Mentor

A man in my church has been accepted as a student at Lexington Theological Seminary which requires that he have an experienced ministers as his Mentor. I am honored that he has asked me to to fill that roll.

I am excited for him and the church as he has excellent gifts for ministry. 

This Day Only

Psalm 118:24 Say, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I am aware that on this day I live and love in the presence of God and in a sense only on this day. Yesterday is gone and exist only in memory. There is no reliving it so there is only forgiveness for wrongs and fleeting glory for success. Tomorrow on the other hand is completely unknown and while I may have plans for that day experience tells me that Tomorrow may never come for me.

This is the day and the moment that God has given us to live in a love others. This day is what we must make the most of and expereince what ever joy there may be in living it.

Yes this day only. 

Cultural Change

The Western Anglo Culture in the US and Canada is in decline.  First it is shrinking due to low birth rates among basically decedents of Europeans in the U.S. and Canada.  The decline is being filled by high birth rates of people who come from other areas of the world.

 

We have always been a diverse culture and we are becoming more diverse all the time. In many ways this is a good thing as our world becomes more integrated but it is also a scary thing to many people who have a hard time dealing with change. Some people become angry and strike out at those who are different or speak another language. The Irish, Germans, Italians, Chinese and Japanese have all felt the wrath of those who were here before.  We are a nation of immigrants and each culture has endured the pain of new beginning here.

 

What would Jesus do? Love everyone!

Two Walked on Water

I have often heard the phrase that "Only Jesus walked on water." However according the the Gospel of Matthew there was one other person who also walked on the water.

When the Disciples saw Jesus walking on the water toward their boat Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk on water too and Jesus did. Peter actually climbed out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. He could not have done that on his own power but he trusted Jesus. Did the impulsive Peter think much about what he was asking? Did he consider the problems?

When we give ourselves to God and really trust Him, we can do amazing things.  Peter was successfully walking on the water but there was a storm and he became afraid. Life is full of stormy seas of all kinds and we can become afraid of what might happen.  Like Peter fear sometimes grips us and we begin to doubt our faith.  When that happened Peter called out to Jesus for help and so can we.

Remember Jesus saves in more ways than one.

Righteous Anger

I was teaching a class on bible times and began the sections on the Hebrew Sabbath telling the class that it started at Sundown on Friday and ending at sundown on Saturday. A middle aged man in the class became red in the face and said I was wrong. “Sunday is the Sabbath,”  he shouted, “and the Sabbath is the seventh, and that’s the truth.” He glared at me and dared me to say anything different.

 

He had grown up with that understanding and was angry that anyone including a preacher would question it. His response may reflect our own attitudes about our faith more than we think. When our traditions are challenged we often become defensive and are not open to new information. Tradition can be a most difficult master to escape and yet Jesus teaches us to seek the truth and be set free.  

 

In Matthew 13:3 Jesus says, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?”

 

What traditions enslave us? Why are we afraid to seek the truth? Why does that make us angry?

Abba on Father's Day

On Father's Day my Darling Daughters remember their daddy with phone calls.

I am reminded that each Sunday we say a prayer that is sometimes called the "Our Father" or Lord's Prayer. It was a model prayer that Jesus taught us to say that begins with "Our Father which art in Heaven."  Several times Jesus referred to God as Abba which can be translated as father but is more correctly translated as a more familiar "daddy" that is very personal and comforting to me.