Comfort: Idolatry, Part 4

I’ve been reading through Isaiah’s prophecies in preparation for Advent, which starts in just a few weeks. One of his biggest gripes against his nation is about their idolatry, but not just carved figures (like in 40:19-20, 41:21-24, and 44:6-20, where Isaiah writes about God makes insulting comments about the stupidity of worshipping idols). We may have thought that the idol

'Into-Me-See'

In Sunday's sermon I spoke about the church (and its members) being the temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where God himself dwells, and that we as that temple can be a place where others meet God. Yet, to accurately 're-present' Father, Son and Holy Spirit to another person, we must be in an intimate relationship with that God by the Spirit who lives in us. How?

Intimacy with another human being necessarily involves

Jesus Is Over Our Heads...Sort Of.

Wouldn't it be strange to start a story with the departure of the story's hero? But that's just what the book of Acts does: chapter 1 is the summation of Jesus' personal ministry on earth, showing him being raised up into the clouds! Why did that action lead

From Ashes to Glory

Next Wednesday, February 14, is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent (Easter Sunday is 40 days later, April 1 this year). Ash Wednesday is a day that reminds us of

Fake News vs. The Best News!

Did you know that not all "news" is true? There’s been a lot of coverage lately about “fake news” — a rumor or accusation, sometimes sponsored by someone with a political agenda (wow, imagine that?) and then spread by people who assume without checking that it’s true, because it fits their

The Holy Discomfort?

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, starting in John 14, and I have taken a lot of comfort down through the years that he uses the term "The Comforter." There have been lots of times in my life I've needed someone to comfort me! (Could I hear an amen?) Well, that word is in the

Father's Day, God, Fathers and Men

A few days ago in the US and many other countries we celebrated Father's Day. Historically, Dad has been the head of the family and the bastion of what's right, but in the search for equality and recognition for all, as well as admitting that men (and particularly fathers) have many human flaws, we've removed men, and Dad, from that pedestal. Also, some have had poor relationships with their fathers, and those two factors have led some to reject the God of the Bible whom they see as

'To Feel With'

Do other people irritate you? Poor driving, thoughtless comments, and in many other ways, we can feel like others need to 'get their act together' on the parts of them that we don't approve of (we could include 'ending a sentence with a preposition' to the list), or just

Who Is He? Who Are You?

How did Jesus perform all those miracles in his ministry? How did he manage to keep his cool when so many were accusing him of evil? How could he persist in his calling, when so many events in his life could have discouraged him completely? How did he defeat Satan's temptations and drive the enemy away? I believe a large share of Jesus' steadfastness throughout

Lent, Discomfort and Grace

A stagecoach was a very uncomfortable way to travel. Six or more people were crowded inside a small box that swayed, bounced and rattled over a dusty road, and sometimes got attacked by Indians or bandits. This would not be our idea of a good time! Our Savior gladly gave up comforts to travel with us -- all the comforts of heaven (Phil. 2:3-11) and during his

I Have All I Need

The list of things I wish I had is very, very long. More time to golf. More money saved for retirement. A pickup for camping trips. Time to fish. Time to read the rest of my books. And on it goes! Besides being dissatisfied by my wants, I can get bothered by

Jesus and Inconvenience

This month, The Lovely Joanne is wearing a dress every single day. Now, us guys don't think about that much, but in December, the cold wind has a way of, let's say, swooping in under a dress and cooling you off in ways you didn't really want. Besides that, finding a different dress for each day and the right accessories with it (again, guys, not our normal thought process) can be

Jesus Is our One True...

In life we sometimes believe a false idea that looks simple and convenient. The urban legends cataloged at various websites such as snopes.com feed on peoples' mistaken ideas about celebrities, politicians and fads. But what if you could

Known and Loved by God?

Apparently there's a website out in internet-land that invites people to be unfaithful to their spouses. It matches them up with other unfaithful people (why would you want that?). The site attracted bazillions of users by peddling adultery like it was ice cream. The scandal is that some hackers got into their client base and published the list of names, and now those folks are feeling embarrassed. But of course, God knew it all along. Not only that, God loves all those unfaithful people, just like

OUCH! guest post

Fellow pastor Bill Winn graciously agreed to let me share his marvelous post in which he writes about our hurts and how discovering their roots is sometimes painful.  Highly-recommended reading! Here it is:
http://trinityandhumanity.com/2015/08/20/ouch/

Doing it for Him

My niece is a Registered Nurse. Her career is all about taking care of the sick and the dying, and for her it's a very rewarding career. But she can tell you, the

Humility and Trust

To be frank, I don't know if I want to trust you. I've trusted people before, and some of them betrayed me, gossiped, and made fun of me. Some of them abandoned me, just hung me out to dry and walked away. So if I ask you to pray about something, or open up and tell you about my problems, what will you do? Or maybe this is you, asking me

Lay those Burdens Down!

I read today yet another story of a person finally finding freedom from his past. As a child, he was victimized by more powerful people, abused in terrible ways. He carried the secret for decades, feeling shame for what had been done to him, feeling

Eternity Is Now

Dallas Willard, in one of his books, says "Eternity is now in process."  Wow, that is encouraging! How do we eternity this way?  Well, we've discussed here that the Kingdom of God is already here, and will fill the whole earth at the return of Christ. In the same way, eternity is

The Holy Spirit Invites Us All to Dance

Is Christian life just a different list of required activities than a non-Christian life, but with the same feeling of chores and fatigue? Not at all. It's about a relationship, a friendship with Jesus Christ that deepens as we go through the years together, and about how he comes in and changes our thinking, then our words and actions too. Christian discipleship is a relationship of being filled with