Mission Faithwalk

                             Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen , (Isaiah 43:18-20) It is like your gardening   You picked your garden spot! (Erie). You are now planted. This past year you have had time to get your job, church, and form relationships .(Growing strong roots) Then the healthy plant sets out blossoms   (reaching out to projects and community). Soon the   will show up and you will have wings. (As you had started to do at Hillcrest). You will no longer fee...

               Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)           I admit it. In case you haven’t read between the lines of late, I’m feeling a little off kilter. It’s the time of year when things are supposed to change. School is supposed to start. As it happens, I may be going back to “school,” to learn to be a master gardener, but I don’t know yet, and it doesn’t start until October. Snowbirds are supposed to head south. It’s sort of like when someone takes something from you and you don’t know what to do with your hands. It doesn’t help that I’ve decided to learn to crochet hats, but haven’t picked a pattern yet.           I don’t know if anyone else is in the sort of a funk. The reality is that nothing is wrong except (wait for it!) my attitude. However, today’s verse is food for thought. Wh...

              Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2)           If you have experienced any positive results from being a Christian…any encouragement…comfort…sharing…tenderness…compassion… then be a Christian and do the things that Christians are supposed to do. As much as I am convinced that Christianity is the best and only truly good choice, if you have received any encouragement…comfort…sharing…tenderness…compassion… from being a Muslim, a Wiccan, a toxic male, a Socialist, or a psychopath, then be a Muslim, a Wiccan, a toxic male, a Socialist, or a psychopath. I’m not suggesting anything in that list from Muslim to psychopath is something you s...

              Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. (I Peter 3:8)           “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, (Luke 6:27)           There are two things I doubt Charlie Kirk would have wanted as a result of his death. The first is to be made out to be better than he was. I’m not saying anything against him. I’m speaking against those who would make an idol of him. The second is to have others respond in his name in precisely the manner he rejected or to make a weapon of him. One meme I saw said something about killing him resulting in the creation of 12 million of him, but if any of those 12 million are belligerent, they are not him or his followers. To be a new Charlie Kirk means educating oneself. I suspect he would sugge...

                 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4) Rejoice? On the day after the anniversary of 9/11? With all that’s going wrong in the world, the country, the state, the county, the city, the neighborhood, and our homes? Rejoice? Or let’s bring it down to the minor stuff: more than 36 canning lids and an open bowl of ketchup hitting the floor, six hours of work on a knee that is threatening to strike and a few other joints listening in and it’s the end of the day and I’m just tired. Rejoice? A sick family member needing 24/7 help? A medical diagnosis that’s not someone else’s? A family member walking away. Financial struggles? Rejoice? Rejoice ?           OK, the good Sunday School answers… God is still God. God has promised to work all things together for good for us. It builds our character. It’s all temporary and eternity looms large and wond...

                 A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 120:1-2)           The past few days have been tough. I thought of writing something for yesterday’s post about 9/11, but I write the day before. Last night and this morning, the grief hit, possibly because I learned that Iryna Zarutska was killed in Charlotte (a couple of weeks ago) and Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah yesterday. In my mind, the three are separated by time and space, but irrationally, one in their message. That message is that something has been and is desperately wrong with this country. We need help.           In ancient Israel, the mountains were places of idol worship and danger. They were also the territory that had to be traveled to get to the...

            Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:4)           Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (I Corinthians 1:26-27) When God put a calling on your life, He already factored in your stupidity . (unknown but found It's Factored In ... - Pastor Terry Lema's Daily Devotions ) The Footprints Poem ( Footprints in the Sand Poem - I Carried You ) Like Terry Lema, I saw the quote about God factoring in our stupidity and it came to mind when I read the verse from Isaiah. Pastor Lema m...

               Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. (Titus 2:2) Oh, here we go. A single, modern (not post-modern) woman thinking I have a right to comment on the behavior of “older men.” It doesn’t make it any better because the comments are about one of the current subhuman classes. We must be ever so careful if we talk about people of certain skin-tones, or who claim to have a gender that is “new and improved,” but gutting guys, that’s a current gladiator sport. And older men? Well, they’re derelicts from a primitive age and they don’t tend to like the way things are headed, so yeah…I can attack older men with impunity. Right? There are two issues with the paragraph you just read. First, I don’t intend to attack anyone. Second, the passage above wasn’t written by me. They aren’t my words. So, trusting to God for wisdom, let’s walk on some eggshells, or ...

            Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground . (Psalm 143:10)           Today’s passage is a good description of what a god is. It might not quite be a comprehensive definition of god but it is a good start. That to which we submit our wills is our god. That which has the right, authority, and permission to teach or lead us is our god, even if we know perfectly well that there’s nothing supernatural about it. That to which we look for guidance to walk on level ground or in times of trouble, that’s our god. It may change from one breath to the next.           Some people say that Christians are often functional atheists, living as if there were no god. I disagree. We have too many gods, most of whom we don’t even realize we’re serving. On the other hand, atheists and agnostics only have t...

                 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?     You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.   You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:   all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalms 8:3-9) Last night was the Harvest/Corn Moon and in some places on the planet, it was also a Blood Moon/Lunar Eclipse. We have a fascination with the sky and with our planet and its creatures. Even those who abuse the planet and its creatures sometimes stand in awe of its magnificence. One of the videos I...

            Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)           This is the definition of Christian . It is someone who loves Christ and therefore obeys Him.  As a result, God and Jesus make their home with the person. We struggle with the idea that love means we obey God. We don’t have as much trouble with the notion that God should obey us. We call that answering prayers. And we’ve all experienced broken relationships within our homes or witnessed them in the homes of those around us. We’ve been told having healthy boundaries is essential to personal and interpersonal well-being.           So why is it that we have such problems with the notion of loving and obeying God? Yes, our fallen nature is a big part of it. But I think anot...

                  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  (Genesis 50:20) being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus . (Philippians 1:6) for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)   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. (Jeremiah 29:11) and of course,             And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)    ...

              What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (II Timothy 1:13-14)           Worldview : a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world, particularly from a specific standpoint. It represents the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society, encompassing their knowledge, culture, and point of view. Additionally, it can be described as a philosophy of the universe and humanity's relation to it (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, online.)           A worldview is or includes one’s knowledge, culture, and point of view, and it is one’s philosophy of the universe and our relation to it. As such, it is indistinguishable from one’s religion. This d...

  This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. ” (Isaiah 48:17) I get it. It’s the temptation of Genesis 3 all over again. We would be like the Most High. We just have to distrust God and rely on our own perceptions and understandings. I know. I recognize the problem. We have our perceptions. We don’t have God’s. To trust God requires that we let go of what we have to accept the unknown. It’s a scary prospect. We’re being asked to buy a pig in a poke. Perhaps worse, we’re being asked to buy that pig in a poke when there’s another “perfectly acceptable” pig right in front of us and it looks pretty good. I mean, what if the thing in the poke isn’t even a pig? That’s fallen human nature for you. But if we really trusted the person offering us the pig in the poke, we wouldn’t hesitate. I’m not suggesting that a moment’s hesitation to ev...

                           When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12)           And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11)           I wonder whether Gideon looked around, trying to figure out who the angel of the Lord was talking to. After all, he wasn’t a mighty warrior at the time. The angel was addressing Gideon as he would become. But if Gideon looked around, I can relate. Scripture doesn’t include the “Who me?” response because Gideon had a more important question that might be expressed as “What Lord?” Another way to describe both questions is “Who are you trying to ...

                           I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) Yesterday morning’s BecomeNew podcast was about hope. They even included a “hopefulness assessment,” which I failed miserably. In the talk, John Ortberg referred to this verse (I think). He discussed the Greek version of the text and the idea that pressing on involved an image of a Greek runner with his head stretched forward in his determination to win the prize. What came to mind is the scene in Chariots of Fire in which Eric Liddell’s coach tried to get him to “run right” in the manner described. But Liddell couldn’t run both right and fast. He won races with his head thrown back. Another image that came to mind was the image that I associated with the young folks who play at...

                           Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.    Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.    One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”   “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”    At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked . (John 5...

              Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, (Ephesians 2:19)           Chances are that when you were growing up, you recognized rules in your household or in your community you didn’t like. You may have looked forward to moving into your own place where you would set the rules, even if the one rule were “there are no rules.”                     We don’t tend to like rules, but they are necessary. Decades ago, a school located near a busy highway observed that the children tended to stay close to the building during recess. When the school erected a fence to separate its property from the highway, the children ran and played. The “rule” of the fence made them feel safer. Among the rules with which you grew up, som...

                 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. (I Corinthians 14:34) (See also I Corinthians 11:2-16) In 57 AD, Paul wrote I & II Corinthians, then Galatians. As we come to these verses two thousand years later, Paul seems to be flip flopping. But the letters were written to specific groups of people in response to specific circumstances. In Corinth, the problem was with people being out of control, or licentiousness. In Galatia, the problem seems to have been legalism. Paul made it clear that neither option was acceptable. That is the first lesson from these verses. The second lesson is one with which our society struggles. Sadly, the church joins in and plays by society’s rules. We’re told th...

                 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. ” (John 6:29) Have you ever tried to believe? Sometimes, we find ourselves in circumstances in which we think (or are told) that if we just had enough faith or believed a little more, everything would work out. We are disappointed when we don’t get what we want, and either walk away from God or punish ourselves for not being good enough. In today’s verse, Jesus is quoted as saying that the work of God is …to believe in the one he has sent. One way to understand this is that believing is the work or task that we must accomplish. We should work on our belief. It’s foolish to accept just any old claim without a proper measure of investigation, though quite often, we’re content to do so. A second understanding for the same statement is that it is God’s work to produce belief in the one he has sent in us. He makes it clearer a short time later...

             You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3)           The goal described above is peace. The condition that produces peace is a steadfast mind. That means that to have peace requires that we have minds that are resolutely firm and unwavering. It means the matter is settled. No other opinions matter. As a friend put it, there are no “yabbits” (“yeah, but…”)  One of the things I’ve learned about rabbits and yabbits is that they both tend to run in circles.           The thing is, this doesn’t say our hearts (will) or bowels (emotions) are steadfast. It says minds . Monomania comes to mind. Something that helps me with this is having hymns and Christian music playing in the background. Even while I’m busy with other things, the music speaks to my soul.     ...

              For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5)           Recently, my brain kicked in as I locked the deadbolt on my back door. As I turned the key left, it said, “Elvis has left the building.” I chuckled. When I came back home and unlocked the door, it chirped up with “You have the right to enter.” I nearly teared up. I’ve lived in this house nearly all my life, but for most of that time, it was my parents’ house. Even once it was signed over, it was my parents’ house.           In a way, it’s not a bad thing that I hold on to some possessions a little loosely. But at least part of the time, I distance myself from things and people out of fear or disapproval. Don’t get me wrong, ther...

            Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” (Proverbs 26:18-19) Remember the woman who carried a “bloody head of Trump” on stage as part of her comedy routine? Or the scene in Jaws where the kids made a shark fin and went snorkeling, only to come up in a ring of boats filled with men aiming rifles? Or all those quips and putdowns that were and are used in media. Technically, most of those aren’t deceptions of neighbors, but consider how often “JK” is added to something on social media as a disclaimer, so everyone knows that the person who just said the hurtful thing should not be held responsible for the pain it caused. “It was a joke” seems to be considered a universal antidote for the burns received.  But saying, “I was only joking!” not only does not make the injury caused disappear, but it tells everyone that what was said was a lie and that any fault fo...

                 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2) There are basically two catalysts to our love. The first is choice, the second is response. In a perfect world, once the first choice is made, it’s an unending cycle of responses. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. Once-upon-a-time, one of the favorite sorts of stories was the knightly un-requited love story, in which the knight chose, and chose, and chose to love even though the lady never responded. The story in today’s passage begins with a choice. The Lord created man. His love was not only unrequited, it was rejected. Then, the Lord chose to love, and man responded until response was inconvenient, then rejected the Lord’s love again. In today’s passage, the man cried out for help, and the Lord chose to love again. And the man responded with ...

              When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. (Psalm 94:18-19)           I woke up this morning from dreams of crises. I’m not sure what the crisis of each dream was. I almost think that in my dreams, I woke from dreams of crisis to find myself in a crisis. I’ve told people that I have caught myself worrying about nothing. This morning, I woke worrying about the will-o'-wisps of my mind. And the verse above was the verse of the day on my Bible platform. I don’t know whether to chuckle or sigh. Dissection time.           To begin, the writer doesn’t say “When my foot slipped.” This line describes my dream(s). The writer and I both responded as if there was a crisis. Was there a crisis? Could I be facing a crisis that my ...

            He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)           Graciously: in a benevolent, courteous, helpful manner. (Oxford Languages Dictionary, online.)           Whenever God’s giving is mentioned, the idea some get is that God will give us whatever we want. According to this verse, not only will He give us all things, but He’ll do so graciously. The definition above tells us that God doesn’t have to give us everything we want. He is still gracious if He withholds things that would be bad for us. He’s still gracious if He says, “No” to things we want that won’t help us.           The first thing God gives us when we seek Him is Himself. His giving up of His Son to and for us is a demonstrati...

              By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8)           The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.  (Zephaniah 3:17)           When it says the Lord directs his love, there can be two understandings. The first is that He directs whatever His love is toward us. His love is given to us. The second is that He directs us because we are His love. His love is given through us. While I often don’t like ambiguity, in this case, it’s accurate. God can and does do both because loving someone often involves directing them. It’s not either/or. It’s both/and. Another intriguing idea that connects the two verses above is that they...

              I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)           If you can find the Big Dipper, and therefore the North Star, you will be able to estimate your direction as long as it’s dark and the sky is clear. If you live in Erie, generally speaking, named streets run north and south, numbered streets run east and west, the lake is north and “uphill” is generally south. There are undoubtedly exceptions, but if you keep the lake on your left, you’re headed east. If it’s on your right, you’re headed west. That actually does a better job than using the sun, which angles north and south of east and west through the year.           That may not keep you from getting lost. GPSes aren’t without error either, though I’m sure they’re better than they used to be and I depend on th...

            Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life . (I John 5:12)           Imagine a beautiful woman or a hunky guy with a fancy muscle car with some gorgeous landscape in the background. The wind blows through her/his hair, and from the look on his/her face, life clearly could not get better. I don’t watch TV, so I don’t know if they still use that advertising ploy, but social media is full of opportunities for me to become a great writer, a self-reliant homesteader, a better Christian, or otherwise to reach the “life clearly could not get better” point – for a small fee. Maybe you’re not as gullible as I am, and don’t get as many offers.           Into that marketing maelstrom, various religions and philosophies ply their wares, including today’s verse. And, in true Lewisian fashion, we must con...

               For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)           What does this mean? I understand the part about dying being gain, but what does it mean by “to live is Christ”? It’s something I suspect we twist and complicate. Where do we even look for an example? Paul would be the obvious choice, except he lived 2000 years ago and we don’t have a way to watch his daily routine. Was he able to have a conversation about tentmaking without Jesus being mentioned in every sentence? Yes, I’m going to extremes but if we put living being Christ on my notorious exam table, what does it look like? What are its parameters and rules?           The answers aren’t easy. We want to say that to live being Christ is lifegiving, life-affirming, and wonderful, but it involves dying to self. We want to set rules about praying, Bible study and m...