Joy in Waiting

Two elderly people were known to be righteous, but weren’t receiving the blessings one would expect from being faithful. What could be wrong? Children were seen as blessings from God, but these were not so blessed, even with ‘blameless’ lives. Maybe they had

Friend of...

Carole King had a hit song back in 1971 called "You've Got a Friend." That song was popular because, well, who doesn't want a real friend? I listened to that song over and over, vowing to be a friend for others -- especially my girlfriend at the time -- and wishing

Staying Focused

Something I read this morning in Luke's gospel made me stop and ask a bunch of questions. In chapter 4, Jesus has begun his ministry, and been rejected at Nazareth (verses 16-30). He goes to Capernaum, and there people listen to him, and are impressed

Epiphany and Risk

Today, January 6, is the celebration of "Epiphany" on the Christian calendar, and it's celebrating something awesome: the first 'public appearance' of the baby Jesus, the Son of God now in human form. What's that about? And what

Whose Faithfulness?

We often like to chuckle at the story of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptizer.  The angel Gabriel appears to him, and he has a hard time believing what God will do through him and his wife Elizabeth. So as a friend of mine pointed out, God didn't

"News Flash! Church Elder Found Faithful to Wife of 50 Years!"

David and Shirley Hunsberger have been married and faithful to each other since July 14, 1965. Here's a picture of the two of them at one of their celebratory occasions:

So the next time the media report something less desirable than 50 years of faithfulness, remember the good stuff!

Messing Up God's Artwork

This morning The Lovely Joanne told me in her endearing way, "Well, you're stuck with me forever, so you'd better just get used to it." By which she was telling me she loves me and is not interested in ever being anything but married to me. Which is really a good thing, because I

Fruit? No Fruit? No Control

Last year the fruit trees my neighbor and I have in our yards produced a very large crop. We used all we could, froze a lot and still watched a lot fall to the ground. This year, all the blossoms got frozen in our Mother's Day snowstorm, and we won't get any fruit at all. That points out a couple of truths of gardening and life in general: You can't guarantee a crop, no matter how hard you try. All you can do

Be Still and Know...Part 2

Last time we looked briefly at what silence is about, and some of its fruits. Let's continue to look at those concepts, and see what we

Take a Break...

Americans have a problem:  we are far too focused on accomplishment. We measure our worth by what we have done or made, not on

Temptation, Jesus and Our Identity

Because this is Lent, a time when we look at our temptations and sins more seriously, I'd like to excerpt what Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, wrote about temptation recently, for this shorter venue. I hope you find his words encouraging as I did:

Jesus’ first temptation involved the false assumption, I am what

"Justified by Faith"?

Does your own faith save you?  Maybe we should ask, faith in what? And what kind of faith?

Note how T.F. Torrance explained Jesus’ faithfulness:

Jesus Christ stood in our place, taking our cause upon him, also as Believer, as the Obedient One who was himself justified before God as his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased. He offered to God . . . a perfect faith and response which we are unable to offer, and he appropriated all God’s blessings which we are unable to appropriate. Through union with him we share in his faith, in his obedience, in his trust and appropriation of the Father’s blessing; we share in his justification before God. Therefore when we are justified by faith, this does not mean that it is our faith that justifies us, far from it—It is the faith of Christ alone that justifies us, but we in faith flee from our own acts even of repentance, confession, trust and response, and take refuge in the obedience and faithfulness of Christ—“Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” That is what it means to be justified by faith. (“Justification: Its Radical Nature and Place in Reformed Doctrine and Life,” Scottish Journal of Theology, vol 13, no 3. pp. 225-246.)

As Joseph Tkach explains in this article, our faith is both active and passive. We trust in Christ, and we trust in Jesus' perfect faith on our behalf, not on our own imperfect (and sometimes missing!) faith.

Mary's Vision, Joseph's Dream

I've been wondering again -- in the wonder of the whole Incarnation story that keeps leaving me with my mouth open in amazement -- about the stories of Mary, in Luke's gospel, and Joseph in Matthew's account.  The idea that God would become one of us is just beyond me. It was beyond Joseph and Mary too. That's why the angel appeared to them. But my question is,

Impossible?

Mary woke up early, reflecting on her memory of the angel coming to her the day before to announce she would bear the child named Jesus. So what was she to do now? Her family, unbelieving, would reject her, and so would Joseph. But she had heard the angel say "nothing is impossible for God" and she had responded with "Here

We Are His Kids -- Advent #1

Advent is the time the Christian church celebrates the coming of our Savior. The basic story is that the Son of God willingly took our flesh into his own Person, becoming God-and-human, so he could experience our own lives just like us, live without any sin and willingly give himself, out of

What Is Jesus Doing?

It's morning, and I'm working on some coffee and some of God's words to get steered in the right direction for the day. My goal for today is to know Jesus' will for me and to

Why Did Jesus Die? A Meditation for Holy Saturday

Some very helpful thoughts from Dr. C. Baxter Kruger on why Jesus died (these are a few excerpts from a longer article, linked below):
"If we are to understand why Jesus Christ died, we must begin with who God is, and therefore we begin with the Holy Trinity and with the abounding and glorious and rich and overflowing fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit. For this Triune God is the Creator, and this divine life of togetherness and communion is the womb of creation, and this divine fellowship of unbounded joy is the rhyme and reason behind the existence of the human race and of every person within it....
If we must speak in terms of law, then we must say that the law of this universe is the primal decision of the Father, Son and Spirit to give humanity a place in the Trinitarian life through Jesus Christ....
For how do you get from the Fall of Adam to the right hand of God the Father almighty? The only way is through death. The Fall must be undone. Adam must be thoroughly converted to God. Human existence, broken and estranged and perverted, must be radically circumcised and systematically recreated, utterly and thoroughly transformed, and bent back into right relationship with the Father.
...And Jesus died because the only way to get from the Fall of Adam to the right hand of the Father was through the crucifixion of Adamic existence...."
http://baxterkruger.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-death-of-jesus.html

He Did it Because He Loves You

We love stories of someone who gives up his or her life for others. A soldier falls on a grenade for his buddies; a mother dies giving birth; the hero holds off the monster all alone so others can escape. We consider them courageous, and so we should! Yet the sacrifice

The Glory of God

"So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son" (John 1:14).

 

Moses asked to see God's glory, and he did get

Giving Grief to the Holy Spirit

It's easy for me to make my wife, The Lovely Joanne, upset.  All I have to do
is say something unkind about the way the house looks, or about her cooking or driving.  Truth to tell, we can each make the other upset, about all kinds of subjects.  But it's not just the comment.  The root of it, when we say or do the wrong things, is that we aren't paying attention to the desires and needs of the other.  Nurturing our love, trying to love each other more deeply, means being sensitive to what the other one is thinking or might want at any certain point.  It means for me to expend some effort to figure out what my wife would actually like me to do, and then to do that.  And I appreciate it a great deal when she does the same for me.

Marriage is a very close relationship and takes ongoing attentiveness to work right.  But guess what -- it's the same with our most intimate relationship, that is, with the Holy Spirit.  Rather than leave us alone (John 14:18) to figure out how to understand and follow Jesus, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and continue to teach us about Jesus and the Father (verse 17). That indwelling of the Spirit is the very heart of our ability to relate to God.  His mind in us is real and can be felt. 

We need to decide how we will live within that relationship.  We can pay careful, constant attention to the Spirit's presence and will, as he leads us to live according to his mind; or we can be lax about his presence.  Guess which gets better results?  Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:30:  "And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own."  I puzzled over that instruction for many years before realizing that the Spirit, who is the mind of God, genuinely lives in me and is troubled when I go against his will for me. 

In Rom. 8:6 we read:  "Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace."  That sounds like the relationship between my wife and me.  Putting attention to the reality of the Spirit's presence, and letting him have his way instead of stubbornly doing my own will, leads to a much more peaceful existence.  If you're having stress and anxiety, maybe it's time to let go and let the Holy Spirit direct more.  Why not give it a try?