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A fellow teacher who struggles with anemia posted this on Facebook, “Why am I so exhausted after only teaching two days? Oh boy.” I understand; I taught also. But a more significant anemia is the spiritual one that so infects American Christianity. We lack energy and motivation for the things of God. We care, but not deeply. We serve, but not joyfully. We give, but not sacrificially.
The antidote may be found in a…
Read MoreAnymore, seems like we hesitate to trust others. Crime and road rage rise: can we trust others to be faithful to the laws? Marriages end too often: can we trust our spouses to remain faithful? People break their word: can we trust them to be faithful to their promises? Pastors and members switch…
Read MoreA month back, Sheila and I drove twenty miles north to Canyon Lake to look at a living room bench—kind of a flat white church pew. A few miles up the freeway, I noticed a liquid amber leaf from the tree next to where we park our F150 was stuck on the windshield wiper arm. That leaf stayed on the entire trip up and back, at speeds up to 75 mph. AND, the wiper arm still holds it, with several other trips in between. That’s one tough leaf to take such a beatin’ and keep on truckin’. Feel like you’re taking a beating from life? A job, a spouse, a church, a friend? Let…
Read MoreSome time back I intentionally opened my Bible to Psalms, and randomly to 86. As a poet (no poems today, sorry!) I appreciated the variety of structures that enhanced the meaning. But verse 11 touched my soul, “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name,” because it gave three requirements of connecting to God and the result. All touch on…
Read MoreLooking ahead, my spiritual vision is maybe 20/400. But looking back, it may approach 20/40. Maybe you’ve experienced the same—the past has more clarity than the future. Looking back, I see my bad decisions, my good ones. The times that God has gently nudged me in ways I didn’t comprehend until later. The times he took a figurative 2 x 4 to me. We can all benefit from looking back to gain a better insight into…
Read MoreEarly last December, when fall still held sway, a strong wind stripped our trees of many of their leaves. A sixty-foot liquid amber, a broad fruitless pear, and a neighbor’s trees all contributed to the mass of leaves covering the ground cover on our south slope and driveway. Wanting to avoid the debris from choking out our ice plant and from drifting onto our neighbors’ yards, I grabbed my leaf blower to blow them off the slope and pushed them into a pile…
Read MoreChristmas may be over, but I still remember the song that claims we should be good because Santa is watching, “you better be good for goodness sake,” or you can’t expect gifts. Among all the sloppy theology I hear, this may top them all. If we do good to benefit ourselves, to get something we want, can we really call that goodness? Sounds like self-centered pragmatism to me. But maybe we can have a better motivation for being good. Maybe desiring goodness shows…
Read MoreTrue confession time—I’m a bit of a Christmas junkie, and on this, the day after Christmas 2022, I’m not quite ready to give it up. Oh, I know the over-the-top displays like the pic are heading into hibernation, but maybe we can extend it, in the spirit of what the incarnation means. So, think with me on that first one, and how we can live it out…now. In a gritty manner.
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