A few years back someone in our high school class set up a Facebook page to prep for our upcoming reunion, which introduced me to Roland Peachie. This previously unknown classmate from decades back creates marvelous images with photographs. He posted a pic with these words, “…the new adapter came in today, not only infinity has been fixed (I’d never realized someone broke it) but my Macro is now about 6 feet closer, which I really like.. test shots show even a different background blur with the new adapter.” Must have been Latin he was speaking…
Read MoreDisciples Must Die
Many of us feel pulled in numerous directions. Family members and friends and bosses make requests and demands. More come from spiritual concerns, while our own desires call to us, to relax, succeed. We try to juggle them but drop as many as we catch. Then Jesus made it more difficult with an impossible demand, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot…
Read MoreDancing With The Devil
For too long, I justified myself with the excuse that dancing with the devil was justifiable—if I didn’t slow dance. I’d edge as close to overt sin as I could without stepping over the line. Close enough to get some pleasure, but not too close to get trapped, to have guilt overwhelm the good times. In high school days, how much physical contact with girls was acceptable before it became sin? That became more subtle as an adult, how much information could I withhold, without actually lying, to give myself an advantage? Or, while remaining a nice guy, what balance should I strike between serving others and using others to serve myself? These are just a few of many cases I could list. That was fast dancing with the devil. Some…
Read MoreLooking to Heaven
A week or so ago, some friends and I got in a discussion about what we know of heaven. Jesus gave us some clues, and we’ve seen some media, like the movie Heaven is for Real and the still bestselling book 90 Minutes in Heaven. I believe in heaven for those who choose to follow Jesus, and want to spend more than 90 minutes there! But I sometimes suspect that focusing too much on eternal life in heaven can distract us from…
Read MoreBeen There, Done That
I enjoy talking about God stuff, with those who follow and who don’t. Among the latter, I’ve often heard, “Been there, done that. I tried Jesus, but it just didn’t work for me.” Sometimes they’d explain why, and a thought came to mind. Not for all, but I know some of them fairly well. Perhaps they hadn’t fully tried Jesus--they just got vaccinated against him.
Read MoreNot a Safe God
In CS Lewis’ classic children’s tale for adults, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver tell the children about Aslan, a mighty lion, a Christ-figure. The leery children ask, “Then he isn’t safe?”
“Safe?...Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”
Many desire a safe God, one who saves us, who helps us, but doesn’t disrupt our lives. But Jesus challenges us to transcend the fatal disease of complacency that afflicts so many of us. We love God, but not passionately. We change, but not radically. We give, but not sacrificially. We rely so much on grace (Ephesians 2:8), that we forget verse 9, that we’re saved to do good works.
Enough.
Read MoreGod Answers Prayer, But...
Too often, my prayers seem to bounce back from the ceiling. Not sure about you, but I’m often left puzzled at how God answers prayers, or doesn’t. I know the cliché: he says yes, no, or later. However, a transcendent God shouldn’t, and can’t, be simplified into a three-option cliché. Maybe we can find more nuances in his responses. Maybe we need to…
Read MoreChaotic Devotions
I love Jesus. I appreciate personally knowing the transcendent Creator of the universe (one of my books, A Passionate Pursuit of God, focuses on this). I realize the need to nurture this relationship regularly. Not once a week, not even once a day, but moment by moment. And I’ve tried just about every method suggested by those who know. Daily devotion books. Christian living books. Study guides. Accountability partners. Practicing the presence. And they have all worked. Until…they didn’t. The flaw…
Read More