A while back, a Facebook friend and fellow writer, Steve Hutson, posted an article that critiqued much of modern worship. Some valid points, some not. The resulting discussion motivated me to further explore worship. If we are to follow Jesus, what we worship and how we worship will drive the depth of our faith. At its core, worship celebrates the reality that…
Read MoreFollowers Hate Family: Challenge 5
God designed the family as a linchpin of his creation. Adam came first, but didn’t care for the loneliness so God brought Eve to the
dance, so the two could become one. Then he helped Eve conceive a child. Yeah, check out Genesis 4:1. 😉 And in his guidelines for people that we call the Big Ten, honoring your parents took the middle ground, the only one with a promise: of long life. And when some religious leaders tried to avoid honoring their parents, Jesus proclaimed they abandoned the word of God. Families count, so in another challenge to deepen our faith, why did Jesus tell us to hate them?
Read MoreClouds
Written in 1971 just a month after I returned to Jesus as Savior and Lord, the piece “Clouds” formed the heart of this post. Fairly compliant, I used to go with the flow. Any ambition came from trying to show I had worth. Then Jesus overwhelmed me as I grasped his value of me. No greater than anyone else, but enough that Jesus would give his life for me. Something, someone, worth giving purpose beyond pleasure to my life. Transformation: Step One.
Read MoreFresh Cliches
Fresh clichés. An obvious paradox, right? Maybe not. I wonder about some clichés that often get ignored. Sunday worship as a fresh start on the first day of the week. A chance to get lost in worship, to acknowledge our shortcomings, to gain forgiveness. So true it’s become a cliché. But as a cliché for that, Sunday’s not enough. If I wait until Sunday for refreshing, I can accumulate…
Read MoreDeep Water Trout
Big Pine Creek in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada ranks among the prettiest streams I’ve ever fished--shaded by big pines (duh!) with large pools and abundant trout. I can still visualize the first time I came around a bend, and found one of those signature holes.
A five-foot waterfall dropped into a green pool, a good six feet deep. Shallower and slow water along the banks framed a strong current that went deep and swift through the center. Just where big trout feed.
I threw in at…
Read MoreFollowers Follow Jesus' Words--Challenge 4
None would doubt Morgan’s love of Jesus. His depth of scripture knowledge powered his teaching in an adult Bible study, he served as an elder in an evangelical church, and loved to talk to unbelievers about God. But what began as a casual conversation opened a new dimension. Morgan told of a Hindu friend, a person as full of goodness as he had ever seen. He told Sager of Jesus, but Sager saw no need…he thought he was on the path already. My surprise came when Morgan said he couldn’t imagine a person as good as Sager as not going to heaven. Yes, we had some discussions about that as I…
Read MoreLetting Go
My last school used two works to explore the American Dream: The Great Gatsby who achieved it and lost, and Death of a Salesman, where Willie Loman didn’t achieve the dream yet also lost. But Willie Loman’s wife Linda had a haunting line, in talking about the irony of finally paying off the family house after their two sons had moved out, “Life is a casting off.” Or…
Read MoreBe Kind to Be Godly
I met her when she was in the college group I led, decades back. We've stayed in touch over the years and I appreciate how she thinks. And one of her Facebook posts struck quite a chord with a number of readers.
”I am having breakfast at a cute place...A nice little family just came in. They have not acknowledged the wait staff once. No 'good morning' or 'thank you' when seated. No eye contact or acknowledgement when given coffee. No eye contact or thank you after placing their order with their very sweet server. I hate it when…”
Read More