Mission Faithwalk

            Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left, keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:23-27)     This passage may not be complete or clear about the “parts” of a person according to Dallas Willard (Heart/will/spirit, mind/thoughts/feelings, body, relationships, and soul) but it has enough to be a good overall bit of advice. We are advised to guard our hearts. Our hearts are like sheep. They need to be protected from the wolves, lions, and bears of our lives, but also from their own foolishness. We’re to give careful thought to our ways and be steadfast, both of which require a clear head. We’re to keep our feet from evil. We’re to be...

                 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. (Proverbs14:34) Sin is another word that seems to breed magical thinking. If we sin, then God does something meant to punish. But if you trip the breaker, it makes no sense to complain that the electric company has attacked you. Sin, at its core, is breaking your connection with God and putting yourself in His place. You trip the “breaker,” cutting off any connection with Him, and in many cases, issue an ultimatum saying that the only way there can be peace with us is for Him to bow to us by accepting, approving, and applauding whatever decisions we make. Individuals and groups can do this. Often, the way we choose is sanitized using terms like modern, enlightened, woke, seeker-sensitive, seeker-friendly, or emergent. The whole key is that we can ignore whatever God has said before in favor whatever we choose because for one reason or another, we’re special ...

                 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10) “His heart is in the right place.” “I know in my heart.” “Trust your heart, it won’t lead you wrong.” I wonder what would happen if those who are so certain of our hearts did a scientific study of the percent of times that the heart was right and the percent that it was wrong. In Old Testament law, if a prophet was ever wrong, even once, the prophet was to be put to death. And if the prophet suggested the people follow some other god, the prophet was to be put to death. And today’s passage makes it clear that our hearts – our selves – are not the best choice of guidance. This is something that C. G.  Jung pointed out in his essay The Undiscovered Self . We ca...

                 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. (I Thessalonians 4:1) Recently, I saw a post accusing churches of not accepting neurodivergent folks. I asked what was meant by accepting , and got a wonderful spiritual response that included no concrete answer. We’re to extend the right hand of fellowship, etc., to a person who might not want to be touched. I suspect the complaint has at least some validity. But here’s my first problem (you guessed it!): definitions. “Neurodivergent people” suggests that all the members of the group can and should be treated according to some stereotype, when the truth is that each person who is neurodivergent has his/her own preferences. There is no one way that all people of any group. What one ne...

            The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.   For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20) But it is possible to have an attitude to the external conditions of life only when there is a point of reference outside them. The religions give, or claim to give, such a standpoint, thereby enabling the individual to exercise his judgment and his power of decision. (Jung, C.G., The Undiscovered Self , NY Mentor Books, 1958 pp 29-30.) [1] We should start with some definitions that won’t fit with the standards. As much as I like definitions, I think these help clarify some mu...

                 The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands. (Psalm 138:8) Vindicate: clear (someone) of blame or suspicion; show or prove to be right, reasonable, or justified. {from Latin vindicationem (nominative vindicatio) "act of claiming or avenging," noun of action from past-participle stem of vindicare "lay claim to, assert; claim for freedom, set free; protect, defend; avenge" (related to vindicta "revenge"). This is held to be probably from vim dicare "to show authority," from vim, accusative of vis "force" (see  vim ) + dicare "to proclaim"}              Some folks are quick to tell you that you shouldn’t act like you have to be right all the time. Of course, what at least some of those folks mean is that you are not pe...

                 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  (II Peter 3:9) We’re back to that dreaded thing: patience. God is patient with us. It’s part of His nature. Unfortunately, it doesn’t tend to be part of ours. Oh, there are some patient people, and then there are those to whom the situation doesn’t matter and some who are passive rather than patient. It’s something we have to work on. There are two potential keys to discuss this morning. It helps us to be patient if we have the best interests of the other person at heart. In other words, if we love them. The second is that the thing we’re waiting for is in their best interest and not ours. In short, it’s easier to be patient when it’s not all about us. Or, it’s easier to be patient when we’re actually being “like the Most High” and not like ...

                 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”  (Matthew 16:24-26) Why does God allow bad things to happen? I don’t believe there is only one reason for any bad thing unless that answer is so broad that it is almost meaningless. But one reason that may fit at least some bad things is that God is trying to help us save our lives and our souls. But here we must stop to consider what is meant by saving our souls, and I must repeat my chorus about it not being “magical.” Losing one’s soul is a thought by thought, decision by decision thing. Think of what happens to someone who is addict...

                 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”  (Leviticus 19:18) OK, folks. Don’t bear a grudge against Mr. Biden. Don’t bear a grudge against Mr. Trump. Feel free to add names, keeping in mind that the point of the exercise is that you not hold a grudge. Not against your teachers,  your parents, your siblings, your employer, or even against the long list of monsters who have populated our news casts over the decades: animal abusers, industrialists, serial killers, mass murderers, murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and even genocidal dictators. One big problem with this is that they deserve to be punished, etc. Yes, they do. But it’s almost certain that you aren’t the person assigned to deliver that punishment. It’s also likely that your holding a grudge won’t factor in the life of these distant people. You might inconvenience...

                 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24) Omnipresent: widely or constantly encountered; common or widespread (of God, everywhere all the time.) Pantheism: a doctrine which identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God. (The Universe is God.) Panenthism: the belief or doctrine that God is greater than the universe and includes and interpenetrates it. (The universe is part of God.) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2) I’m writing this on Wednesday, and my thoughts are on words and definitions. When I read this verse, the idea that came to mi...

              But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (II Thessalonians 3:3)           And now, the other side of the coin from yesterday’s post. The point yesterday was not that God doesn’t strengthen us, but that Isaiah 40:31 doesn’t say that the Lord strengthens us. Today’s verse makes it clear that the Lord does strengthen and protect us. If someone wants to ask, “Well, which is it?” it’s both.           But here’s the thing. If we strengthen ourselves, we can take credit. When God strengthens us, He deserves the credit. And, in keeping with the post of a couple days ago, the strength He provides may not be as showy as Sampson tearing the gates from the city wall and carrying them up a hill (Judges 16.) It might be something very small, like the strength to notice someone needs a door held open. His protecti...

              but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)           People love this verse. It seems to promise an unending, superhuman supply of strength and endurance. Problem 1: It doesn’t say what we think it does. It does not say God will renew their strength it says that those who hope or wait (the old word) will renew their strength. They’ll get a good night’s sleep, eat and drink healthy foods, build their lives, build their families, study, exercise, learn new skills, seek wisdom, etc. They will renew their strength Problem 2: Hoping or waiting. This means accepting that now isn’t the right time, and trusting that God will make sure you don’t “miss the exit.” It may mean 430 years in captivity, or 25 years for the child to be born, or whatever – but God ...

                 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;   rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8)           Someone in one of my writing groups asked the women in the group to share what they fantasize about doing/being in a fantasy setting and that got me thinking. The idea that we all want to be “like the Most High” came to mind, which led to the passage above. Jesus chose to become a human being. He didn’t choose to be born the son of a king. He was the son of a construction guy/carpenter. Only, he wasn’t the so of the construction...

                      Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty . (Psalm  91:1) What does it mean to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, or to rest in the shadow of the Almighty? Dallas Willard described the Kingdom as the range of God’s effective will. If that describes the whole kingdom, how much better does it describe the shelter or the shadow? To be in a shadow, one needs to be close enough to whatever is casting the shadow for it to be between you and the source of light. What this means is that our being in the shelter and the shadow might allow us to pose and posture at our enemies who circle because we’re confident that God can and will stomp on anyone who gets too close, but it also puts us well within range of God’s correcting and restraining hand if we misbehave. It requires that we function within His will because not doing so moves us out of the shelter...

                 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid . (John 14:27) I know a few people who are going through some tough times. I’m a little reluctant to share a comforting verse with them because too often, either the words come out as a platitude or we think we’ve done our jobs and can walk away without guilt. I’ve gone through tough times. Oh, they probably weren’t that tough in retrospect, but at the time, I had to credit my responsibilities to my father and my dog with keeping me going. So I’m trying to think about what Jesus said here in light of that experience. The first thing that comes to mind because of today’s passage is the difference between the peace that Jesus gives and the peace that the world gives. The world tells us that there can only be peace if everything is all better. What this ends up meaning i...

              D iffering weights and differing measures— the Lord detests them both. (Proverbs 20:10)             Once upon a time, one of the ways merchants and traders sometimes cheated by keeping more than one set of weights. They used the light weight so they didn’t have to pay as much for something, and a heavy weight to convince the people buying from them that they were getting all they paid for. Have you checked how much deodorant is actually in the huge container you take off the grocery store shelf? Have you noticed how far you have to move the internal base before it even starts to ooze through the holes? Have you seen the Facebook videos in which someone pours a small coffee into a medium cup, and then the same medium cup into a large cup, and fills the cup every time? Is the video a scam, or is the coffee vendor scamming you?       ...

                 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord . (Ephesians6:4) The verse above was the verse of the day on my Bible platform. I tend to try to avoid “how to” messages around holidays, but this one showed up halfway between Father’s Day and my father’s birthday, so here we go. Let’s start with definitions. Exasperate comes from Latin terms meaning “out of” and “rough,” though I tend to think of it more along the lines of “out of” and “breath.” In both cases, there is a sense that fathers should not be rough on their kids, or leave them breathless. This glasshouse is big enough to hold us all. Yesterday morning, a friend shared a meme about overprotective parents having been under-protected when they were kids. According to the generational theories of Strauss and Howe ( Generations , The Fourth Turning , etc.) this is true. A generation tries to correct ...

                 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) Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.       (II Timothy 2:21) Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction . (II Timothy 4:2) But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (I Peter 3:15) “Be Prepared” is the motto for the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts. While “Fear not,” and “love one another” might be Christian mottos, “Be prepared” and “be ready” also pepper the New Testament. I found myself w...

  he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3) You’re going to hear about this from me more than once today, not because it was such a huge thing to do, but because it was such a huge thing for me to do. It shouldn’t have been so hard, and it wasn’t, but it was. One of my struggles is with arbitrary choices. I have a long mental list of things that need to be done. Where do I begin? What if I choose the wrong thing? Another struggle is with marketing my books. I feel like I’m putting myself on display. “Look at me! I (and ten thousand or more other idiots who think they can write) wrote not just one book, but three. Number four is with my editor and I’m tinkering with number five. Aren’t I magnificent?” Imposter syndrome! I spent the morning on the first paragraph. I usually try to harvest from my garden at 8 am, when the plants are at their peak for the day. Harvesting, prepping what I’ve harvested, and mowing the lawn took ...

                 The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live. (Proverbs 15:27 ) Our society loves to condemn the greedy, all of whom they suppose to be rich. If you’re not in the “one percent,” or perhaps the “ten percent,” you can’t be greedy. According to the Cambridge Dictionary Online, Greedy means “wanting a lot more food, money, etc. than you need.” The problem is, of course, in that pesky phrase “than you need.” Does an emotional need to keep up with the Joneses constitute the sort of need we should include before we decide someone is greedy? In The Screwtape Letters , Uncle Screwtape suggests that greed need not include only “more, more, more,” but can also mean “I only want this one very specific thing, done or made just so. It’s such a little thing. I don’t think it’s too much to ask, but if you won’t accommodate me in this insignificant way, I’ll understand. I don’t mea...

                 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests . (Proverbs 14:4) Ah, Biblical justification for clutter! Where there is no clutter, the house is clean and tidy, but from the clutter comes craft products! Of course, if the oxen are left in the stable, their strength is doing nothing toward the abundant harvest except maybe providing fertilizer. In the same way, clutter that isn’t used is just taking up space, unless it’s providing a home for something you don’t want in  your house. This is also true of life. We prefer our lives to be under control and easy. The idea of something bigger and stronger than we are wandering in and making itself at home in the most inconvenient way possible isn’t fun. Problems the size of a mosquito bother us, how much more problems the size of oxen settling in our bed or on our sofas? At the moment, I’d say I don’t have...

               “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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke11:13) Trigger Alert! You have just been judged and found to be evil. You may not see Jesus pointing His finger at you, but the people at whom He was pointing saw themselves as good. Your believing you are good doesn’t magically make you so. You’re evil. Try not to get too upset. Emotional paralysis won’t help matters. If it’s any comfort, so am I. Part of the problem here is my favorite – D.E.F.I.N.I.T.I.O.N. We tend to think that mass murderers, serial killers, greedy megalomaniacs, and those who abuse children, the elderly, or animals are evil. The rest of us are good. Not perfect, but good enough. I’ve shared this idea before. Suppose I put one part Botulinum Toxin A into 19 parts of your drinking water. The source I found about dangerous substances s...

                 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2) Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a lot of blather on Facebook about the heavens. People promote getting excited about eclipses, full moons, planetary conjunctions, aurora borealis, etc. I don’t blame anyone. They’re exciting events. I woke around 12:30 yesterday morning and got photos of a low full moon. Today’s passage says that the heavens communicate God’s glory. The more we learn about the stars, planets, nebulae, and light, the more amazed we are. I’m fond of science, when science isn’t being used as a weapon to push a worldly agenda. It’s sad that we (too often) concede science, education, the arts, and anything else that worldly folks claim to worldly folks. We pay some attention to religious folks who focus on religion, but tend ...

              H e says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) There are times when I am still, and as soon as I hear the silence echo, I look for something to fill it. Like peace, which tends to mean “flatline” in my mind, it’s a condition to be feared and avoided. Most of the time, though, being still seems less possible than holding my breath. Without something occupying my mind, it goes on its own rabbit trails. It just doesn’t work well to tell myself repeatedly to stop thinking. I get stuck on the first phrase. Some people get stuck on the second phrase: and know that I am God. They either can’t tolerate the idea of any god, or they can’t stomach the idea of this particular God being the true God to the exclusion of any other. Still others get stuck on God’s “arrogant” claim to exaltation from others. The result of both those sticking points returns to min...

             Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossian 3:13) This is one of the terrible, frustrating things about God’s Word: it doesn’t use us as the standard. We were created in the image of God, and our sins are our attempt to be “like the Most High,” but when God tells us what being like Him actually requires, the fun is over. And when the Bible reveals the cost God paid to forgive us, it’s even worse. Are we supposed to lay down our lives to forgive someone? It doesn’t often go that far literally, but in a figurative or spiritual sense, it does. To forgive requires that we tell ourselves “No!” when we ruminate on the wrong done and when we want to punish the person who did us wrong. What makes it even harder is when the person we won’t forgive didn’t even do something to us. In order to forgive, no matter who or for what, we have to die to our hat...

                 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew7:13-14) Today’s passage is another case of simple reality, not of God being restrictive or exclusive. Consider the Pareto Principle: 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Less than 1% of the population of America play professional sports. Less than 2% of actors become stars. Famous people make up about 0.000086% of the American Population. About 75% of American startup businesses fail within 15  years. While some may rage about the one percent, the reality is that few find the narrow gate that leads to life, fame, fortune, power, etc. Even if we were to somehow give those things to “everyone,” the fact would be that the few who handed out the gold “You’re a winner” stars would be the ...

                 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—   Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.   I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was give...

                 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2) It is beyond us to imagine well a being who is immaterial or eternal because we are material and very temporal. Between the two, however, I think we struggle more with the eternal part. After all, we converse with people we’ve never seen via telephones and computer. But even the stories we’ve heard about people who live hundreds of years had a beginning, and at least a means by which their lives can be ended. Eternal is either badly explored or it boggles the mind, or both. That’s precisely why we must dare to consider it. Why does God’s eternality matter? One reason is that if He either came into existence or could be caused to cease to exist, something greater than God must exist to bring Him about. If He ceases to exist, He will be unable to fulfill His promises or carry out His plan...

            so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesian 3:17-19) I’m not a “feelings” person. I’m more comfortable with ideas, words, and facts, but I suspect that most people base a lot of my life on feelings. Having not pulled off what I consider to be three miracles before breakfast means my day has been a complete waste of time unless I pull off something spectacular before bed. That might not be your criteria, but I suspect that few of us walk by faith as much as we do by sight, or by feel. We say we’re going to _____ and then, “Squirrel!” or “Bird!” or “Sprig of thyme that still has leaves!” [1] Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying fee...

                 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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.    And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-29) I know: the first verse in this passage is the go-to verse for anyone wishing to fulfill their responsibility to love and encourage without bothering to love or encourage. It’s the verse with which we may throw away those who are struggling so we don’t have to listen to their crying. I know. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an important, good verse. The first step in understanding it is to put it back into context, at least a little. The first step in a...

                 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. (I Chronicles 29:11)   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) I need both these verses this morning. The throw away reason for needing them is that they’re both “29:11” and that amuses me. The real reason we all need these verses takes us back to yesterday’s blog and our tendency to not respond well to problem – real or imagined. One of the good things about problems is that we can learn from them. Last time this problem came up, we did this, and it helped, or didn’t. So this time, we either will or won’t do this. The Israelites didn’t review what they did last time they had...

                   Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.   When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)   So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” (Exodus 15:22-24) What do you do when things don’t go the way you want them to or when there’s an actual problem? Before the passage above, Israel had been slaves in Egypt. Think about this for a moment. It might suit the Pharoah’s whim to punish the Israelites by making them hunt for straw with which to make clay, but if he really sought the benefit of their labor, it would have been counterproductive to make them do without food or water.  Not only that, Egypt was along the Nile, meaning that for at least part of the year, water and food were abund...