Touching the Face of God: Have you been to the Sistine Chapel? It is a stunning experience. It was not what I expected. The room itself is long and narrow with a vaulted ceiling filled with frescos, high above the floor. The lighting is dim in order to protect the famous paintings. You are cautioned, as you enter, to maintain silence, and your time in the chapel is limited. The overall impression is reverent and breathtaking. Without sounding like a Vatican guide, you are looking up at approximately fifty-three individual frescos, each one depicting Old Testament characters or events. In the center of the ceiling is the iconic scene that most of us think of when Sistine Chapel is mentioned: God Creates Man. We see two muscular figures, with God, minimally clad, reclining, reaching His hand down, to naked Man reaching up. The two did not touch, though Man is trying. Continue reading
• A Faith Thought Reprised - A Faith Thought Reprised: A year ago, in a Watchword, I shared a faith story from India, about a man who rushed up to a Monk who was passing through his village and said to him, Give it to me!  The Monk replied, Give you what?  What you have in your pack!  Last night I had a dream and in the dream God instructed me to ask the first monk I see walking through the village to give me the precious gift he carried. So give it to me! “Oh, you must mean this”, said the Monk, reaching into his pack. “I found it during a walk in the forest.” He pulled out the largest diamond the man had ever seen. It was huge and sparkled brightly in the morning sun. Well, the man was ecstatic. That diamond represented wealth. He ran home, happy beyond words. That night he found it impossible to sleep. He tossed and turned. The next day he ran after the Monk. Here, take this back, he said handing him the diamond. Instead give me the precious gift that you have, the one that permits you to give to me so freely. That is the real treasure. Continue reading