Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- An Invisible Presence - An Invisible Presence: In a back issue of The Evangel, a publication of the Association of Lutheran Churches, there is an article by James Hoefer, entitled The Invisible Enemy. We may immediately think of the pandemic and how it upended our lives and created changes in our usually socialized existence. It would be hard to argue about that. In his article, Dr. Hoefer speaks of the power of darkness. He makes this statement: “But a deeper dive into the Biblical portrayal brings some surprises! There we find that everything we see in the visible, physical realm is caused, provoked, or at least influenced by something in the invisible, spiritual realm.” Spirits? Humbug! Everything can be answered with science or our five senses. Everything! Really? How about, who you are? Or, science? Why are you here, reading this? Continue reading
- Truth and Grace - Truth and Grace: Okay, you and a friend are having a conversation about Heaven. Your friend thinks he will be surprised to see who is there. You reply, with a smile, that they may be more surprised to see you. That kind of the conversation is lighthearted and with much good humor. There is a degree of truth in that exchange. In the midst of that conversation someone might wonder, isn’t it strange that God would send people to hell. Oh, I have a couple of candidates to nominate for that trip. The better question might be, how could God send sinful people to Heaven? On matters of truth and grace, it occurs to me that we may not know the full definition of either one of those ideas. Continue reading
- Not as I Would, Lord - Not as I Would, Lord: This is a hard one. First, the Lord tells us that he loves us very much and calls us His children. We would all accept that, because that’s what we are. We are little children. We have our tantrums, we have our disappointments, we fret when things don’t go our way. We’ve all seen that as we’ve raised children, but now here we are one! Then the Lord goes on to tell us that if we love our mommies and our daddies more than Him we are not worthy to be His. Maybe we understand that, to a degree, but, maybe we don’t. Life goes on, and it’s not always fair. Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, reminds them, and us, that they we not their own. He tells us plainly but we don’t have a private life. We have to trust Him, for if we don’t, all of those things will become a stumbling block for us. Continue reading
- The Better Way - The Better Way: The writer of Psalm 25 moves between the need for help and thoughts of trust in God. The writer wants to know the right way to go. Who has not been lost or had to make a difficult decision? Or uncertain about which way to turn. We look for someone to help us make a right decision: a family member, a friend, Pastor, or a teacher. On most days our travel is familiar and as we move ahead with our lives, we’re on familiar ground. We stay on the known, the prescribed and paved road. Then there other days, when decisions were called for, where indecision was haunting us like a grey cloud. Walking the familiar trail is one thing, we can continue, but when we come to a path that leads away in a different direction, then what? Continue reading
- A Month of Thanks - A Month of Thanks: 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, and ‘thank you’ speaks volumes. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to think back on what we have been given … and to give something in return: thanks. Actually, “thanks” seems too small a word. Gratitude may be better. Gratitude is like a personality characteristic, it just shows up nearly all the time in all that we do. Continue reading
- Jesus Touched Him! - Jesus Touched Him: One morning I had just finished reading a devotional, when I found myself thinking about a question or maybe it was the Holy Spirit challenging me. Still a question: Do we shape biblical fact to fit our comfort, or maybe our fictional life? Or, perhaps, we leave it all to the Lord? That question came out of a conversation I had with a friend explaining the storyline of one of my earlier books, A Life for Barabbas, where I used Biblical fact on which to build the fictional story. In Barabbas, a real Biblical character, who had a notorious reputation, deserved or not, was, in effect, saved from crucifixion by Jesus. The Bible does not tell us what happened to this man after he was released from prison, but I tried to imagine what might have happened if, driven by his own inner honesty, sought to find out why he was saved and why had a good man died in his place? Are you following the Lord because you think you're following the Lord, or are you following the Lord because you have given it fully and completely to Him? Continue reading
- Deliberate and Determined - Deliberate and Determined: “Pastor, you're talking about Jesus, right? The ‘He’ you quoted from the Bible, that's Jesus. This is something I simply do not understand. I don't care how many times you preach, it makes no sense. I've not been a good person, and you don’t know the half of it. You once told me about someone who called himself the ‘chief of sinners.’ Well, I can match his record. When I was a kid, I stole from the collection plate. How about that? You should see my record at school, the times that I've cursed my teacher? How could Jesus possibly know all the sins that I have committed, then waste his life in a foolish act of forgiveness? Let alone for me. Because, you know what, I just go on sinning.” “Stan, you're absolutely right. You haven't missed a thing.Let me ask this; what is the difference between sins, and sin? Of course, sins is plural of sin. No, Stan..." Continue reading
- Doing Exceptional Things? - Doing Exceptional Things?:n Discipleship is built entirely on keeping our focus on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ, that's something altogether different. Oswald Chambers tells us “Peter walked on water to go to Jesus, but he followed him at a distance on dry land”, according to Mark 14:54. If we were honest, we don't need the grace of God to withstand our personal crises, our human nature and pride are sufficient to deal with those storms. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live 24 hours of every day as a saint, going through the drudgery of living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple.As we have grown up in the faith, somewhere along the line it became ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God, but the truth is we do not. Continue reading
- KISS: Witness - KISS: Witness: Keep It Simple Saint, you have power! Witness! Read again Acts 1:8. Does that sound like sell all we have, give to the poor, and catch the first boat to a third world country? Is that what the Lord is asking his disciples to do? Is that what we're supposed to do? The rich young ruler went away sad when he was told the same thing. How about you? I don't think that's what Jesus was asking of his disciples at all. I think we need to translate into modern speak. When we are committed to Christ, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. That will change things for us, each moment of every day, Understand that and rely on the Holy Spirit. Keep It Simple Saint, you have power to witness the Lord in your living. The 'sell all' thing has to do with the idols we set up, sometime without our thinking, that distract us from the will of God. Get rid of that stuff. Continue reading
- Come to Me - Come to Me: Remember those Billy Graham Gospel rallies, held in large auditoriums, where he preached a stirring sermon and ended with an invitation to come and receive a blessing of the Lord, and the music begins, and we hear the words that seem to require us to sing along: Just as I am without one plea, O Lamb of God I come. How hard was that for some, stirred by the words of Graham, to stand from their seats and walk down in front of all those people, to stand before the stage. I think about Andrew and his brother Simon and those others, James and John, being invited by Jesus to come follow Him. Jesus was no stranger to them, they knew him well. They had been to his house many times as Jesus began his ministry. But still, when they heard those words to come and follow. They had to know that something different, more inclusive was happening, one that required a life-changing decision before they could truly follow. Continue reading
- KISS: Be Still and Know - KISS: Be Still and Know: Many people consider Psalm 46:10 to mean rest and relax in who God is. Certainly the verse encourages believers to reflect on who God is, but there is more to this Psalm than this one verse. Verse 10 is more like a wake-up call to awesome awareness of who God is, rather than a gentle call to rest. The “more” in Psalm 46 is found in verses 1-5, which set the stage for the power of God: God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Continue reading
- Stinkin’ Thinkin’ - Stinkin’ Thinkin’: Stinkin’ thinkin’, you know what that is, it's those nasty, negative thoughts that creep into our minds and often rule our mood, and affect the decisions that we make in our life. It seems the world we're living in is all bundled up in false facts, destructive and mean speaking, and false arguments that causes us to doubt our own good sense maybe our own resolve. How much of our lives has been affected by fear and doubt that has affected our decisions, that sought another avenue around a reality that carried risk, a reality we would rather not face. I can’t help but wonder how many big things we missed in our life journey because of negative thinking, corrosive fears that caused us not to reach out, not to visit, to pass by on the other side, and failed to ‘go and do likewise’. Did we miss out on the Call of God? Continue reading
- A Pure Heart - A Pure Heart: When I was 15, I set me high school record for the half mile. Today at my age, with my health, if I walked 25 yards too quickly, I it would cause me to stop, pull out my rescue inhaler and get myself under control. medical science speaks authoritatively about our physical hearts, God speaks with even greater authority about a heart of another kind, our spiritual heart. Safeguarding our spiritual hearts will help us with our speech, compel us to be discerning with our eyes, and choose the best paths for our feet. Regardless of age or stage of life, when our hearts are guarded, our lives are preserved, our relationships are protected, and God is honored. Continue reading
- Columbus Day - Columbus Day: Christopher Columbus is a somewhat unappreciated hero today. Nonetheless, his accomplishment in history was huge. He himself said, "It was the Lord who put it into my mind to sail to the Indies. The fact that the Gospel must be preached to so many lands—that is what convinced me. Charting the seas is but a necessary requisite for the fulfillment of the Great Commission of our glorious Savior." He attempted great things for God, and he led the path for others to follow into the New World. Columbus also led daily devotions on his ship. Have you ever felt that God put something special on your heart that you should do? How did you or would you respond? “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening?” The way, the path of a follower of Christ, is often a mystery until you are on it, and it takes over your life. Continue reading
- Collect for Purity - Collect for Purity: Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. I think this is beautiful and poetic, reminiscent of scripture passages, such as Psalm 51:10, Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. Or perhaps, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8. In the Collect we see all three persons of the Trinity. Continue reading
- Seventy-Three Cents - Seventy-three Cents: Worry. A recent Watchword was entitled ‘Do Not Worry!’, an imperative. In Luke 12:29 the physician repeats Jesus’ words, “Do not worry...” Then Matthew comes along in Chapter 6:31, and tells us Jesus said, “…do not worry.” The command is repeated by both John and Mark. That would suggest that God actually said it, and He probably meant it! That means that you and I need to stop worrying! As believers in Christ we know that his divine power has given us everything we need to live these lives of ours according to his purpose for us. He has promised us that we need not worry, that we need to resist the devil knowing he will flee from us. Let's see, when we worry, are we saying we don't fully trust the Lord in that instance? Something to think about. Continue reading
- Do Not Worry! - Do Not Worry! Worry. We do, despite our Lord telling us “do not worry”, we just go right on worrying. Of course we know that some worry is not really worry, just being cautious? Right? We look both ways, twice, before driving through an intersection. We use caution on stairs. Some of us check the ‘Use by date’ on foods, just to be safe. Is all that evidence of .worry? I rather think not. In this age of viruses and flue, we take great care, get our shots, etc., all in the interest of keeping healthy. Is there a difference between worry, prudence, wisdom, and simply taking care? Of course. We, who are vulnerable due to age, lung and/or heart disease, or other infirmities, work to keep ourselves safe and avoid risk. That is smart. We all know someone who simply ignores all suggested shot and other measures to stay healthy. That may suggest that pride is lurking somewhere in the scheme of things. Wait! How did we get on to pride, and what does that have to do with worry? Well, the root of all worry, fretting, anxiety lies in the belief that what happens is ultimately in our hands. We are in charge! If you think that what happens is ultimately in your hands, that’s pride. Continue reading
- Gotta Breathe - Gotta Breathe: Indeed, we must all breathe in order to sustain life. That is an immutable fact. However, the reality is that we all have those times in the course of a busy day when we have to pause, maybe catch our breath or reorganize our activities in order to move on to the next task. Then I would guess that there would be times when 'Help me, Jesus' goes through your mind when I try to juggle too much, even of good things. David the psalmist expressed this thought in Psalm 16:5-6 when he declared, Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Continue reading
- Keystones of Our Faith - Keystones of Our Faith: When we consider our faith, and why we believe as we do, what would you say are important events or elements that made the difference in your belief that Jesus is Messiah, Lord, and Savior? I suspect that many of us would answer that the most important event was the resurrection. Someone may say, that is all well and good, but how would I know you’re a follower of Christ?? That question brings us to the heart of how Jesus equipped us. In the sermon on the mount, and related passages, we are given encouragement that gives direction for being a Christian. I call them keystones, they are Jesus’ way of describing the heart of a disciple. Five Keystones of Christ -- Continue reading
- … And I Grew - ... And I Grew: Every one of us has a life journey. An array of experiences and emotions, broad straight aways and curvy detours. Ups and downs. Times of loss, times of joy. Whether we are aware of it or not, each pause, each bump, each celebration along the way was designed by our Lord, as he fashioned the path that would equip us to follow His will. We make decisions that we regret, we experience the heights of happiness, or we suffer the loss of a loved one, but if we truly believe we're following the Lord, we need to go a little easy on ourselves. These events, these decisions, and even regrets are God's way of preparing us for what's coming next. Continue reading
