Mission Faithwalk

            Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm . (Proverbs 13:20)           Unless you’re a complete fool, you have learned something in your roles and job. This is one of the things that I love about my current job – and sometimes hate. We have folks who know their stuff, and I love to listen to them talk to customers because I get to learn. I hate it when they talk to the customers far enough away that I can’t hear. I can’t recall working anywhere else where I respected and even admired my coworkers. I’ve gained a lot of wisdom from them. I have also learned a great deal from people from the church I attend.   If you walk with the wise, you’ll become more like them.                In the same way and for the same reason, if you hang with fools, you’ll become more like them. It’s human nature. Even...

                F or the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. (Psalm 62:1)           Have you ever found yourself unable to sleep? You may tell yourself that at least you’re resting as you toss and turn and your mind wanders, but in my experience, not sleeping means not truly resting. I may wake up the next morning feeling refreshed, but that’s not the same as being rested. While the definition of rest generally means “not doing,” resting is one of the hardest things I do, because it involves the automatic generation of “ghosts” – things that haunt me because I’m not getting them done. One of the restful things I did yesterday was mowing the back lawn, not because I enjoy the activity of following a noisy machine around and around the yard, but because now mowing it is off the agenda for at least a week.   ...

                 “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.   On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face. (Psalm 11:3-7) When the foundations are being destroyed … this has been happening, without interruption, since Genesis 3. We’ve tried to rebuild the foundations, and we’ve tried to build new foundations. Sometimes, it seems as though we’re succeeding or they’re succeeding. Foundations are being built. At the same time, foundations are being torn down. Sometimes, we are the demolition team. Som...

                 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal. (Psalm 9:19-20) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. (C. S. Lewis...

              I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.” (Isaiah 43:11-12)           God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)           The epistle of John gets some attention because there are seven instances where Jesus says, “I am” and goes on to make a claim to Godhood. The Old Testament has some “I am” statements, too. The most famous, of course, is Exodus 3:14, but today’s passage includes another. Through Isaiah, God tells the Israelites in no uncertain terms that He is the Lord, not a Lord, or their Lord. He acknowledges that there are things called “foreign god...

              You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. (Psalm 63:1-2) David describes a tough time. He was in the Desert of Judah, and God wasn’t meeting him there. People then tended to live a little closer to difficulty than I think I do. Growing up as a shepherd boy, he learned to deal with difficulties, but one of the problems with difficulties is that they can quickly turn into nasty gods. They demand attention, sometimes to ensure our survival. The alternative is to seek God, but God isn’t like Lurch (the Addams Family butler), who appears and takes orders the second the bell rings.   There are times when God leaves us out in the desert. We aren’t really alone, but it feels like it. He lets us search and not find. He fails to meet needs. Will...

            Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:4)           Maybe you’re not like me. I tend to be a “forever” thinker. In whatever situation I find myself, unless there is a clear end in sight, it’s either going to last forever and I whine, or I want it to last forever. As today’s verse tells us, however, it is the Lord that is the rock eternal.           One of the ideas I have tried to get across to people is that your god is whatever dictates or informs your understanding or perception of reality. Another version of the same idea is that the “rocks” in your life, the things you think are going to influence or control your life forever your gods. We don't think of them that way, but that's the role they play.         ...

                 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34) Two-handed advice. On the one hand, we should not boast about tomorrow. On the other hand, we should not worry about it. On the one hand, we don’t know what will happen and can’t control it as much as we’d like. On the other, we don’t know what will happen and can’t control it as much as we’d like. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan or prepare.  I doubt God has a problem with my prepping meals or processing harvests for tomorrow. There isn’t likely to be a problem with holding down a job. The question is whether we stop with reasonable planning and prepping or go on to build castles and/or haunted houses in the clouds.     The first problem with boasting and worryin...

            Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)           The heart represents the will in ancient literature. It is not the only part of us that makes decisions or acts, but it is the subject today. Two ideas come to mind. The first is that we need to guard our hearts from the other parts of ourselves. The heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, and relationships should work together, but how often does what we want over-rule any choice that our will might make. How often does social or peer pressure dictate to us? Our biases sometimes get in the way of what we think we should do, and would do if it weren’t for them .           At the same time, while we may wish to say that we didn’t make the choice we made, we did. We are still responsible. Our hearts are likely to have given in with far too l...

              Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)           I could be wrong, but I suspect most people will claim they aren’t afraid of man. I also believe their actions would prove that statement to be incorrect. I have read statistics that claim that as much as 98% of people fear public speaking. Some fear it to the point that it is a psychological issue for them. As much as 85% of Americans are afraid to be wrong. Both of those fears are based in fear of people. Similarly, even among those who claim to fear God, I have grave doubts that their actions would prove it. We are too quick to say, “God will forgive.” He will, but we take it as our due and sometimes seem to consider that the problem is not with ourselves, but with God. If he weren’t so hypersensitive, anti-diversity, or closed-minded, He wouldn’t need to forgive us. I...

                 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)           The blessing isn’t magical. God doesn’t necessarily look at a person who is being persecuted and say, “Poor thing. I think I’ll bless her.” He can. Of course, He can. But that’s not the only way to understand this passage, and it may not be the best way. Blessings don’t have to be “magical.”           Jesus referred to the prophets because they were included in the list of Jewish heroes. Don’t we all grow up wanting to be like our heroes? Even as adults, aren’t there folks we wish we could be or be like? The prophets were persecuted and killed, often by the J...

              And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:9-10)           Let’s suppose (and keep it simple) that someone who claims to love you bought you a present in a color you hate. The next gift was a piece of equipment for a sport/hobby in which you have no interest (and neither does the giver.) And what would happen if the lover continued to do this sort of thing even after being corrected? I’m not talking about a problem with his/her memory over which he/she has no control. It’s that the person just doesn’t bother to learn your interests. This is at a surface level. Suppose the person was a serial cheater or otherwise regularly violated your moral code and didn’t care that it bothers you. Would you still claim the person loved yo...

                 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Proverbs 29:18) I should probably begin with an apology. This is one of my favorite verses. I’ve written about it twice this year already, but changes are taking place in our lives, and I feel the need to remove the magic from this verse, for my own good if no one else’s. I’ve noted before that I tend to negate myself. I argue that I am not a _____ because of some ludicrous claim that I don’t measure up. I might fail and be an embarrassment to this person or that group, so better not to claim association. Put simply, I can’t see myself as many of the things that I am. I have no revelation or (to use the King James vocabulary) vision. The idea is not limited to people who have no prophet telling them what God says. Everyone has some idea or vision of what the universe is like. They have a worldview. It ma...

                 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (I Corinthians 2:14) When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.   When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. (Exodus 16:14-15) Let’s start with a little sanity. Just because someone claims to be a Christian and therefore “with the Spirit” does not guarantee that their ideas are not foolishness. We can have our own foolish thoughts just as well as the atheist down the street. This is also not magic. If you know a chef, an artist, or an engineer,  you may accept things that others consider foolish, but your exposure to that person has taught you is not.       ...

                 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well . (Matthew 6:33) 'Over the Mountains Of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride,' The shade replied,— 'If you seek for Eldorado! ' (Edgar Allen Poe, “Eldorado”) I love the poem, Eldorado, but it I suspect that, too often, we see seeking first His kingdom much as the shade describes the search for the golden city. The Mountains of the Moon may refer to a mountain range in East Africa and the Valley of the Shadow may refer to a valley in Israel. Whether they do or not, the idea is clear. The places one must go in one’s quest for the city of gold are inaccessible to most of us. Too often, the Kingdom of God is considered just as inaccessible. It’s out there, somewhere, and the only way we’ll find it is to die. Dallas Willard described the Kingdom of God as the range of God’s effective will. If we ar...

            For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:30-31)           Sinners In The Hand of an Angry God           I have no wish to try to paraphrase Jonathan Edward’s sermon. It’s 11 pages long and you can follow the link above to read it for yourself. I think you might be surprised by it. As I recall, it’s not the fire and brimstone I expected, but I need to reread it. This morning, the key point is that the passage itself doesn’t say “angry.” It says “living.”           This does not mean that God is not angry with sin and evil or that He won’t avenge, repay, and judge. Unlike the other gods, He makes clear that He will judge. He states in Scripture fo...

            So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)            My sister and her husband are going through a tough time, and this is the verse she’s holding on to. Each of us is facing at least one challenge. Even if life is  going well now, at some point, we’ll face difficulty. We each need to cling to this promise. God is nearby. God will strength, help, and uphold us. Sometimes, He will act directly. Often, He will use another person, place, or thing. Sometimes, He may even use you to strengthen and uphold you. This is part of the reason we need strong marriages, strong families, and strong church communities.           Here’s another piece to this puzzle. Sometimes, we are tempted to fear other ...

                 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.   You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.    So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  (Hebrews 10:32-36) Remember when you started that project, hobby, or relationship? There might have been some fear but there was probably more excitement.   There were probably people who got in the way, you were going to do this thing, whatever it was. Then, as time passed...

                 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. (Matthew 8:26) This passage came to mind as I was getting out of bed yesterday morning. My first reaction was that the point was that faith isn’t a feeling. One can choose to do it.  The problem is that we often make our choices out of habit, based on feelings, without conscious awareness that we’re making a choice. That’s where the disciples were: in the boat, in the storm, and following generations of scientific evidence that in a boat, in a storm, on a lake equals bad outcomes. If someone had said, “Wait, guys, Jesus is the Messiah.” They might have agreed, but just because Jesus would survive doesn’t mean they would. Follow the science. It’s accurate, except for one pesky little detail. God’s love. I’m not suggesting that God never lets those He loves die in boat...

                 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7) Paul’s asking a lot here. He does not say “Accept one another.” There are two subordinate clauses that bring depth and difficulty to the instruction. The first is that we are to accept one another just as Christ accepted you . So, when did Christ accept you? After you got yourself together, or before? And how long will that acceptance last? What are the conditions upon which His acceptance of your is given? There is a loophole here, if we can call it that. It’s found in the Greek we translate as one another. There are two Greek terms that would be translated one another . The one used here is “of the same kind.” We’re to accept those who are of the same kind. What kind is that? Christians? Yep. But could it also mean those of the same race, family, gender, educational level, economic class, cultural background or p...

                 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (II Corinthians 13:14) I don’t know if this is the earliest clear statement of the Trinity or not, but here it is. And what I find amusing is that Paul referred to all three members of the Godhead (who are one even though we can’t understand it) and three separate blessings that are equally one. Grace, the giving of what is not deserved; love, the giving of self and commitment to the well-being of the beloved; and fellowship, or friendly association are all expressions of love. My immediate reaction to the three expressions of love isn’t entirely positive. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want grace. I want to have earned what I get. Notice the tense in that sentence. I don’t want to continue to pay the price. Yes, I want love, on my terms. And that’s what the cross is about, at least in part. Go...

 `             Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. (Joel 2:23)           I’ve checked the average rainfall per month stats for my hometown, and September through December, otherwise known as “the fall” are supposed to be the wettest months of the year, followed by April, May, and June, otherwise known as “the spring.” Since late June, we have had one rain shower that produced an inch of rain, according to one website that keeps track of such things. So today’s verse is more of a promissory note than a payment received.           But Erie is not Zion. Zion gets about 21 inches per year. Erie gets about twice that and is located on a lake that helps us maintain a reasonable water-table. In other ...

                 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen . (Ephesians 4:29)           When I was a kid, my mother informed me that saying, “Geez” was really saying, “Jesus.” Darn was damn . Shoot was shit . I don’t recall any others that she pointed out, but if I wasn’t going to use the bad expletives, I shouldn’t use the not-so-bad ones. If we’re being honest, if we use our expletives in the place of the bad expletives all the time and think we’re being wholesome. At least until we get angry or frightened. How many of us think “OMG” is OK?           What words you use or don’t use is up to you, but bad language isn’t the only unwholesome stuff that comes out of our mouths. Other obvious bits of unwholesomeness are lie...

                 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others .  (Philippians 2:3-4) “At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation…” (John Wesley) Vile: unpleasant, immoral, and unacceptable We all want things, and not just physical things. We want to live, to love and be loved, to be happy/content/joyous, to have enough money that we don’t have to worry about how we’ll pay the bills, to win, to eat good food, to have pleasant company, read a good book, to have significance and respect…. In 18 th Century England, they wanted the same sorts of things, and John Wesley was a pastor. That meant he was supposed to live according to a certain standard, which included being too dignified to preach on the street. He ...

  In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9 NIV) People may make plans in their minds, but the Lord decides what they will do. (Proverbs 16:9 NCV) Between the two versions of the verse above, I prefer the NIV, but where I found the verse today, it was quoted the other way, and to some extent, that’s the way I want to approach it, at least to begin. Some people seem to think that the only way this verse could the true, and the only way that God can be in control is if He makes every decision, and effect, He’s spinning plates. Granted, He can be everywhere and everywhen at once, so He could, but why bother? Wouldn’t it be wiser to make it so hearts beat within a certain range of times per minute? What sense would there be to saying the only way He’s in control is if He actively micromanages everything? In the same sense, Gods deciding what someone will does not need to involve micromanaging every tiny de...

                             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...