Death, Life and Love
I’ve had two or three times in my life when I almost did or should have died. I will spare you the details but not the result: I was shaken. I felt like I was brought back to life. And I experienced the love of God in a fresh and different way. I did not deserve to live because of the poor decisions I made. Yet here I was.
Pleasing God
I had several seasons in my life when I wondered if what I was doing was pleasing to God. Have you? Not that I was doing anything sinful. I just wondered if it was what I was supposed to be doing and if He was pleased with how I was going about it.
Defining Moments
We all have them. They are moments that change our lives. They are encounters that define and transform us. Peter’s moment spanned a courtyard to a beach. After boasting greatly that he would never let Jesus get arrested or harmed, he denied that he even knew Jesus. Luke tells us that at the moment of the third denial, and the rooster crowing a third time, that Jesus looked across the courtyard at Peter, caught his eye, and Peter remembered Jesus words. It stabbed his heart like a dagger.
Tears and Singing
I listened to their story. Years of tears, prayers, patience, and pleading. Day after day they repeated their heart’s desire for wholeness and peace in the troubled mind (and soul) of their son. On the one hand, he was a sweet kid. But the other side, what felt like the Jekyll side, was rebellious, obstinate, and self-destructive. Yet they pushed on, day after day. And they relied on the only consistent resource they knew, the Word of God. They repeated it. They meditated on it. They prayed it.
The Jesus Way
There are many believers that think and act as if we have to be at war with all parts of our culture. Many missionaries realized that to effectively communicate the Gospel they had to be among the people and be like the people when being like the people did not mean they violated what God said. One of those missionaries was Amy Carmichael.
God’s Provision
Each day as George walked the streets, he saw children everywhere who had no mom or dad. They lived on the streets or in state-run poorhouses, where they were treated badly. George felt God calling him to open an orphanage to take care of the children.
Can’t Help Myself
I had a friend who was fond of saying when he told me a story about something that happened to him, “Oh Pat, I just can’t help myself.” What he was indicating is that what he was telling me was so impactful, so exciting or so amazing that he could not do anything other than talk about it.
Positioning is Everything
Several years ago, we were at a golf event and one of the players was about to make a putt that could put them in a tie for the lead. The crowd around the green was at least ten people deep. Even though I am above average height, I was not in a position to see what was happening. I heard the reaction of the crowd and knew he must have made it, but I did not see it happen. I could not describe it to you. I could not tell you anything personally about it. I was not in the right position.
Risking Honesty
God has been speaking to me a lot lately about risk. Maybe when you hear that word you think of jumping out of an airplane with a parachute. Or maybe you think of starting a new company that will test the breadth of your talents. Maybe it’s retirement; will there be enough to sustain us? But none of those are the risk I’m talking about.
In the Beginning
Dear Lord, thank You so much for all Your creation, including us and all the animals!
Comfort and Mango
God is the great Comforter. Indeed, this is one of the names for the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist prays in 119:76, “May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise…” My father-in-law, Ernie, passed away just before Christmas. Although he was 93 and starting to fail as a result of a fall, the quickness of his death following a surgery and good recovery, was unexpected.
The Process of the Thorn
In my Bible study, we are going through the book “Mysteries of the Messiah” by Rabbi Jason Sobel. He is taking us through the Old Testament and how we can find Jesus in the story of Creation, the Patriarchs, Moses, etc. It’s so amazing to learn Jewish tradition and the Hebrew words and their meanings. It has made the Bible come alive for me and my group! Rabbi Sobel says it is like reading the Bible in “high-def” and I couldn’t agree more.
Building Faith
Just before Christmas, I received “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom at a book swap. Over the blizzardy holiday, I opened it up and was quickly drawn into the powerful story. I knew it was a well-known book, and that Corrie Ten Boom was a Christian, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. What a powerful story it was! From cover to cover, it was filled with incredible moments of God’s provision and power in the midst of terror and desperate circumstances. Her faith, and the faith of her family members, fueled my own in deeper ways than I have experienced in a long time.
Searching the Scriptures
“The B-I-B-L-E. Yes, that’s the book for me…” Ok, aside from the fact that you will be singing this for the rest of the day (you’re welcome), do you ever, if we’re being honest here, feel a little overwhelmed, maybe even intimidated by the idea of studying the Bible?
Is God Good or Not?
Is God Good or Not? This question was posed to me during a conversation with a fellow pastor, and as I was wrestling with hurts and disappointments from the past in my journey with God it became apparent: do I believe God is good? Because either He is, or He isn’t.
Ups and Downs
It has been an intense month for sure. Sometimes being a pastor has its ups and downs. The ups are that you get to share in people’s celebrations and victories. You get to point people back to Jesus, pray with them and share your testimony and experience of how God has saved you from the pit of hell.
Overwhelmed
“I am overwhelmed…” I have used this phrase so very many times throughout my life, as I am sure many others have. The thing about this phrase is how differently it can be interpreted depending upon your circumstances … as well as your spiritual journey.
The Inner Being
Someone has said that we display externally what we are living internally. After speaking in chapter 2 about how when we were dead in our sin, Christ made us alive through faith. The emphasis is clearly on what Christ has done.
