Mission Faithwalk

                           Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136: 1, 36)                  We all have words and phrases that get adopted and overused. Some eventually get discarded, but others stay with us, seemingly for life. Today’s passage occurs twice in Psalm 136, and in many other psalms, or so it seems to me. Was David celebrating? Trying to beat the idea through his skull and make it stay lodged in his mind? He probably included this chorus in his songs for both reasons, but I have to say that I often find it irksome.                Sometimes, it’s just the repetition. Sometimes, I think I’m jealous because “God always likes David best” (a la The Smothers Brothers.) Since David as “a man after God’s own heart,” somehow I must be a failure. Sometimes, the competition isn’t there, but the sense of failure is. Sometimes, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter. I’m just timid of “love.” And then, there are those times when I’ve very aw

                   He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”                From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable 

                   Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  (Colossians 3:6-10)                  Yesterday, we considered the idea of resting in the unshakableness of God’s kingdom. As I think about being shaken, I tend to think more about bad things happening to me and things not working out as I wanted them to. Obviously, being shaken can also involve not being what I want to be. But how often do we think about sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed

                 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe , (Hebrews 12:28)             I’m listening to Anne of Avonlea , and let’s just say that Anne is not characterized by unshakability. Everything shakes her, and I’m chagrined that I might be only slightly less shakable than she is. Lots of things shake me, even if I don’t show it. They don’t even have to be entirely rational. Recently, I realized that my mind was pulling a nasty trick on me. When we close at work, we have to stay to recover the store and get it ready for when it opens again. The schedule says, “2-C” and every minute we have to stay past closing, my mind counts as a failure  or a punishment – especially if it goes  beyond a half an hour, and it generally involves two hours.           That’s a trivial sort of shaking, but I have friends who have lost loved ones. Others are facing cancer or some other debilitatin

              Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)             It’s almost 7 pm, and I’m just getting started on this post. Work has been the focus for the past two days. I’m not complaining. It’s just the way it was. So, while I spent the best part of the last 36 hours focusing on Christmas ornaments, trying to maintain a good attitude when there were just plain too many people around, and dealing with pain, today’s passage called me to set my mind on things above.           How easy it is to lose connection with things above and with Christ. Sure, we died, and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to take care of our mundane

                 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)                  How good an athlete would you be if you only practiced a couple of times per year? Even once a week? Or, better yet, how long would you hold a 9-5, Monday through Friday job if you only showed up from 2-3 on Monday afternoons? People sometimes complain about all the rules religions have, but as I have read and listened to Scripture, one of the things I find emphasized is integrity, which is also called faithfulness.                In the same way that being an athlete or an employee requires that you do what athletes and employees do, if you received Christ Jesus as Lord, it’s only reasonable that you would live according to His teachings – because otherwise He’s not your Lord.                I’m not being judgmental here. We all f

                      If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:19)                       Today begins a time of year in which the difference between the world and Christianity should be abundantly clear. We’ll see comments that Jesus didn’t exist or that Christmas is just stuff that Christians dragged into their culture because it made pagans more willing to convert. We’ll see all the insanity of Black Friday, drawn out for as long as the stores can milk it. People will stress over all the details, over not getting all they wanted, over who said (or didn’t say) what to whom, who wore (or didn’t wear) what, and trying to beat the Jones in decorations or gift giving.                Since we live in the world, we can’t escape all of that. Those of us who work in retail are a little more stuck than those who don’t, but I find myself trying to

                 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.    And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him . (Colossians 3:15-17)                  Let the peace of Christ … On the one hand, we’d be only too happy to allow the peace of Christ into our hearts, if only the peace of Christ would establish itself supernaturally and without any effort on our part, or if the peace of Christ happened to go along with what we wanted. But “letting” doesn’t work that way. For us to let the peace of Christ, we must not let something else, including ourselves.                If we miss that in the phrase “Let the peace of Christ,” the ne

                 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— (I Corinthians 1:4-5)                  This is a standard sort of greeting from Paul. I always thank my God for you . For whom do I thank God? For whom do I always thank God? I suspect he doesn’t mean 24/7, but he thanked God for it whenever the Corinthian church came to mind. I can’t say I do this. I thank God when something happens, but not every time I hear their name. It’s a start.                But then I get to the next phrase …because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. Paul wasn’t thanking God because the Corinthians had their Christian walk down pat. You know they didn't if you’ve read the first letter to the Corinthian church. But God gave them grace, and Paul thanked God for them because that grace was demonstrated in their midst somehow. Somehow, God stepped in and did

                 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. ( Psalm 95:1-2)                  I keep telling myself that I need to focus on giving thanks to God, but as I read this passage, what comes to mind is the fact that we tend to think of God as needy because there’s so much talk about how He should be thanked, praised, extoled, sung to, etc. I’m not suggesting that He doesn’t deserve any of those things. He does. But Scripture just makes God seem so pathetic.                It’s like the story of the guy who was irritated with his wife because – after twenty-five years of marriage – dared to ask if he loved her. “I told you I loved you the day we got married,” he answered. “And if that had changed, I’d have told you.” We’re generous, we’re willing to tell God we love Him, or that He’s great, or whatever on special occasions, but we don’t want to get craz

                 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)               Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”                Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains . (John 9:40-41)                    In the days before Thanksgiving, this may seem an odd verse to consider. Normally, it’s associated with people who look around the universe and claim there is no god. We point to the verses before it and say that God has made Himself plain to them in the universe. “Oh, those nasty atheists, they deserve what they get!”                But the problem with atheists is that they are blind, whether they blind themselves or are blinded by others. First, they claim that they, alone, can see but then they claim they don’t or

                 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. (I Chronicles 29:13-16)                  As I said yesterday, now it’s time to look at what David said, keeping in mind that he was a poet/songwriter. On the one side, there’s God, who gives us everything we have. Then there is we [1] , who are foreigners and strangers with insubstantial lives and without hope.                We like to congratulate ourselves on things. We pride ourselves on tiny aspects of who we are: race, gender, education, age, attractiven

                 Now, our God, we  give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. (I Chronicles 29:13-16)                  David wasn’t allowed to build the temple, but he collected for it, and when the collection was over, he was – at least according to what he prayed – amazed. I’ll grant you, David seems to have been the sort who was easily amazed, but I suspect we’d be amazed, too. I’ve heard stories about the church I attend up north and people mortgaging their homes to provide the funds to build the new sanctuary (many years ago.) I’m

                 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)               Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom . (Isaiah 40:28)                  I’m a little weary. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday, then spent Thursday running errands and donating platelets. It’s now after dinner, and I’m just beginning my blog. I know, I don’t have to do most of these things, so I do it to myself, but I’m still weary. I get the impression that many people are weary in one way or with one thing or another. That means I’m not bragging, and most of you probably don’t have the energy to care or to pitch a fit about it anyway. Even if you did, remember – Thanksgiving and Black Friday are one week away. You need to get ready and rest up for them (simultaneously.)                But h

            And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason forth hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. (I Peter 3:13-16)                     Who will harm us if we become followers of what is good? Really, Peter? You sound a little naïve. Of course, we should remember that Peter’s life wasn’t without its trials. He was arrested more than once and very likely beaten and otherwise abused. Eventually, he was crucified upside down. It’s not likely that he was ignorant that there were evil people in the world who would delight in defaming and destroying anyone who doesn’t exalt them. There a

              Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (I Peter 3:9-12)                  The quote in this passage is from Psalm 34:12-16. And, we may as get the obvious point out of the way. Everything Peter writes about in this passage is an call to love one another. If we love someone, we’ll be like-minded. The alternative is to be contentious (I: “Guilty as charged!”). We’ll be sympathetic. We’ll repay their evil with blessing

                 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.   (I Peter 2:15-16)                  There is a quote – though no one seems to know who is being quoted – that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The statement is as logically faulty as its attribution, but it does make a good point. The difference between good and evil isn’t that good is not evil and evil is not good. It is not enough to not do an evil deed in order to be good, or to not do a good deed in order to be evil. In fact, both the evil and the good do both good and evil. Writers are regularly advised to have the bad guy pet a dog or do something good, and have the good guy succumb to temptation to make them realistic.                But just as between -1 and 1, there is zero, so between good and evil, there is nothing

                 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives… (Colossians 1:9)                 Paul mentioned  that they had received the gospel and were growing in faith and love.  This prayer is one of those prayers that is both safe and dangerous. It’s safe because anything that happens in our lives may be said to increase our knowledge of God’s will. It’s safe because life brings about wisdom and understanding. It’s dangerous because there’s a very good chance that the way God will answer and give us all wisdom and understanding is through difficulties.                For example, how can we discover God’s faithfulness to us unless we fail to live according to His directions and find that He remains faithful even when we don’t deserve it? How can we discover God’s faithfulness if we don’t experience need,

                 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (I John 2:15-16)                  This is one of those passages that makes me wish things had labels. Yes, John lists the “everything in the world” that he’s talking about: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These don’t come from the Father, but from the world. But look around the room. What do you see that is one of those three, or the result of one of those three? Perhaps the better question is what isn’t?                I suspect the truth of the matter may be that what is – or is not – one of those three has little to do with things. The picture on the wall may need a label now, and not later. Or it may need a label for me, but not for you.  and everything to do with our attitud

  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)   Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (James 2:22)   I’ve been waiting to write this post all week.  For once, I was paying attention to the holiday at the end of the week. Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, and in the past few  years, I’ve seen quite a few memes like this one: Sometimes, it feels a little as if veterans are second rate – failures who didn’t give all, unlike those who are honored on Memorial Day. After all, veterans are still alive. They gave some, and should be honored for that, but they didn’t give “all.” But Scripture has a problem with that. According to James and the author of Hebrews (and possibly others), Abraham sacrificed Isaac. But Isaac grew up, married, had children, and died at an advanced age. If I give you all the money I have, and you g

                 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)                  We’re looking at a series of long-beloved verses thanks to Biblegateway.com. As I read this one this morning, part of me responded with my standard, “Oh, not this one again.” Another part of me responded with an image of someone trying to change a baby's diaper and the baby squalling and kicking, then urinating all over anything and everything in the area. You know – the standard “changing the baby” nightmare.                A good parent might not like changing a diaper and all that can go with it, but knows that the baby doesn’t understand, doesn’t appreciate having its freedom restricted any more than the parent would, and can’t control its body. Of course, we’re the baby in question, and the parent is God. Brother Andrew wrote that when we sin, we

                 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)                  The last sentence of this passage hangs on the wall next to the door, directly across the room from where I’m sitting. I don’t look at it as much as I should. If you’re like me, and like the Jews, you’re likely to say, “Yes! As for me and my house, we will also serve the Lord.” And then we and the Jews will and did go along through our day, doing what we want to, whether God likes the idea or not.                That’s the reason the sign is on my wall. It’s not just a case of choosing this day whom we will serve, but of choosing this minute or this second. And then the next second, and the one after that.                And we aren’t tempted to se

  I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:1-2)   The election is over. Some would say it’s a minor election, local election but local elections affect what goes on in our daily lives and select the judges who will officiate over most of the court cases in our areas, so there not as unimportant as we might be tempted to think. But whether it was a minor or a major election, it’s over. Do you know who won in your area? Are you happy about who won? The city in which I vote is big enough that it tends to elect candidates I don’t prefer. How do you handle you joy or frustration? Perhaps because “my” candidate loses so often, my general response after any election is “Well, that’s over. Time to get back to life.” I pay as little attention to politics and politicians as I can, but that’s undoubtedl

                 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)                  If you’ve read mysteries, you’ve probably read at least a few that make perfect sense once you find out the answer. Yes, all the clues were there. It was only partly the deviousness of the author that kept you from deducing the right answer. It was mostly your own limitations and interpretations that kept you from the truth.  If you were to reread the story, you’d likely say, “Oh! Of course!” to yourself and “Get with it, you idiots!” to the characters. The latter is what I’m doing with the novel I’m reading.                What Paul reveals here should get the same, “Oh! Of course!” response. God’s will is that He would be Himself and that the universe and everything in it would be itself or themse

                   Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)                  One of the “choruses” I’ve heard from people is, “Observe the masses and do the opposite.” To this, I urge caution and wisdom. The opposite of what is wrong is not necessarily right. It could be just as wrong – or more wrong – in a different direction. We can turn from the world, and hate the world system, and refuse to conform to it for all the wrong reasons. Some people seem quite proud of how they oppose the world. They aren’t like those folks. They’re better. Unfortunately, that’s precisely the pattern of “the world.”                But there is truth to the saying. If you are going to not follow the pattern of this world, you have to have some clue about what the pattern of the world is, and why it is what it is. If the world turns righ

                 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:6)                Competent: having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully: acceptable and satisfactory, though not outstanding                  Minister: (archaic) a person or thing used to achieve or convey something.                  Administer: To be in charge of…                  If you’re like me, “He has made us competent” will get a cheer. I’m competent! That means I’ll get things right, and everything will turn out as it should. Everyone will point at me as I walk down the street and say in an awed voice, “She’s competent!”              I’m not quite that silly. I keep saying I want to be invisible because I don’t want people pointing at me and saying, “Aren’t you the one who ____?” I use a pseudonym as a writer so that I don’t have to be “the author of___”

                 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1)                  I saw this verse the other day and thought, “I hope I don’t have to write about it soon.” Today it came up in my verse of the day files. Sigh. It’s an appropriate passage, because next Tuesday is election day and because our society is so fractured politically and philosophically. Those aren’t the only reasons, however; as Americans, some of us are accustomed to a certain level of antipathy against the government. Even our primary legal document, the Constitution, reflects the idea that there are things the government is not permitted to do, and if it does them, the citizenry is permitted to demand redress or even rebel. The Declaration of Independence strengthens this attitude.                So, how are we to be subject to governing authorities? Shadrach, Me