Lent Is About Giving Up

Lent is often thought about in terms of giving up sweets, or red meat, or alcohol, or movies, in an attempt to create an ‘attitude of repentance.' Those items are external to us, even though we can be awfully attached to them. What’s deepest is our

How Are Your Toes Getting Wet?

I have seen God challenge me, many times in the last 50 years or so, far beyond my own willingness to perform. Many situations in life have made me dig deeper than I wanted to, into my own motivations, subtle ways of twisted thinking, and broken ways of

I Gave Up ___ For Lent, and Look What it Got Me

This year, I gave up bread for Lent. Sandwiches, burgers, donuts, cake...well, you get the picture. Maybe for you it's coffee.  Now, you don't have to actually give up something for Lent, in order to please God or prove your obedience. Giving up something is an exercise in learning what you've grown

Torches, Jars and Messages

(This is a reiteration of a few points from last Sunday's sermon time -- I hope you enjoy it!)
The story of Gideon gets space in many children's Bibles and storybooks, because it's so visual and adventurous. A basically ordinary guy is called by God to deliver his people from

Lent: Drawing Near to God

Some take Lent as a time to beat themselves up for every sin they find. Perhaps they think that by being hard on themselves, God will be easier. Others take the course of long hours of prayer and self-examination. Some make sure to give up something dear to them, as a means of remembering where our true joy comes from. Ruth HaleyBarton describes this in her blog eReflections: "We allow some of the external

"Renewal Information Enclosed"

I pulled an envelope out of the mailbox the other day, with "Renewal Information Enclosed" in big letters across the front. I opened it excitedly -- maybe it was an offer for a free vacation somewhere, or even better, a retreat where my spiritual energy could be renewed. No such luck, they were just billing me for another year's membership in this organization. Bummer! But the good news is, renewal information is already inside

Pharaoh and the Pharisees

Long ago in Egypt, the Pharaoh of the nation held the people of Israel captive as slaves, building whatever public works were going up at the time (exactly which Pharaoh and which buildings, is not the point here). He had a captive labor force and he wasn't about to give them up. Moses showed up and said "My God is telling you and your pitiful

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

Lawyers and Widows and WYSIWYG

Jesus was all about sincerity and dedication. Those were and are two of his best qualities, IMHO (in my humble opinion, if you didn't know). Jesus was always truthful and and WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get"). Some of those around him, not so much, you might say. Jesus appreciated

What Brings Joy to the Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 4:30 says "And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live." Last Sunday looking at this verse, we asked questions like what brings grief to the Holy Spirit and why that is. The next interesting question was, "What

Hungry Birds

I was sitting this morning with The Lovely Joanne on our front porch, quietly talking with God, and heard a chirping a few feet away. The birdseed sock on the other end of the porch was being visited by two yellow finches, male and female, and they were happily pecking away at the seed. That humans were so close, and yet they were willing to keep pecking, meant they were hungry enough to risk an encounter with us.

Oh that we were so hungry for God, that we were willing to pour ourselves out for him, eagerly drinking in whatever he gave us and not shrinking back from whatever he asked of us in return! That we would be so hungry for him to move in our hearts and make his love known through us that we would be willing to give up our illusion of control, our desire for safety and predictability, our wish to manipulate the outcome, and simply let God do in us, for us and through us what he wished! What then would be the outcome? Oh, it might be unfamiliar and even uncomfortable at first, but Lord, what results would you create in our lives and in our churches?

Lord, make us hungry. 

Confession and Grace

We don't like accepting our weaknesses and sins (those we can admit, theoretically, that we might have). And we hope nobody else can see any, so we show up in public with our Public Face on. But God already knows what's wrong with each human, and he gives each one total forgiveness in Christ. And James 5:16 tells the church community, as we work together, "Confess

By the Spirit, or Nothing!

Every once in awhile a funny quirk takes hold of human nature, especially in the West, and we begin to think we can conquer the world all by ourselves. Maybe it's from watching those Bruce Willis movies where he keeps going and going, and eventually the bad guys meet an unpleasant end; or

Explosions, Repairs and Replacements

Some of you know that recently, a house near ours was blown up due to a natural-gas leak. It was not the most fun experience Joanne and I have ever gone through, but we are grateful to God for surviving it and being able to move on. The engineers have been here, and they say that, although the house is sound, some areas will

It's Time to Take Off the Veil

Moses spent time with God (Exodus 34) and his his appearance was changed. He had to wear a veil to keep from scaring everyone. Jesus was changed
in his appearance ("transfigured") before his crucifixion, to fulfill Moses' experience. After the resurrection and the start of the church, the disciples reflected Jesus by the way their inner selves were changed. (The Jewish high court, seeing them, knew they "had been with Jesus," Acts 4:13). You and I also ought to reflect Jesus (2 Cor 3:18), but sometimes we don't, because of 'the veil': either we don't see God well, so we don't see our sins; or our past is still present, and it veils the shining face of our new self in Christ.


I've been following Jesus for decades, but I still have unhealthy thinking and broken emotional patterns from the past that lead me to sin, hurting me and hurting others. And so do you. What's the cure for our disease? Paul tells us "this is the secret: Christ lives in you" (Col. 1:27). The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sends us, will keep bugging us to "be with Jesus." Time spent focusing on Jesus will help us see him more, so we can see, confess, and surrender our sins, and so reflect Jesus. For today, here is just one example of such a sin that veils the image of Christ in us. 

Fear: all of us live in self-protection. We are afraid others will hurt us, or that they'll find out the embarrassing truth about us, so we hide behind a polite mask of pretended security. We try to control everything that happens so we stay "safe." And we try to control others by stubbornly holding our opinion, or shutting others off when we don't get our way. Fear and its results inhibit love in every relationship, from a casual meeting on the street to intimacy in marriage. We even try to use the same tactic with God, out of fear he will reject us -- but he has already accepted us through Jesus. His love should rule us instead. 1 John 4 tells us "God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love."

The love John describes requires taking off the veil instead of hiding behind it in fear. You may not even be aware of a fear you have, but it's still crippling you. God has already put someone in your life who knows and loves you, and can help you, in an ongoing partnership of prayer and confession, to see the roots of your fear and surrender all of it to God. We all need someone to show the love of Jesus to us, and help us take off the veil. I'll be praying for you to find that person. Isn't it time you started this process too?

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Are you struggling with something in your life, and want the power to overcome it?  The ultimate source of power is God himself, and God gives us
his Holy Spirit to live in us (Eph. 1:13).  The Spirit's power "is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 1:19-20).  Awesome!  I need that!  Do you?  Paul explains how, in his letter to the Ephesians.  

God has identified us as his own (like putting a seal of approval on us) by giving us his Holy Spirit (1:13).  Paul prays that God will give "spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God" (1:17), through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit's power, as we saw in 1:19-20, is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and put him above every other power (1:21) -- which means God can do anything he needs to in us, to give us new spiritual life!  Using that "up from the dead" idea in 2:4-6, Paul says that God gave us life, while we were still dead in our sins, when he raised Jesus from the dead.  

Paul was an energetic, effective evangelist.  But Paul insists it was by "God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News" (3:7), not by his own hard work, diligence or dedication.  And so, one of his prayers to God for the church was that "from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit...And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is" (3:16-18).  Then he asks that we "experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" (3:19). 

That power can do "infinitely more than we might ask or think" (3:20).  One thing we all need the Holy Spirit to do for us, is to help us understand and experience "the love of Christ," and have "all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."  If we understood , we wouldn't try to work things out ourselves.  We wouldn't use political maneuvering and half-truths to get others to do our will.  We wouldn't use food, pornography, alcohol, marijuana, drugs, shopping, tobacco or any other substance or activity to make us feel better about ourselves. Knowing how secure we are in Christ, through God's infinite power, would let us relax and trust God to take care of all our needs.  

God loves us without conditions and gives us his powerful Spirit freely.  It's up to us, to decide to live within the Spirit instead of struggling to succeed by ourselves.  How about praying to God, giving up the struggle, and asking him to fill you completely with his power?  Instead of struggling, you'll experience his peace, leave your cravings behind and be filled with his love instead.  Too good to be true?  You won't know unless you take that step of surrender!  Need help surrendering?  Just ask.

Hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit

Even though The Lovely Joanne and I live in the same house, sometimes we have trouble communicating.  Then she and I have to stop and focus on
listening to each other -- words, non-verbal cues, and the meanings behind the words.  It would be easier if she could simply grasp what I mean, rather than...but this is about God, not about me.

God communicates with us through the Holy Spirit (his own mind) living in us as Jesus promised:  "the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth" (John 14:17).  Jesus told us "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me" (John 15:4).  To re-phrase what Jesus said, we do not produce spiritual fruit on our own, but only by being fully connected with Jesus, and allowing him to act in us.  

To bear spiritual fruit, we must surrender to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Sounds simple.  Hard to do.  Sometimes we drive full-speed-ahead through life, playing the theme from "Rocky" at 100 decibels, trying to create 99% of our spiritual success ourselves and only asking God to help with that last 1%.  Sometimes we worry ourselves into a corner, afraid that God won't take care of us like he has so many times in the past. 

But it is God who is in charge, and God who has the power to create good fruit in us.  So the only rational spiritual life is to surrender our choices to him by taking all our decisions and our words to him for approval -- PRIOR approval.  We're taught to listen before acting, both with God and humans:  "You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires" (James 1:19-21).  Rather than just passively waiting for God to tell us something, we can actively work with God by asking for direction, and surrendering to whatever he answers.  

What's on your to-do list for today?  I think the question should begin one step earlier -- what is on God's list for you?  How about taking him a blank sheet of paper, before it gets clogged up with your own list, and getting his priorities?  And asking him how to produce that spiritual fruit he wants, in your life?  That's the only way I can have a fruitful day.  Give it a try for about a year, and let me know how it goes. 

How to Get Empty, or Full

This weekend I preached from Mark 16:1-8, about the empty tomb, and the state of mind of the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, women who were so "shocked ...trembling ...bewildered...frightened" that they couldn't tell anyone, at first, what they had seen.  I compared that to how unstoppable all the disciples of Jesus were, after they had seen the risen Lord and were absolutely sure of his resurrection and filled with the Holy Spirit.  The early church was unstoppable because the people were full of their Savior, and empty of anything else.  Then I challenged everyone to ask God to help them surrender whatever was making them feel empty, or not letting them be emptied of their burdens.  But how do you surrender all that?  Here are a few tools.

1.  Confess it to someone else and ask him or her to pray with you.  James 5:16 tells us "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."  Sin and doubt only have power over you if you keep them secret.  When a loving brother or sister in Christ is praying with you, and encouraging you in times of weakness, the power of the old habit will be broken.  (Simply asking someone to "pray for me" isn't going to get very far, though, because that's still not admitting that you're not perfect, is it?  You'll probably have to get pretty specific.) 

2.  Ask God for clarity on why this doubt, sin, worry, unforgiveness -- or whatever -- has persisted.  (Your prayer partner may be of help here.)  Sometimes we find a false validation of our existence by holding on to anger at someone who has hurt us in the past.  Sometimes we don't want to let go of control because we don't see how much God has provided for us, so we don't trust him to continue to work out the problems in our lives (you know, those problems you can't resolve anyway...).  Clarity helps us let go.   

3.  Forgive other people, and yourself.  Sometimes I "kick myself around the block" because of something I said or did forty years ago -- and God forgave it, in Christ, long ago!  I can't go back and make it right, and I now have a loving relationship with the other person, so what's the point?  And God has forgiven the other person, so as Paul writes, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (Col. 3:13). Forgiving is a daily, sometimes a moment-by-moment choice, to release the other person to God, who alone can heal and help them; and it frees us to live in God's love. 

4.  Accept God's forgiveness and peace.  This is a form of surrender too.  It includes all the above, plus a deliberate decision to believe that what God has said and done for us is absolutely true, which means all our ideas to the contrary are false.  It can help to keep a list of scriptures that remind you who you truly are in Christ, such as John 1:12, 2 Cor 5:17-19, Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:24, Col. 1:22, Col. 3:3, 1 Thess. 1:4, 1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 John 5:18 etc. 

If you're struggling with doubt, fear or any other sin, try using these tools -- with all your might -- for 30 days and see what difference God's power makes.   And let me know how it goes.  I'll be praying for you!

Full, or Empty?

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, many of us celebrated the resurrection of Jesus.  We saw that the empty tomb proved Jesus had told the truth about himself and that he was, truly, alive forever (Rev. 1:18).  The tomb being empty, that was good!  If Jesus' body had been found there, still dead, it would have been the end of the story.  He would have been, as some claim today, "just a great teacher."  But it was empty, and that gives us the positive assurance of eternal life -- and even more, a great life right now.  Why? 

The story of the women visiting the tomb early on Sunday morning to find the tomb empty and Jesus resurrected, according to the testimony of the angel (Mark 16:1-8) showed them "shocked ...trembling ...bewildered...frightened."  They were "full" of fear, anxiety and doubt.  They were also "empty" of faith, assurance and the power of God.

Sometimes we are just like them.  We feel empty, but Jesus tells us that he is the source of true food (John 6:32-35) and living water (John 4:10-14).  So why, then, do we spend so much time trying to fill ourselves up with other things?  We use food, alcohol, drugs, entertainment, books, video games, sports, power and prestige, sex, porn, or just busyness, to try fill the void that is inside us.  We try to numb the feelings of emptiness and uselessness, so we don't have to admit how empty we feel.

Or we are full of anxiety and pain that we don't want to let go of.  We gain some perverse sort of identity from being angry at someone for an offense from years ago, or from the way our parents treated us.  We are so worried about how life is going to turn out, and trying to control everything so that life will look like we think it should, that we can't let go our fears.  But Jesus tells us not to be afraid -- that was one of his most frequent commands -- and simply to believe (Mark 5:36).  He tells us to come and give all our junk to him, to stop carrying it around and find rest  (Mat. 11:28-30) by trusting him to take care of it all.

So, dear reader, what's it going to be?  Empty or full?  Continue the frustration of attempting solutions on your own, or giving up and letting Jesus provide every thing you need?  Holding on to pain, guilt, anger and blame, or forgiving and letting love from Jesus flow through you?  He's already cleared the way for you.  Your sins no longer hang over your head (or the heads of those you refuse to forgive...) but it's still your choice whether to live in peace or in pain.  Give up, surrender to his grace, and you'll be filled with overflowing joy and peace.

Walking with Jesus

I've been spending a lot of time lately studying and discussing with others what it means to be a Christian.  It's a big subject, but at the same time it has a pretty simple answer.  You may not know it, but that's a big issue of discussion within the Christian world right now, and frankly, many churches in the Western world have it wrong. My denomination was certainly wrong about it, in important ways, for a lot of years, but we're a lot closer now and still growing into a better understanding of it.  To be more personal, I had it wrong all those years and I'm just now seeing it more clearly. 

Most of the time when most Christians tell you about salvation, it's all about forgiveness of your sins and going to be with God when you die.  Those two things are true, but if that's all there is, you may as well live like a pagan until two minutes before you die, then be sure to ask for salvation!  This feeds our Western consumer mentality:  God is someone who will give you forgiveness and other stuff, and salvation is a product you acquire by saying a prayer and getting baptized.  Oh, and attending church -- so choose the most attractive church around, that will make you feel good and increase your social status. 

All of that misses the point.  I wrote briefly about that on September 6, that salvation is not about location but about relationship.  Let me begin to expand on that here.


Salvation is not just a legal or accounting transaction that takes place in heaven when you say the right prayer.  It is being saved from yourself and your sins, but more than that, it's being saved into a life spent with Christ, following him.  Jesus told the twelve, "Come, follow me" and they spent the next three years walking around with him, watching the way he treated people and scratching their heads over what he had just taught.  They began to realize that what he taught related directly to the way he treated people (you might say he lived what he taught).  And they figured out eventually that what he taught and how he treated others came directly from his relationship with the Father, whom Jesus came to reveal.  Once the Holy Spirit was given to them, those relationships were clear to them, and they were able to live what Jesus taught, and teach it to others as he had taught them.

Living a Christian life is, simply, learning to walk with Jesus every hour of every day. Learning to trust him.  Surrendering control to him.  Listening to him.  Letting him do the talking instead of your old motivations. You may have been a Christian for six hours or sixty years, but quite possibly you and I both have missed out on a lot of this, and we both need it.  We'll look later at the methods that will help us, but let's begin with a quietness before God, recognizing our complete inability to make life work and surrendering it to him instead.  Will you walk with Jesus along with me?