Mission Faithwalk

e merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:36-37)           If you haven’t read Corrie TenBoom’s The Hiding Place , you need to get yourself a box of tissues and do so. It’s the story of a woman who was put in a German concentration camp because she and her family helped Jews escape from the Nazis. After the war, she became a public speaker, traveling the world with a message of forgiveness and reconciliation.           One day, she met a man after her talk. He was very pleased to meet her again, and told her that since they had last seen one another he had become a Christian. One of the sadistic guards from the camp thanked her for her forgiveness, and then he stuck out his hand.           Would you have shaken his hand? Could you have forgiven him? I know people who talk big about mercy, forgiveness, and tolerance, who then say that people w

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) Then the righteous will answer him, “ Lord , when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?” (Matthew 25:37)           Yesterday wasn’t a bad day. I mowed the front lawn and trimmed part of the fenceline. I made hair conditioner and rinse, then made labels for several bottles of home-made stuff. I got caught up on my revisions of my story and wrote two blog posts and worked on a third. I vacuumed the floors. I took Grace for a walk and made progress on two craft projects. Most people would say it was a pretty good day.           This morning, I look back and think, “But I didn’t …” and then I list things that have been on my to-do list for too long and the third blog post requires some information that I haven’t been able to find, and – unless I find another way – boldly takes writers where they may never ha

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)             This morning, I came across a meme that talked about the extent to which Christianity has influenced the world. One of the comments beneath it said, in effect, that Christianity has done nothing because if it had done something, we would have heaven on earth. I recommended a couple books to him.          As I look at today’s verse, though, I hear his words echoing. How can I be free from the law of sin and death when I still sin? People like the man I mentioned point out that the Church is full of hypocrites. There’s a real sense in which they’re correct, but I find myself wondering what these people think the hypocrisy is. I suspect that they are idealistic, and believe that for Christianity to be true, the split second that someone becomes a Christian, there is zero sin in their life from that time until the end of forever.           Have you listen

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)           This is what sets us apart from everyone else. Even we don’t get it half the time. Christians aren’t good people. Left to ourselves, we’re just as wicked as everyone else. We don’t have a bag of goodness we can use to buy our way into heaven that has anything more in it than anyone else. But…God…. As we approach His throne room, Jesus goes with us. He adds goodness out of His treasury. He adds grace out of His treasury. He gives us righteousness to wear.            That’s hard to handle. We all want to say, “Yes, saved by grace, but… I’m good. I did this, and I did that.” Some folks even expand their proof of goodness to include their ancestors, relatives, and spouses. People who claim to be Christians do this. It’s part of our fallen condition. The understanding that it’s not our goodne

and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:10 NIV) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority (Colossians 2:10 NASB)             “He completes me.”   Or, “She completes me.”            “He’s my better half.” Or, “She’s my better half.”           We seem to have a sense that we aren’t enough on our own, and it’s human nature to seek that enoughness in another person, an activity, a cause, or even a pet. But so often, our “completeness” reminds one of Larry Norman’s song, Reader’s Digest . “ Beatles said All you need is love, and then they broke up.” So often it seems as if the person about whom we say, “_____ completes me” turn out not to and we blame them for not being enough. The problem is that we’re looking for enoughness in the wrong place.           That’s not the case with Christ. He does not leave. The whole idea of grace is that it makes up for our insufficie

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (I Peter 2:9)           The second thing Peter tells us about our identity is that Christians are a royal priesthood. God didn’t choose us and grant us salvation in order for us to enjoy a good life doing whatever we want. He had a purpose in mind. It’s a purpose with a grand and miserable tradition. God called Israel to be priests to the world. They refused. God called the tribe of Levi to be priests. Two of Aaron’s sons failed miserably. Eli’s sons were worse. Samuel’s sons we bad enough that Israel asked for a king. Just as Israel had bad kings, it also had bad priests from that time forward.            One of the important bits of life for the priests of the Old Testament was that they were not given an inheritance among Israel. God told them that He would be their inheritance.           

                  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (I Peter 2:9)           Getting back to the issue of our identity, Peter doesn’t pull any punches. We are chosen. If you read the Old Testament, you’ll see that Israel was a chosen people. They were called to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God, But God tells them repeatedly that they weren’t chosen because they were worthy, and they didn’t even become worthy because they were chosen. In fact, they became more corrupt. The nasty game show buzzer that says, “Wrong Answer” seemed an almost constant soundtrack for the nation for nearly two thousand years. Because of this, the idea that we are chosen people because we deserve it deserves a ROFL, but the truth is, I struggle with the idea of being a chosen person.            I tell myself that I don’

          From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.           Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”           Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. (Matthew 16:21-23)           Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.   “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”           Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (Matthew 4:8-10)           I haven’t heard it as much recently, but there’s this idea out there that Satan

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:17)           I talked to a friend this morning. She mentioned her concerns for her grandchildren and what they are going to face in this world during their lives. I don’t have any kids or grandkids, but as I look toward the next thirty or forty years, I can understand her concerns. It is easy for me to worry about living on my own and the specters of cancer and dementia that may be hiding just around the corner. As I wonder where I’m going to live and what I’m going to do, I know that some of the decisions I have made, and some that I am sure I will make may make life more difficult or even dangerous.            But what came out of my mouth was the reminder that they may have huge challenges. Life may be difficult, or worse for them, and for me, but then it will be over, and we will have the rest of eternity. I know, that sounds “pie in the sky, by and b

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Galatians 5:13)           “Free…dom. Free…dom.” Raise your fist and join the chant … “Free…dom.” Can you imagine how the people to whom Paul wrote this felt? More than ninety percent of the people in the Greco-Roman world were slaves. And what about us? Free? “Hallelujah! No more adulting!”          Paul continues, “But…” As one of my friends would put it, an “infamous but.” Someone else I knew told me that when you say, “But” you are saying that what you said before the but isn’t true. That’s true sometimes, but there are degrees to which the but negates. “You may choose X, Y, or Z, but not A” doesn’t mean you can’t choose at all, it just negates the choice of A. You’re still free to choose X, Y, or Z, and possibly P and R. Just not A.           “Do not use your freedom…” Here’s Paul’s A. Freedom isn’t about not adulting because be

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. (I Corinthians 1:10)           And this quickly, the whole issue of identity gets all tangled up. I understand how some people can feel alienated in the church. I’m a single woman and when my father was alive, he wasn’t active in my church, partly because of his personality, and partly because of his hearing problems. There were times when I voiced an opinion that while Scripture only seems to allow men to be elders, it would be nice for there to be at least one woman to whom single women could go for counseling. This isn’t about rallying women to say, “Yeah, we want a female elder and we’re going to _____ until we get one!” I’m just saying that I understand how it feels to have no one just like me to represent me in the church body. The truth is, there ar

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (I Corinthians 5:17)           I’m stuck on this identity thing. What would Jesus say about all these labels that we give ourselves in order to feel as if we matter? What comes to mind is the story of the ugly duckling or the ugly dachshund. A swan raised by ducks, or a Great Dane in a family of dachshunds, trying so hard to be a   good duck or a good wiener dog. The whole point of the story is that when they give up the lie of being that they aren’t, they become noble, beautiful creatures.            Christians may have been born WASPs, or African Americans, or females, or Autistic, or any of the countless other labels. When we become Christians, our skin color doesn’t change. Our organs don’t disappear. But according to Scripture, we are no longer human. We are new creations. Those old creation things that still exist may stick around for another eighty years, but they still aren’

So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. here is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)                 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)            For the past few weeks in Sunday School, we’ve been looking at what was different about Christianity in the first century. One of the differences brought up was baptism. For most of us, there’s that mental assent, “Yeah, baptism, being dunked or sprinkled… yeah,, so what?” We live in a society that basically shrugs its shoulders as such religious mumbo-jumbo. But there

He said: “I love you, Lord, my source of strength! The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter, my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge.   I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was delivered from my enemies.   The waves of death engulfed me, the currents of chaos overwhelmed me.   The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, the snares of death trapped me.” (Psalm 18:1-5)           It’s being a difficult morning. My drama meter is reading like a compass in the Bermuda Triangle, it’s all over the place. My situation is nowhere near what David’s was, but it’s one of those days. I tried talking to God about it on my walk and learned something yet again.            Yes, God is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer, and my rocky summit. He’s my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge. He is all those things, but none of those things do a lot of good when you drag the enemy along for tea. They aren

            Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt.   So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death—man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’"                 So Saul assembled the army and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot-soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.   Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.                 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way fro

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You. (Isaiah 26:3)           How do you understand this verse? One reading is that God keeps people in perfect peace as a reward for their trusting in Him. Another reading is that God keeps people in perfect peace because their minds are steadfastly trusting in God. I think the second is the more accurate reading,            Here’s a more important matter. God keeps those in perfect peace …because they trust in Him . They don’t trust in the circumstances. In fact, the only reason this passage can say that they are kept in perfect peace …because they trust in Him is because their circumstances aren’t trustworthy or peaceful.   If their circumstances were as they wanted, or better than they wanted, and were guaranteed to remain that way, there wouldn’t be any reason for God to keep them in perfect peace, no reason their minds would need to be steadfast, no reason to focus on trusting Him.       

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5)           “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”          “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.             “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”   (John 3:8-12)             I just looked at the weather forecast for the next five days. They say there’s a twenty percent chance of rain today, a ten percent chance tomorrow, and a ninety percent chance the day after that. That means I have to get

And the peace of God , which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus . (Philippians 4:7)                 “We could have peace on earth if they would just get with the program .” Just who they are is up to you. Just what getting with the program means is up to you, but we all seem to have a they and a program . And we’re right. We would have peace, for a time, if we all became Socialists. We would have peace if we all became true Conservatives. We would have peace if we all became Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, possibly even if we all became Satanists – at least if we all became any specific subgroup of one of those. The key is the all . If we all agree we would have peace, at least until something went wrong from someone’s perspective.            This brings us to an understanding of peace that we all have, but may not think about. We think of peace as a lack of strife, but there are only two means to a lack of str

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)             A wise mama talking to her boy-prince about women. He would have money. He would have power. He would be good looking. All three of those are shiny. They would draw in barracudas. They’re beautiful and streamlined, effortless gliding through the water. And quick as a whip, they’re gone and he’s bleeding in the water, scarred for life.             Bathsheba had seen women in a king’s household. She knew the sort of games they played. Her husband had at least nine wives. She knew the temptations her son would face as king. Pretty faces fade, letting the true beauty, or ugliness, shine through.              I’ve seen memes advising people to stop telling children how cute they are. Tell them instead that they are courageous, or kind, or strong, or good at math. I’ve also seen memes asking whether a little girl with Downs’ Syndrome who is dressed like a model is

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. (Proverbs 31:10, 27-28)                Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and as usual, I got to the actual day before remembering that I should say something about the holiday. That’s OK because no doubt mothers in churches across the land will be informed about how they should behave. Maybe that’s changed, but it was the case for long enough in my life that it’s what I associate with church on Mother’s Day… mothers being browbeaten. This isn’t the only celebration used to lecture the celebrants. Father’s Day was used to either lecture fathers, or to lecture children about being better children. Naturalization court is used by many to lecture people who have just completed the training necessary to become citizens about how to be good citizens.       

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing .” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. (I Samuel 24:24)             I’m angry this afternoon. I am offended. One person touched off the fire, but that person isn’t to blame. Our society has, for many years now, taught a deceitful, simplistic, superficial idea of love, and I’ve had enough.              Today’s outrage was the claim that love is free and that we should share some. Really? Love is free ? Has your love for your spouse, your child, your grandchild or anyone else every cost you nothing? You have never spent a penny, or a second of your time, or a reduced Planck constant (the smallest unit of energy) in the expression of your love for someone? What a disgusting, miserable sort of love that must be. Jesus’ love cost Him His life and we’re now supposed to revere as val

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ( Ephesians 4:32 )           Some folks think of kindness as giving someone what they want or need, particularly if that thing makes their life easier. That’s not a bad understanding. I think the problem arises when we think of kindness only in terms of what someone wants, or only in terms of pleasant things. I know some other folks who delight in doing stuff “for ____’s own good” then standing back and watching the struggle. I submit that true kindness lies between those two extremes. It concerns itself exclusively neither with pleasant things nor “making a man/woman out of you.”           Here’s another thing about kindness and compassion. The goal isn’t to allow the kind/compassionate person to pat themselves on the back. I’ve read about a white guy who was involved in the Civil Rights movement, who told an African American involved in the same movement that “his kind” should sho