Mission Faithwalk

          “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.   But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.   The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)           There was a special front section in the Erie paper Sunday morning. In big, bold letters, it said, “Rebuilding America.” The rest of the section was dedicated to brief reports on the current status of the several area industries. I understand. Getting our economy going is vital. It is desperately needed. The disaster created by locking down the various states is likely to bring about devastating consequences. I und

  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.   Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.   Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:16-18) Yesterday morning, I got an answer to prayer. I even got warning that it was on its way, but of course, I didn’t really recognize it as such. Someone (whose name happens to be Karen – a different Karen) posted on a   local Face Book page that there was going to be a prayer meeting in a specific parking lot, at 9:30. I thought, “I should go” and I put it on my calendar, but Saturday morning, it was one of those “Oh, this” and “Oh, that” things. Finally, with just enough time to get there, I got my rear in gear and got out of here.  There were six of us, and some of   us knew people wh

          Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as your self. I am the Lord . (Leviticus 19:18)                     “You have heard that it was said, ‘ Love your neighbor and hate your enemy .’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ... (Matthew 5:43-48)           For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 5:14-15)           There have been at least four incidents in the pats month or so that have involved media (or social media) coverage of evil men doing evil things. In at least two of those incidents resulted in the death of the victim. I haven’t heard whether the riot

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29) Weary. Burdened. That describes this morning. As is so often the case, it’s the little things that cause the weariness and burdens. This whole virus thing – either we’ll live or we’ll die. What’s the big deal? We may as well live until we die, but some of us get all wrapped up in trying to ensure that not only do we survive, and they survive, but that they can pat themselves on the back for having saved the human race. As if we really have anything to say in that matter. But the little things. They get us every time. This isn’t meant to suggest a fatalistic or nihilistic perspective is the best choice. Instead, it’s about turning our focus to something that gives energy instead of taking it. It’s about casting off the burden and living, not unaware, not unaffected, no

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11) As with so many of the promises about God’s provision, there’s a part of my mind that says, “Yeah, right. Maybe it works for other people, but it doesn’t work for me.” There are times when it seems to work for everyone but me, and other times when it seems to work for no one, including me. But I’ve been through this a thousand times at least. I am not God. I do not have His wisdom. So often, I think I’m asking for bread, but the reality is that I’m asking for a stone. I ask for a fish, bu

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) This is another of those beloved passages about God’s provision for us. As I’ve noted in the past couple days, I seem to have fallen into a melancholy or contemplative mood, wondering how I have come to where I am, how I have failed so much in the world’s eyes and my own, but at the same time, how I have succeeded, because I am here, now and, as far as has been revealed to me by God, walking in obedience to the extent that I can, but like so many other people, making excuses when I fail.  I decided to build the habit of sitting on my back porch for a few moments to commune with God and meditate and took this passage with me. As I considered the idea of His having plans that will g

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?   Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.   If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.   But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:26-33) Do you not know that your bodies are temple s of the Holy Spirit , who is in you, whom you ha

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord , and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth,   so are my ways higher than your ways   and my thoughts than your thoughts. “(Isaiah 55:6-9) Reading this passage this morning, the first question that comes to mind is whether or not I really believe that God has mercy or freely pardons. I know it’s what Scripture says, and I guess I am depending on it being true, but this morning I woke with a sore back and a bad case of brain fog. I feel like I’ve been stumbling around, and the two prayers that came most readily to my mind were “Please, Lord,” and “Have mercy.” The first issue is that I’m not sure those aren’t flippant prayers on my part. God has had m

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;   in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)           This is one of those beloved-behated passages about God’s provision. We quote it with such enthusiasm, but when it comes to actually living it out, it’s hard. Trust in the Lord? Sure, yes, of course! Until things aren’t going well. Then we say, “Uh, Lord? What’s going on?”           With all our heart? Keeping in mind that heart doesn’t mean emotions. It means will. Trust with every ounce of will-power you have, even when it’s not easy? Um. The good news with that one is that every ounce right now may be less than every ounce ten minutes or a year from now. Trust is like a muscle. It gets stronger with use.          And this may be the worst. Trust even when you don’t understand. I’ve had conversations with God about this one:            “God, I don’t understand.”          “You don’t need to.”

          When the Lord heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance. Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. (Psalm 78:21-25)                   I put my back out this morning trimming along my raised beds, so while I spent time on my back on an icepack, I opened my Bible randomly to II Samuel 1. I’m not including it here because it’s long, but it includes a song that David wrote after hearing of the death of King Saul and Prince Jonathan. It’s understandable that he’d sing about Jonathan. They were friends, but Saul had been trying to kill David for at least seven years. But the song isn’t about how David’s enemy finally got what was coming to him.                  In today

Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.   I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. (Psalm 81:8-10)                 Returning to the list of passages Dallas Willard provided about God’s provision, today we look at a major challenge for us. It’s easy to look at the last phrase, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” We can get excited about that. Like baby birds, we can sit with our mouths open a lot. As Dallas Willard has pointed out, we have infinite desire.                  The problem is that in our infinite desire, we tend to ignore the rest of the passage. We’re only too happy to open our mouths and have God fill them, but the part about having no foreign gods – or any gods other than God. That’s the hard part. We desire things, sometimes necessary things, to the point that they become go

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”          “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:11-13)                         Someone on one of my social media outlets asked a question today about what three characteristics I’m building or showing (or some such) during this crisis. I said that I would like to be able to say that I’m demonstrating love, faith, and courage, or maybe love, faith, and curiosity. Instead, I’m probably showing pride, frustration, and impatience. This

          The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.   (Psalm 37: 23-24) We’ve been talking about perspective a lot, and today’s passage is yet another example. What does it mean that our steps are made firm? Does that mean we know exactly where to put each foot? Does it mean that everywhere we walk, it’s on an absolutely smooth slab of concrete, with nothing growing up through the cracks to trip us, or hide a change in level that will trip us? Does it mean that there will never be “wind and waves boisterous”? Likewise, what does it mean that a person will stumble, but not fall? What does it mean to be upheld with his hand?            The most obvious meaning invokes a picture of walking hand-in-hand with God. If you trip or stumble, His strength keeps you from falling off the trail, over the cliff’s edge. He keeps you on your feet. But the other equally obvious thing is tha

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord , you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:7-10)   “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.   If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.   But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as we

          How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.   They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. (Psalm 36:7-8)           There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God , “ Thy will be done ,” and those to whom God says , in the end , “ Thy will be done . ”. (C.S. Lewis)           There are people who maintain that because God’s love is unfailing, we must all ultimately go to heaven. I maintain that it would be singularly unloving of God to for Himself on someone who has spent a life rejecting Him and rejecting the principles He teaches. Since sin is that which separates us from God, if we have spent our lives in unrepented sin, it would be hateful in the extreme to require that someone then spend eternity living in a way that is diametrically opposed to what they chose in life. Some people claim that we will simply be shown that our thinking was a mist

T he Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. (Deuteronomy 2:7) So you wanna go back to Egypt Where it's warm and secure Are sorry you bought the one way ticket When you thought you were sure You wanted to live in the land of promise But now it's getting so hard Are you sorry you're out here in the desert Instead of your own back yard Eating leaks and onions by the Nile Ooh what breath for dining out in style Ooh, my life's on the skids Building the pyramids Well there's nothing do but travel And we sure travel a lot 'Cause it's hard to keep your feet from moving When the sand gets so hot And in the morning it's manna hotcakes We snack on manna all day And we sure had a winner last night for dinner Flaming manna souffle Well we once complained for somet