Life Goes On

This morning as I enjoyed brunch at Denny's, I found myself praying for my grandkids. All the while I was eating, eavesdropping on a conversation nearby, noticing the people walking about in the restaurant, etc. The thought popped into my head, "I wonder how effective this prayer is when I'm mixing it in with everything else going on around me?" Thinking back, I recall praying while driving, watching TV, and (blush) while in the bath room. I'll share my conclusions with you, but I'd really like to hear from you on this matter. My bottom line on this is that so long as multi-tasking prayer isn't all the praying that you do, it is OK. As a matter of fact, it is probably a great add-on to your prayer life. However, there must be prayer time which is totally focused on the Lord and the prayer needs at hand without a bunch of other "stuff" competing for your attention. I think that is what Jesus meant by "go into your closet" when te...

This past week in my daily Bible reading I came across John 14:12 where Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. " Every time I read that, I ache for it to be true in my life. The word, "believe" is the same here as in John 3:16. Therefore, if I "believe" enough to be granted eternal life, I should also be doing the works of Jesus. I'm really tired of living beneath the privilege of a child of God and spiritual younger brother of Jesus. According to Romans 8:29, God intends to conform me to the image of Jesus. I know that the speed with which this happens depends on my obedience. God doesn't just arbitrarily mature some folks faster than others. I take far too many "Jonah side-trips" instead of obeying immediately. I long to be in a church that believes and acts upon the Word of God. I know that it ...

You've probably seen this scenario replayed a thousand times on TV and in the movies. The goodguy/badguy (you choose) has his target in the sights of his high powered sniper's rifle. He has a clear shot. His finger begins to tighten on the trigger...and then...for some unknown reason, he lowers the gun and the moment passes. I find myself in somewhat the same situation. I'm writing a devotional book. I had set a deadline for publishing (which has passed) contacted several self-publishing companies, talked with numerous representatives and visited myriad websites. However, along the way I got diverted from my target and have never finished the book. I'm down to the last 14 weeks which will complete the year long devotional book. Somehow I know that when I finish the writing, I'll have to pull the trigger on selecting a publishing package and invest some money in my project. As I take aim, a thousand thoughts buzz through my brain. What If I publish it and n...

About the time I think that the "worship wars" are over, I hear of another flare up. I know that God must be very tired of this. The silly thing about it is that those who are wrangling over what style of music to use in worship services aren't at all shy about taking potshots at those with other opinions. Their mantra seems to be "any opinion is good so long as it is mine." I got to thinking today on my walk about the words, "contempory" and "traditional". If you break these words down, neither make sense in the way people are bandying them around regarding church music. Example; Con (with) temporary (that which is passing away); so, what is contemporary today is not tomorrow...because it was only temporary to start with. Also, contemporary music depends on the part of the country or world being referred to. What is contemporary in So. America is not in No. America, etc. Then there is "traditional". Once again it depends on...

One of the things that I'm discovering during "retirement" is that I don't do well without deadlines and job descriptions. Complain as I may (and as I have) about these, it seems that I've become somewhat dependent on them. Now that I'm in charge of what I do and when I do it, I'm likely to fritter away huge blocks of time that I can't really account for. I'm feeling the need to set a daily schedule that includes my workout, writing, the "honey-do's" around the house, and all those things I used to say that I would do "when I had time". Perhaps I've not yet purged myself of 50+ years of employer expectations. I'm hoping that one day soon I'll wake up and find that I really have developed a personal schedule that is flexible and yet productive. Now that I've accepted an interim pastorate, I'm once again under deadlines to produce two sermons and one Bible Study per week as well as do some ministry tas...

A couple of entries back I talked about love for one another being a badge of discipleship. That idea acutally springs from the words of Jesus in John 13:34-35. One problem that many of today's Christ-followers have with this is that their definition of love is too shallow. Anyone raised in the modern west has been programmed to believe that love is primarily a feeling that comes upon you and there is little or nothing that you can do about it. We're stuck in the phileo (brotherly love) or eros (physical or fleshly love) definitions of love, and have very little understanding of agapaeo. Agape love is what I call "love on purpose". The act(s) of love precede, and eventually produce, feelings. The old DC Talk song, "Love is Something You Do" pretty much nailed it. Bottom line; I can choose to love people that I really don't even like. I can choose to do loving things for them because that is what Jesus did for me. I can choose to love that other...