Thinking on these things . . .

There are certain things that you can say to certain people: it all depends on what you need to say and the person to whom you are saying it. There are levels of honesty in our communication with others. Perhaps honesty is not the best word, perhaps the word would be transparency. In my experience the degree of one’s opaqueness is connected to the depth of the relationship. When there is an offense both the strength of the relationship and the desire for it to continue will determine if there is a clearing of the air, if it immediately ends, or if it’s the beginning of a steady drift apart. We know from the Psalms of David’s relationship with God but I’ve recently discovered what Jeremiah had to say to God and it’s pretty shocking… “Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are the evil people so happy?” Jeremiah 12:1 It’s a question we’ve all asked but then Jeremiah got personal, really pe...

What is the reason when it all comes crashing down? When what was stable is gone and "normal" no longer is? Where is God when what seemed to be good and right and pleasing to Him is destroyed in your life? Let me answer with a quick history lesson. The people of Israel, as we know from the Old Testament, are God's chosen people. However, because of their sin, God let them be taken into captivity in two groups, in 722 BC and in 586 BC. At this point there was no longer a nation of Israel, as its people had been scattered across the face of the earth and the Temple lay in ruins in Jerusalem. Even a casual acquaintance with the OT shows how important the Temple was to the Jews. It was here they offered their sacrifices to God, and gathered to celebrate their feasts and holidays, but now they were far from home; how would they worship God now? And should they even continue to worship God? After all, He'd let them be conquered, captured, and lead away and His house had bee...

This just might be one of the most common questions of all time; no doubt you've both asked and answered it many times... Unfortunately the very fact that the question is being asked means the answer is "No" and then there's the subsequent complaining from the back seat... Are we there yet? I wonder if the author of said sentiment was Abraham. He was the ultimate person on a journey not knowing if he'd yet arrived at his destination. In Genesis 12 God says to Abraham "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you." . So he does. Abraham packs up his family, his livestock, his tents, and all his wealth and hits the road. He leaves from Haran and finally arrived in Canaan and stops near Shechem. A quick check of the map in the back of my Bible tells me that's around 400 miles. I don't know how quickly they traveled but I do know that the wagon trains heading West in the pioneer days average...

Familiar — the word itself conjures up warmth and security, doesn't it? Something familiar is something we understand and are comfortable with because we know how it works. It is something with which we are closely intimate or well acquainted. We get a sense of familiar in the routines of our days— That morning coffee ... The road to work, so well known that if your car were a horse you could sleep at the wheel ... Those welcoming sheets at night. We have a sense of the familiar when we engage in something we know from hours of experience, like — Riding a bike ... Playing an instrument ... Working with a hobby ... Hearing a friend's voice on the phone. And then there is the sense of the familiar in our possessions — When you discover a memento from your past, Or when you pull out the same Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree every year. Familiarity also comes through less tangible ways, like — Hearing a song you haven't heard in a long time ... Or reconnecting with a lo...

I was stopped this morning by this phrase in Psalms 39:3(NLT): "Rescue me from my rebellion..." Rebellion. It was a popular word when I was a teen. It was all about being—or being entreated not to be—rebellious, but surely that doesn’t apply now. I don't know any of my peer group who are out lighting up cigarettes behind the bleachers, dyeing their hair green, (although perhaps they dye it brown to cover the gray), sneaking out at night, or railing against authority. And then I read this in Psalms 32: 6 (NLT): "Let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time ..." which seems like an oxymoron—people who are godly and rebellious? Surely these verses have nothing to do with me. Rebellion is a negative response to being asked to do something that we don't want to do. It's going up against the expected, the rules, the precedents, and principles. It's an attitude of "I don't want to, I don't have to, and I'm not goin...

I was reading about Gideon today, and I found a bunch of details I'd missed before that I thought were really interesting. Let me recap the story for you. Once upon a time there was a man named Gideon, whose country was under siege by the Midianites. He was so afraid of the occupying force that he stayed hidden in a wine press crushing grain to make flour, hoping the Midianites wouldn't see him. An angel of the Lord came to him and called him a "mighty man." He looked around and said, "You talkin' to me?!" The angel told him to go in his strength and rescue Israel from their oppressors. Gideon responded, "Uh, you don't know who you're talking to, because I am the weakest and the least of my family, much less anyone else's family." The angel then told him that God would be with him. Gideon asked the angel to wait, then went home and made a meal and brought it back. The angel put it on a rock, and fire came and consumed the whole thin...

So here we are, a new blank year stretching out before us like verdant rolling hills although now blanketed with pristine snow. This day begins a year’s worth of days in which things will be different because it is a “NEW” year. I’ve done remarkably well in this New Year with all the resolutions I subconsciously make and consciously don’t admit. So far I’ve both eaten and acted well! Although the only exercise I’ve engaged in is the current jumping (sounds aerobic doesn’t it?) of my fingers on the laptop keys as I’ve been awake all of five minutes and am still in bed, covers up to my chin…Every year I think about how ludicrous it is to start a new year after an indulgent and late night celebration of the ending of the old; especially as I am one who is barely coherent after ten p.m.(seriously, ask anyone who’s trying to converse with me after that magic hour, it’s quite comical I’m told!) We love “NEW”. Packaged with everything "NEW" is a measure of hope that with the “NEW” ...