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Wisdom, Let Us Attend “Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance.” Wisdom 2:19 It’s only one more week till Good Friday, a day which no doubt is one of our high holy days as disciples of Jesus. We mark special days and times with special readings of scripture, so that we may ‘enter in’ with our spirits, to the very remembrance of what we celebrate. In our ‘entering in’, we hope to see anew our souls

The Greatest Force In the World Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35 NRSV The love of God is the greatest force in all the world, because it is the very essence of His being. St. John tells us this in his first letter, “…God IS love,” (1 John 4:16 emphasis added). John goes on to say that to live in God is to live in love. The problem in our world is, too many people

To Eat or Not to Eat? Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27 Wednesdays have always been a traditional day of fasting according to the ancient ways of the Christian faith. The Jews fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The early Christians, wanting to distinguish themselves from the Jews, chose Wednesdays and Fridays as fast days. Wednesdays are in remembrance of the betrayal of Jesus d

Follow the Yellow Brick Road “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” John 13:36 NRSV In John 8:21 Jesus tells those who are questioning him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow”. However, in speaking to his disciples in John 13, on the last night before the cross, Jesus tells them that while they can’t follow him then, they will follow later. Then in chapter 14, Jesus tells them they know they way: “Le

Get Back in the Ring And not only that, but we* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, Romans 5:3 A lot of my uncles couldn’t understand why I was so crazy about Ali. They couldn’t stand him. There was a lot of hype about boxing in those days. Ali’s personality drove the hype, for sure. They called him a bragger and a loud mouth, and they were right. He was both of those things. However, I would always respond to them in my youthful wisdom, “

Search Me O God O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you. Psalm 69:6 “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” That’s true, but there’s one person you can’t fool, any of the time – Jesus Christ. By the very definition of being God, knows everything we’ve ever done, said or thought. Yet sometimes we act as if we can fool Jesus by not admitting o

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95:6 Repentance is a major theme of the season of Lent. One of the best ways for me to show Lent offers us a chance to reset the position of our hearts before God, to remind ourselves that life really isn’t all about us and what happens to us. On Fridays, in remembrance of the day Jesus died, I like to spend some time on my knees contemplating the greatest act of love the world ever knew – th

For the beauty of the Ashes, For the glory they once revealed, In these no words could ever capture, God’s highest work in me He sealed. For the beauty of the love that fills the world, Even though in anguish with devils filled, Let not my heart ere be defeated, For all is thus, as God has willed. For the beauty of Creation, That sings a hymn of love so free, May it join my heart as it proclaims, This song of love, all for Thee Because your beauty hung on a tree, I sing of Th

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” John 9:39 Read John 9:18-41 The Leaders of the Jews were convinced they were right about Jesus; they had Him all figured out. In their mind, there was no way He was from God. In fact, they thought Jesus was from the Devil (Matt. 12:24), but they couldn’t have been more wrong. As they grilled the blind man, who was healed (John 9:18-41) about Jesus’ or

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 Read Jeremiah 17 Have you ever gone to the Dr. only to get an answer you just didn’t feel was right? “Oh well”, I thought. I’m not a doctor so I guess it is what it is –but it just didn’t seem right. My heart rhythms had often been so crazy I thought it was going to leap out of my chest, and I would get extremely light headed. Lent is a great time for heart surgery. It seems

Save me, O God, * for the waters have risen up to my neck. I am sinking in deep mire, * and there is no firm ground for my feet. Psalm 69:1-2 Read psalm 69 In Psalm 69, we read words that are prophetic of Jesus as he endured the agony of torture and loneliness awaiting His crucifixion. His words cry out to the Father for salvation. He knows he will soon die, but the feeling of being surrounded by death was too much. The strength that led him on His journey to the cross now

Hear my cry, O God, * and listen to my prayer. I call upon you from the ends of the earth with heaviness in my heart; * set me upon the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:1-2 Read Psalm 61 The Western Wall of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem I think rocks are fascinating. They can be so great in size they can’t be moved. What a great metaphor for our faith in God. Our faith in Jesus Christ can grow so big and strong that it can’t be moved. When temptation comes, our rock of

“Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” John 4:31-32 Read John 4:27-42 Food is one of my great delights in all of God’s creation. There is such variety in the world. I love experiencing the culinary delights of different cultures. In January, my family and I were in Israel tasting the many delicious varieties of foods in the Middle East. Each year, the Lenten season reminds me of the i

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I command you this day for your good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13 Read Deuteronomy 10:12-22 I’m a bit of a people pleaser. I admit it. Experts says that’s not a good trait. “You can’t please everyone and only a fool tries

“The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes… By them also is your servant enlightened, * and in keeping them there is great reward.” Palm 19:8,11 Read Psalm 19 Lent comes in the Spring of the year for a purpose. God wants to remind us there is always new life waiting to spring up within us. Repentance should always produce joy, and it is that joy that should be our dwelling place, for joy comes

“I have considered my ways and turned my feet toward your decrees.  I hasten and do not tarry to keep your commandments.” Palm 119:59-60 Read Psalm 119:49-72 My friend began hitting me harder and harder in rapid succession. I wondered what was going on. I wasn’t that good at cussing. In fact, he was hitting me way more times than one hit for each word, but I kept trying. There was a reason he was hitting me so much, as I was about to learn. The most important thing in li

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.” Deuteronomy 9:4 Read Deut. 9:4-12 The greatest obstacle we all must get over in life is – ourselves. Perhaps because God gave each us a human will to live, we do things to preserve ourselves. We take car

“Take heed lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes, which I command you this day: Deuteronomy 8:11 Read Deut. 8:11-20 Leon, an elderly man in our church of blessed memory, used to go around handing out $2 bills to people, always with a big smile on his face. When he gave one to me he said, “If you keep this in your wallet, you’ll never be broke.” I still have that $2 bill, and our kids have theirs also. I don’t ke

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 Psalm 23 tells us in this life we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. While the Psalmist didn’t mean Death Valley, California it does offer us an image in which we can relate. Life can be very hard. We can feel scorched by life’s hardships, kind of like we’ve been baked in an oven and burnt to a crisp. In fact, life

“14 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.” Psalm 40:14 Read Psalm 40 The Goodness of Death Is there anything more certain than death? It feels so certain because it comes to all people with no respect of person; young and old, rich and poor…no one escapes. Yet, such certainty is unfounded. 1983 years ago today (as best calendars can determine), death met its match. On that Good Friday, the hope of the world hung dying on a Roman Cross, and after si