Celebrate Life
We need to learn how to celebrate life, not just tolerate it. Just because we have problems does not mean that we cannot enjoy all the gifts God has placed around us. Life is not problem free. We all have to deal with problems and solve them as best we can. We must not
The Beauty Of Creation
The beauty of creation is a gift of the Creator to His creatures. It could have been made gray and bland. It is not. It is colorful and tasty. The wind blows fresh oxygen from a distant rain forest. There is fragrance from nearby flowers. Songs waft over our soul from the birds in
Keeping Covenant
One of the worst things that could be said about a person in the ancient world was that they were a covenant breaker. There are covenants for community, marriage and our relationship with God. Churches have covenants of belief and conduct. God’s faithfulness to His covenant with us is called righteousness. He is faithful,
Forgiving As Worship
We pass forgiveness on to others because the Lord in grace did not demand justice for our infractions, but out of love, and for the relationship He desired with us, freely forgave. Those who have sinned must be patient with sinners. Those who have been forgiven need to find ways to forgive. Forgiveness of
Sheep Rescue
Good shepherds go looking for lost sheep because they care. Hirelings value their pay check. Shepherds value sheep. Hirelings do not want to take the risks of encountering lions and bears, nor crawling down deep ravines. Shepherds go at risk to themselves to pull back one from the brink of death. Pastors, and the
First Fruits Of New Creation
The thing that most excited and animated the early disciples about Jesus’ resurrection was that it was completely different from a resuscitated human body. Jesus himself had raised three people from the dead, but His own resurrection was very different. His was a never-before-seen kind of body that made them know that the scriptural
Atonement (2)
Atonement means at-one-ment. Atonement restricted only to the cross always leads us astray with inadequate plans of salvation. The atonement starts in the incarnation and includes the life He lived, the death He died, the burial He underwent, the resurrection He experienced, the ascension back to the Father, His enthronement in heaven at the
Atonement (1)
The word atonement in English is literally “at-one-ment”. Theories that make the atonement a mere legal transaction because of the cross miss its fuller and richer meanings. The idea is that God and man are reconciled. When we are at-one with Jesus, being baptized into Him, in solidarity with Him, we are at-one with
Suffering And Glory
Christ’s suffering ended in glory (Hebrews 2:9-10, I Peter 1:11), and so will ours. Nothing, including our sufferings, can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). We are commanded to rejoice in persecution (Matthew 5:12). We are to rejoice in suffering because of its outcome (Romans 5:3). We are to endure suffering as a
Lord, Teach Us To Pray
Jesus did teach His disciples to pray. He gave them a prayer. We call it, The Lord’s Prayer. It is both a pattern of prayer and a prayer to be prayed. It may become trite for us if we pray it without engaging its meaning. It is full of basic insights into the
Jesus Sympathizes
Bring your sorrows to the Man of Sorrows. He was broken for us on the cross; we can safely bring our brokenness to Him. He feels. He cares. He is touched with the feelings of your infirmities. He is your High Priest; He intercedes. In the days of His flesh He experienced weakness, sorrow
Heal My Muteness
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me and heal my muteness. May I speak clearly the good news of the Kingdom. May I speak up for the oppressed, the enslaved, the neglected, the lonely and the outcast. May the alien and stranger hear love and kindness in my words. May I
Heal My Deafness
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me and heal my deafness. Help me to hear the cries of the hurting. Help me to hear what is behind the cries of the needy. Help me to hear what is happening when spiritual manipulators ply their trade. May I hear words that others
Heal My Blindness
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me and heal my blindness. Help me to see what is really going on around me that I do not see because of the way my eyes filter. Help me to see human need. Help me to see my own faults. Help me to see
Your Unique Road
No one has ever really walked your road. Our unique nature and our unique nurture are part of the road we walk. We bring this to circumstances in our lives that are never exactly like what others have faced; you are a pioneer. If this be the case, you will need to be thoughtful,
Vilify None
In religious debates, we are much too quick to attack those who disagree with us. Just because a person has come to conclusions other than yours does not mean that they are somehow evil. Besides, if you cannot bring them along in your processes by persuasion, don’t think you will if you vilify them
Bible Experts
There are those who can cite chapter and verse for most any subject. They pride themselves in knowing their Bibles. Yet, they may not know the Spirit of truth; they may know only the letter. Their knowledge of the Bible has given them self-satisfaction but no real joy. They hurl scriptures like stones and
Living Gratitude
It is one thing to say an occasional “Thank you” and it is quite another to live a life of gratitude. I find myself asking, “Did I remember to say, ‘Thank you’?” We train our children to do that so that as adults it will become a natural response. Most of all, we need
Home of the Heart
We sometimes look back to places we have lived and may even long to return to them. When we do, we find that they have changed and it just does not feel like it used to feel. The place has changed, people have gone, so we go on with a memory that may nurse
Eternal Life
Eternal life is much more than unending life. It is literally the quality of the life of the eternal God that is shared with us. Eternal life is not something we possess apart from an interlocked solidarity with the One who is life (Romans 6:23b). It is the life of abiding in Him and
Intentional Time
We make choices everyday about how we spend our lives. In our humanity, we often lie about what we claim we want to do while we are actively choosing something else. We live intentionally! Everyone does! The real question is what are you intentional about? What your heart is most moved toward is what
The Mind Garden
The heart and mind is a garden. Some minds cultivate the very things that the commandments forbid. Some minds cultivate the good commands of Messiah. Out of one life comes deceit, lust, hatred, strife, rage, and discord with a whole weed bed of iniquity. Out of another life comes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
God Loves Us
We are so prone to erect barriers to the belief that God loves us individually and personally. We know He loves others, and we tell them so. But for us, we magnify our sins, faults and short comings to the point that we think He has taken us off the list, or at least
The Ministry of Listening
Being totally present for another is a gift of ourselves to that person. So called multitasking and the nature of media itself makes us attention deficit. People want to be heard and they want to feel that you have heard them. It takes focus to hear what a person is really saying. It takes
Changed by Grace
Never forget where the Lord has brought you from. Remember the sins He washed you from and the guilt He took away. Think of the sadness of what you could be, had you not allowed God to enter your story and change it. Better yet, when you enter God’s story, your story is forever