Walking With God
"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."Genesis 5:21-25
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Recognizing the Shepherd
Some days, I find myself walking along the relatively narrow footpath, keeping in step with my Lord as He walks beside me. As we walk, the subject of our conversation floats between my own actions, concerns for my family and friends, and how I might learn to better recognize and experience His presence from moment to moment. And as I engage with Him, as we spend time together, His grace washes over me. In His presence, I want to be nowhere else. But eventually I stop talking, while Jesus, too, remains silent. As our conversation dwindles I drift away from Him, just as a curious child runs off ahead or…
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Exit Strategy
One day I was striving forward, kicking stones and leaping over obstacles. I trudged through the unfamiliar jungle, whipping my machete back and forth to cut down the forbidding overgrowth that tried to hold me back. I could hear the rushing water of our meeting place, though I was still a long way off. I could picture the deep green pastures there beside the freshwater stream. Equipped with purpose and power, knowing that my Master waited there for me, having prepared an unbelievable picnic spread under sprawling trees and a tapestry of wildflowers, I fought through the chaos with the knowledge (not just hope) that He was there and that…
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Faking It
I often struggle with the idea that my relationship with God is not real. It’s not me thinking that God isn’t real, it’s just me. Am I just going through the motions pretending to be in love with Jesus, or is there something truly there? I don’t, for a second, think that Jesus doesn’t love me. Not for the smallest moment do I question God’s love for me. He has proven Himself to me time and again. But is my love and devotion to Him real? Or am I just faking it? There are days when I feel overwhelmed by His presence, but then others when I don’t sense Him…
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Where Have Those Feet Been?
Foot-washing was a very common practice in ancient times, since all roadways were generally regular old dusty dirt . . . with an added bonus. Folks all wore sandals of some fashion, but those nearly bare feet, combined with often hours of travel, resulted in quite filthy feet indeed. Keep in mind, of course, in those days, people weren’t driving Toyotas, Fords, Chevys or Subarus, replete with their toxic emissions. No, they were driving camels, oxen, sheep, donkeys and goats, replete with their toxic emissions! Such transportation and walking cargo did not “hold it” until the next gas station. The animals relieved themselves as they moved, which was on the…
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Slavery Is Easy
I know, I know. But let’s talk about this. Heading back to the Old Testament book of Exodus, we’re reminded that God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, not to the Promised Land . . . but into the Wilderness. Christians tend to consider the Wilderness as only that place of wandering we sometimes stumble into from time to time. But the reality is that the Wilderness is where we live, and there is no leaving it until such time as we are granted admission into the Promised Land at the end of our great journey. We look at the history of the Israelites having spent several generations…
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Making the List
Blessings or curses. Wrath or favor. Heaven or hell. Why did we all grow up believing that either God rewards or punishes us based on our behavior? Some of us have come to believe that we're either in or out of God's grace because of our deeds. And since we all know (deep down) that we are inherently failures according to God's glorious standard (Romans 3:23), we kind of already know we won't be rewarded by being allowed into Heaven. Some of us try to play the game and attempt to be "good persons" (at least better than the other guy), expecting that, on that Day of Judgment, God will…
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Slaves of Righteousness
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:5-7 NIV When one is enslaved, he has been taken against his will to live and serve a new master in constant fear. Initially, the slave’s desire is simply to escape and return to what he used to know. But as…
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True Crimes
For many, the concept of committing a “sin” is a tough thing to grasp. Before I knew Jesus, I’d heard tell of those who professed to be sinners and attempted to convince others of their morally superior perspective. At that time, the basic concept of sin didn’t mean anything to me. It was used in the context of having broken some secret rules, or at worst, having committed some kind of crime against God. But to me, these always seemed like victimless crimes, since He was God and surely anything I could possibly do wasn’t that big of a deal. Of course, once I was exposed to the Word of…
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Second Skin
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins (Mark 2:22)." Did you realize that as reptiles grow, they shed their skin to allow for further growth? This is because, unlike our skin, a reptile’s doesn’t grow as they grow. Instead, snakes, lizards, and other reptiles must shed their skin regularly as their old skin is outgrown . . . But, unlike the human body, our spiritual skin does not grow and stretch. Indeed, like that of the reptile, our spiritual skin must be shed…
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The First Communion
A couple of years ago, I got in my head the idea of investigating the true meaning and purpose of Communion (The Lord’s Supper) beyond my own elementary understanding of it, and ignoring the different traditions that surround it. Sure, we all understand and appreciate this mirroring of the Last Supper on the night before Jesus’ death on the Cross, and how sharing in it as a church body reminds us of that Cross and the suffering Jesus underwent on our behalf. We get it. But for me, this wasn’t good enough, because the way the Catholic church teaches and practices it, both in substance and form, differs from how…
